Dr Jillann Farmer 

Dr Jillann Farmer was Medical Director of the United Nations, based at the headquarters in New York for 8 years. During tenure at the UN, she was responsible for the health, safety and wellbeing of all UN personnel deployed throughout the world and was also responsible for the standards in healthcare facilities operating under the UN flag. She managed the UN’s response to the New York wave of COVID-19 in 2020. 

Dr Audrey Koay

Dr Audrey Koay is Executive Director of the Patient Safety and Clinical Quality Directorate in the Department of Health. 

In this role, she responsible for the operations of the Patient Safety Surveillance Unit, Licensing Accreditation and Regulatory Unit, Healthcare Quality Intelligence Unit, Medicines and Technology Unit, Reproductive Technology Unit and Assisted Reproductive Technology Legislative Unit, the Executive Office, Policies and Special Projects team, the S&Q Workforce Capability and Strategic Plan Project Management Units.

Together these areas deliver the Department of Health’s safety and quality portfolio with a special focus upon clinical governance, clinical registry and data systems to inform clinician behaviour and improve patient outcomes, safe introduction of new procedures and technologies, quality use of medicines and regulation of the private hospital sector.  Additionally, the PSCQ leads programs to build safety and quality staff capability and infrastructure to support quality improvement initiatives statewide.  

Audrey is a medical administrator with local and international clinical, research and commercial experience. Prior to the Department of Health, Audrey worked in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and then in post-graduate research in Vanderbilt and Oxford Universities, and within the commercial sector in Roche UK and as Associate Medical Director in General Electric Healthcare’s Northern European operations.

Judge Laurie Levy SC

Judge Levy SC is a member of the council of the National Judicial College of Australia, a body providing judicial education to judges and magistrates across all Australian jurisdictions.

William is an experienced executive with over three decades of international experience across a range of industries. He is an MBA graduate with base degrees in Computer Science (Hons) and Economics.  Previous roles include General Manager of safesearch (a subsidiary of the global Manpower Group), Executive Director at Ernst & Young (co-founding EY’s IT advisory practice in WA), and Director of Sapient (Europe). He has sat on numerous advisory boards and held directorships of public companies including Chairman of ARCS - a not-for-profit health care organisation that strengthens and connects families in Western Australia. 

William’s expertise spans management and technology consulting across a range of domains, including Enterprise Architecture, Strategy, Information Management, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud, Enterprise Risk, Mergers & Acquisitions, CRM, Supply Chain, ERP, Operational Consulting Safety, Environment, Recruitment and Project Direction. Industries of focus include Government, Healthcare, Education, Resources, Retail and Insurance. He has a particular interest in AI having completed his honours thesis in this field.  

Dr Rajesh Sehdev

Rajesh is an Emergency Physician in Townsville and has been advocating for clinician wellbeing at Department, Hospital, State and College levels for many years.

He has a deeply held belief that our diversity as a profession and as a society is our strength. He has an interest in coaching conversations to help unlock potential.

He is energised by music, travel, exercise and the great outdoors.

A/Professor Kerin Fielding – RACS President and Chair, Rural Health Equity Strategy

Mrs Stephanie Clota - RACS CEO

Stephanie Clota is the CEO of RACS and a highly respected and experienced leader with a remarkable track record of success in the healthcare and training sectors. Her expertise is in strategic decision-making, financial performance, policy and advocacy and corporate governance.

Dr Hemi Patel 

Dr Patel graduated from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in London. He obtained his Masters in Surgery at Imperial college and completed his Post Graduate specialist training in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at the Eastern Deanery in Cambridge.

Dr Patel came to Australia for a fellowship in Ear Surgery and was exposed to the challenges of ear disease in Aboriginal communities. He fell in love with the Territory and has spent the last 18 years living and working on Larakia land.

Dr Patel obtained his Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2013. He is a General ENT Surgeon with special interests in Ear disease, Head and Neck Cancers and Paediatrics. He sits on several committees as an advocate and expert in ENT conditions effecting Aboriginal people.

He is the Chair of the NT regional Committee of the Royal Australasian College Surgeons and is Head of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Royal Darwin hospital.

Dr Patel has sat on the NT Board of the Medical Board of Australia for 8 years, the last 4 serving as Chair. He has a keen interest in medical regulation.

Dr Bernard Carney

Bernard Carney is a consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon working in the private and public sphere in South Australia. He is in his 20th year as a consultant and has a focus on paediatric plastic surgery and burns, skin cancer and hand surgery, cosmetic and body recontouring surgery and rural delivery of healthcare.

Dr Eva Denholm

Born and bred in Western Australia, Dr Eva Denholm is a trained general surgeon and has worked predominantly in medial administration roles during her career. Currently the Medical Co-Director of the Surgical Division at the Royal Perth and Bentley Hospital Group, her previous positions have included as Medical Co-Director of Osborne Park Hospital, Director of Clinical Services at Fremantle Hospital and Director of Medical Services at St John of God Subiaco. Eva is a strong supporter of organ and tissue donation and improving the quality of life of patients. She has completed an MBA and the Australian Companies Director Course.

Associate Professor Nicola Dean

Associate Professor Nicola Dean is an academic plastic surgeon at Flinders Medical Centre in South Australia. Her early medical and surgical training was in the UK in Leeds and Manchester. After migrating to Australia in 1998 she completed a PhD in the field of post mastectomy breast reconstruction and had her 2 children in that 3 year period, supported by her artist husband.

Following completion of the RACS training program in Adelaide, Australia she set up a dedicated breast reconstruction service in the Flinders Medical Centre (a public teaching hospital). Her research focus is on Patient Reported Outcome Measurement and patient empowerment. She has supervised 6 PhDs on this theme, over the areas of breast reconstruction, breast reduction and hand surgery.

Dr Dean’s voluntary roles include being immediate past president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, International Representative on the American Board of Plastic Surgeons. She has previously served as Plastic Surgery Section Editor on the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery and Breast Section editor for the Australasian Journal of Plastic Surgery.

Her continuing interest in advocacy is improving equity of access to functional plastic surgery procedures for all who need them.

Professor Guy Maddern

Professor Guy Maddern is the RP Jepson Professor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide.   He is also Director of Research at the Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Director, Surgical Research and Evaluation (incorporating ASERNIP-S) of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

He was trained at the University of Adelaide and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1989.

He has over 700 publications in scientific journals, an h-factor of 74, and has contributed to over a dozen surgical texts.

He has been Chairman of the Australian and New Zealand Audit of Surgical Mortality since 2005 and facilitated its national rollout.

Mr Richard Gillett

Rich Gillett is the Head of the Healthcare Quality Intelligence Unit at the Western Australian Department of Health. Originally from NHS Wales, Rich now leads a team of analysts and data scientists to improve the quality of care. The team supports using reports, data and intelligence to measure meaningful outcomes for patients and staff. Rich’s goal isn’t just about creating reports, but actually using data to measure the best outcomes. Since working in WA Rich has established a statewide set of indicators, clinical quality ‘deep dive’ dashboards, and projects to support measuring surgical outcomes including ANZELA-QI.  

Dr Simon C. Towler, FCICM, FANZCA, FACHSM, FAMA

Dr Towler was appointed as the Chief Medical Officer in the Clinical Excellence Division at the WA Department of Health in September 2022.

Dr Towler is a fellow of the College of Intensive Care Medicine, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, the Australasian College of Health Service Managers and the Australian Medical Association.

He practised as an intensive care specialist from 1990 to 2022. After nearly 25 years at Royal Perth Hospital, he worked from 2013 to 2021 at the Fiona Stanley Hospital and was part of the commissioning team at FSH.

More recently Dr Towler was the Clinical Lead for End-of-Life Care with the WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network, he was a Voluntary Assisted Dying provider and served as the State Medical Director at DonateLifeWA, the Western Australian organ donation agency.

A former President of the AMA in Western Australia and the WA Chief Medical Officer from 2006 -2012, Dr Towler has had many senior roles across WA Health. He was a member of the Ministerial Expert Panel on Voluntary Assisted Dying in 2019 and, in the same year, a member of the Clinical Reference Group on the work to produce the Sustainable Health Review Report.

As the executive lead of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Towler is now leading on medical workforce planning seeking, as part of this work, to build better relationships between the WA Department of Health, the specialist medical colleges, universities and Health Service Providers.

Dr James Aitken

James Aitken recently retired from clinical practice as a consultant colorectal surgeon at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. He is the Clinical Director of the Western Australian Audit of Surgical Mortality. He is the Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Audit Emergency Laparotomy Audit – Quality Improvement working party.

Dr Christine Lai

Dr Christine Lai is a general surgeon with sub-specialty post-Fellowship training in breast surgery and endocrine surgery – including thyroid surgery and minimally invasive parathyroid and laparoscopic adrenal surgery.

She has an interest in teaching students and trainees and clinician performed ultrasound and is one of a handful of surgeons in Australia with a Diploma in Diagnostic Ultrasound (Surgery) with the Australasian Society of the Ultrasound Medicine.

Dr John Robson

Dr John Robson, Senior Medical Officer at Broome Regional Hospital, brings a wealth of experience as a dual-trained fellow of the GP college and FRACMA. Since November 2023, he has provided clinical oversight at the hospital while supporting broader regional healthcare needs.

Previously, John held pivotal roles including Chief Medical Officer at Immigration New Zealand and positions at Qatar Petroleum, and RFDS (Qld) where he managed healthcare provision and emergency services. His tenure as Chief Medical Officer for Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), New Zealand’s national health insurer, was marked by his leadership in implementing Value Based Health Care and local service commissioning strategies aimed at improving patient outcomes and enhancing clinical governance.

John is also recognised for his  contributions, co-authoring a chapter on "Data in Healthcare and Quality Improvement" in the Textbook of Medical Administration and Leadership. His career highlights his commitment to advancing healthcare standards through strategic leadership and collaborative engagement across diverse healthcare environments.

Associate Professor Dieter Weber

Dieter Weber is the Head of Department of General Surgery and current head of the Royal Perth Hospital Trauma Service. He is clinical engaged as Consultant Surgeon both in Trauma and General Surgery.

After graduating from the University of Western Australia, he completed his General Surgery Fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He subsequently subspecialised in Trauma Surgery in Newcastle.

He is a Clinical Associate Professor with the University of Western Australia and holds an adjunct position with the University of Newcastle in his role as a course coordinator for the Masters of Traumatology. He has authored and instructed on various trauma and emergency surgery related courses and is engaged in research in these fields. He is a Board member of the World Society of Emergency Surgery and is also a member of the European Society of Trauma and Emergency Surgery and the International Surgical Society. With the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, he serves as the Deputy Chair of the Clinical Examinations Committee. He chairs the Post fellowship Education and Training Committee for Trauma Surgery and is an executive committee member for the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Surgery of Trauma as Supervisor of Post-Fellowship Training.