Adjunct Professor Karen Crawshaw PSM, Chair

Adjunct Professor Karen Crawshaw holds Bachelor degrees in Arts and Law, is admitted to the NSW Supreme Court and Australian High Court and holds an unrestricted practising certificate from the NSW Law Society.

For almost 10 years she held an appointment on the Agency Management Committee of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (AHPRA) with expertise in health business and administration since September 2012.

Karen has held various government legal positions, including NSW Health’s Director Legal and General Counsel for 17 years. In 2007, Karen was appointed as a Deputy Director-General. In her role as Deputy Secretary, Governance, Workforce and Corporate, Karen had policy responsibility for governance, health professional and other health regulation, legal services, strategic workforce policy, planning and development, workplace relations, business reform including diagnostic and clinical support services, asset management and procurement, strategic communications, ministerial and executive services.

Karen now provides advice and consultancy services to government and various health-related organisations. She is an adjunct professor with the University of Sydney's School of Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine and Health and is involved in the teaching of quality and safety in health care. Karen was awarded the Public Service Medal in the Australian Queens Birthday Honours in 2012 for her significant contributions to the public health sector.

Adjunct Professor Mary Haines, Deputy Chair

PhD GAICD

Professor Mary Haines has more than 20 years of senior experience in health across the government, corporate, academic and not-for-profit sectors. Mary has expertise in governance, audit and risk management, strategy, policy, evaluation and research. Mary has been in the Senior Executive Service and currently holds governance roles across NSW Government. Mary is prequalified as a member to serve on NSW Government Audit and Risk Committees by the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the NSW Public Service Commission, and serves on the Research and Education sub-committee to the Board of the Clinical Excellence Commission. Mary has a PhD in Public Health from University College London and was a Fulbright Scholar. Mary’s current roles include Senior Adviser at the Sax Institute; Adjunct Professor at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, University of Sydney; and Director of Mary Haines Consulting Pty Ltd.

LaVerne Bellear

Ms Kim (LaVerne) Bellear is a proud Bundjalung woman from the North Coast NSW. Her career encompasses over 30 years in health administration in both the public and not for profit sectors. LaVerne is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Medical Service Cooperative Limited (Redfern).

LaVerne has held several senior leadership and directorship roles, with a particular focus on Aboriginal Health reform and improvement. LaVerne is a director for Thirrili Ltd; a national provider of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific suicide postvention support and assistance and is the existing Co-Chair for the Sydney Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Health Partnership — the primary tool for providing advice and expertise on Aboriginal health issues in the Greater Sydney Region.

Her involvement in previous appointments have shaped Aboriginal health strategies locally and nationally. LaVerne is a former Director of the National Aboriginal Community Control Health Organisation (NACCHO,) and former Director and A/CEO of the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council.

LaVerne strongly believes that empowering Aboriginal people will create opportunities to make informed decisions and choices regarding personal management of health care, ultimately resulting in better health outcomes. LaVerne holds a Bachelor of Business has a Professional Certificate in Indigenous Research in Training and Practices and a Graduate Diploma of Public Health, University of NSW.

John McGee

B.Ec., LlB

Mr John McGee has extensive and wide ranging experience as a non-executive director in Australia. His executive career spanned 30 years in the financial markets culminating as Managing Director of BNY Mellon Australia Pty Ltd for nine years, heading up the Bank of New York’s corporate trust operation in Australia. He is also a qualified solicitor having practised for a few years in Sydney and London.

He is a current director of the federal government’s Climate Change Authority and Infrastructure Australia. He recently served on the board of Airservices Australia for four years. John has also served on other boards as a non-executive director. He was Deputy Chair and Chair of the Audit and Compliance Committee of the Private Health Insurance Administrative Council (PHIAC), the regulator of all private health insurers. He served on that board for nine years. Other non-executive board roles have included Westpac Funds Management (where he was Chair of the Audit and Compliance Committee), Delhi Petroleum, and companies in the mortgage and pharmaceutical industries.

In his executive roles, John has also been a director of many subsidiaries and held responsible manager status on various ASIC and APRA licenses. He was also Head of Funds Management, and later Chief Financial Officer, of a listed life insurer.

Ronwyn North

LLB GAICD

Ronwyn North is a professional practice consultant and educator with more than 20 years’ experience providing independent advice in the public, private and not for profit sectors. She is known for her expertise and thought leadership in organisational governance and development, professional practice management and professional risk and ethics exposure, particularly in the legal services sector. Ronwyn was an external member of University of Sydney Senate’s Safety and Risk Management Committee for more than five years and former chair of the Continuing Legal Education Association of Australasia (CLEAA).

Richard Acheson

Mr Richard Acheson has senior management experience with Australian national, state and local governments, and in the not-for-profit sector, with an emphasis on engaging and collaborating with Aboriginal, ethnic and religious communities, and diverse stakeholders at all levels to develop policy, plan and implement projects, manage issues, and resolve disputes. He has represented NSW and advised NSW Ministers at national councils on immigration and multicultural affairs. He was a member of the executive of Multicultural NSW, conducted public inquiries into matters affecting communities in NSW, and has participated on national and state wide boards and committees. He currently mentors individuals and provides advice to small community organisations.

Carmel Tebbutt

Carmel Tebbutt is a former Deputy Premier of NSW, who has worked extensively across the government and non- government sectors. Carmel has a deep understanding of public administration, governance, strategic partnerships, policy development and government decision making. 

Carmel is currently the CEO of Odyssey House, NSW, a leading not-for-profit provider of residential and community alcohol and other drug services and has previously held CEO roles with Mental Health Coordinating Council and Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand. Carmel spent 17 years in the NSW Parliament with 11 years as a Minister, holding many portfolios including Health, Education, Community Services, and the Environment. She has held several board director roles including with Media Super, Mental Health Australia, and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research.

Ray Dib

Ray Dib has over 25 years’ Executive and Board level experience in diverse roles across public, commercial, and not for profit sectors. With an Executive MBA, and extensive financial services experience, Ray specialises in organisational leadership, audit, risk management, and governance. His business career includes roles as a Founder, Non-Executive Director, Chairman, and CEO.

Ray is a Fellow Member of both the Governance Institute of Australia (FGIA) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD). He has grown and exited multiple businesses. He is experienced at managing risk, community stakeholders and financial accountability and held responsible manager status on various ASIC licenses.

Ray is a community and business leader driven by his personal values of making a difference, health, and connection. Having spent years working in professional sport, he understands the value of teamwork, physical and mental health, and the wide-ranging benefits of a society focused on wellness, community connection and collaboration.

Rob Furolo

Rob Furolo is a capable and respected senior executive with experience in public administration, government, policy development, planning and business. He has worked extensively in the public, private and not-for profit sectors over more than 25 years.

Rob currently serves as a senior executive in a Sydney-based construction and development company with responsibility for community engagement, communications and marketing. He is an approved independent expert for Local Planning Panels and has served on panels for a number of Sydney Councils in the past.

As a former local government councillor, mayor and member of the NSW Legislative Assembly, Rob has developed a strong insight into community engagement and representation of diverse and disadvantaged communities. He currently also serves on the board of the Riverwood Community Centre – a not-for-profit neighbourhood centre supporting residents of Riverwood. Prior to his current role, Rob founded, and was the principal of, a specialist consulting business focused on increasing the supply of affordable housing.

Kerry-Anne Hartman

Kerry Anne Hartman is a lawyer with extensive experience in administrative law, migration law and refugee law. Kerry Anne has served as a member of numerous commonwealth bodies including the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, The Refugee Review Tribunal, The Migration Review Tribunal and the Immigration Review Tribunal. She has more than twenty years experience conducting independent merits based reviews of administrative decisions. Kerry-Anne has also worked in private practice and on a panel of Conduct Reviewers for a local Council in NSW.

Dr Paul Hosie

MB BS (Syd), Dip RACOG

Dr Paul Hosie has spent more than 30 years working in direct clinical medicine, and a further four years in immigration medicine as a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth.

Based in Northern NSW, Paul was a principal of a rural general practice in Ballina, and a Visiting Medical Officer (VMO) at Ballina Hospital for more than 20 years. In addition to his general practice work, his hospital duties included Accident and Emergency, inpatient care and obstetric care. He was the State Medical Officer and Police Medical Officer for the Ballina district. He was a member of the Rural Doctors Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). He was also a member of a Commonwealth government-appointed committee analysing performance of Australian divisions of the General Practice network.

Paul subsequently moved to Sydney and worked as a General Practitioner in Sydney’s northern suburbs, and as a VMO at the Mater Hospital, Crows Nest. He is currently a member of the council of the Medical Benevolent Association of NSW/ACT.

Dr John Sammut

MBBS (Hons 1 Syd) FACEM

John has been an employee of the District (and its prior entities) for over 25 years. He has been a senior Staff Specialist in Emergency Medicine for over 20 years, the Director of Grevillea (ICU) for 21 years and the Executive Clinical Director at Canterbury Hospital since the creation of the role in 2009. He is the District Advisor on Emergency Medicine. John was a medical student of Concord Hospital, worked at RPA as a training registrar and later at Concord Hospital as part of his specialist appointments. He was employed by the Clinical Excellence Commission as a senior consultant advisor in Emergency Medicine and worked on the Sepsis Kills program, the rollout of the Between the Flags Program and as a member of the Statewide Root Cause Analysis Committee. He was also responsible for rolling out the SIBR Bedside Rounding Program. He is the immediate Past President of the NSW Medical Council after having spent 9 years in various roles for the Council including Chair of the Conduct and Chair of the Performance Committees.