Community Health Navigator Forum 2025

Susan Pearce AM is Secretary, NSW Health, appointed in March 2022. In this role, Susan is responsible for the management of the NSW health system - with over 142,000 FTE and a budget of over $30 billion - to ensure the provision of world-class, patient-centred care to the people of NSW.

Prior to her recent appointment, Susan was Deputy Secretary, Patient Experience and System Performance Division, a position she has held from November 2015. In that role, Susan had responsibility for the oversight of front-end service delivery and system performance and management across NSW Health, and improving patient experience.

Susan was also the Controller of the State Health Emergency Operations Centre (SHEOC), responsible for directing and overseeing NSW Health’s operational response to the pandemic. From February 2021, Susan led the NSW Health vaccine rollout program, establishing over 40 NSW Health vaccination clinics and more than 100 mobile, outreach and pop-up locations across the state to contribute to the high vaccination rate that have been achieved amongst the people of NSW.

Susan began her career as a registered nurse more than 30 years ago in Broken Hill and has continually worked to serve the communities of NSW, including working in number of Local Health Districts and subsequently as the NSW Chief Nurse. Susan has qualifications in Law and was admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW as a solicitor in September 2019.

Susan was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in April 2023.

RN PhD 
Co-Director of the International Centre for Future Health Systems

Professor Patricia M. Davidson has served as Vice Chancellor and President of the University of Wollongong and dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore in the United States. Her work focuses on person-centred care delivery and the improvement of the lives of people living with chronic and complex conditions.  She is particularly focussed on how social determinants of health moderate health outcomes and is nationally and internationally recognised as a leader in nursing, health and medical science. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Distinguished Leader Award. This honour celebrates her exceptional contributions to the advancement of global health.

Associate Professor Michael Wright a general practitioner (GP), health economist and health services researcher based at the International Centre for Future Health Systems at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Michael’s research interests include evaluating the value of primary care within the broader health systems, the impact of primary care funding and policy on health outcomes. Michael is currently national President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Paula Kruger is an accomplished media leader and communicator with more than 30 years of experience. She has worked in various roles, including broadcast journalist, radio presenter, manager, trainer, recruiter, and talent development.

Most recently, Paula served as the Managing Director of Sydney radio station 2SER, where her leadership grew the audience and revitalised volunteers while providing career pathways for young people entering the industry. Before that, she enjoyed a long career with the ABC, working in management, editorial, and on-air roles in Sydney, Canberra, and Perth.

Paula is passionate about journalism and ensuring that the people who have the privilege of telling our stories reflect Australia’s rich and diverse cultural landscape. Her life has celebrated this diversity; she grew up in both Australia and Fiji and takes immense pride in her Australian, Indigenous Fijian, and Indian Fijian heritage.

In the early 1990s, fuelled by a desire to embrace the call for Australia to “engage with Asia,” she ventured to the vibrant city of Bangkok, where she began her media career. There, she spent four transformative years working with journalists and media professionals from Thailand and around the world, enriching her understanding of industry disruption and diverse perspectives.

Liz is foundation director of CHETRE (Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation in Liverpool LHD) and HERDU (Health Equity Research and Development Unit in Sydney LHD).  Her main research interest is in health equity, health impact assessment and unemployment and health.  She is retired but continues to be involved in research in Community Health Navigators.

Fiona brings extensive experience in nursing and rural health service management to her work. Her research focuses primarily on rural and remote health and social care challenges. She is particularly passionate about developing strategies that help individuals with complex health conditions and difficult life circumstances navigate fragmented health and social care systems to achieve their best possible health outcomes.

As the Executive Director for Clinical Services Integration and Population Health for Sydney Local Health District Lou-Anne has senior executive responsibility for a broad portfolio and ensuring the development and delivery of models of care that are striving to address inequities of service access for priority communities across the District.  The portfolio provides the majority of services provided in the community with an emphasis on community, whole of government and non-government partnerships, including strong integration with the primary care sector. Lou-Anne has worked in the public health system for over 40 years commencing as an allied health clinician before moving to policy and planning within NSW Health and other senior Executive roles within metropolitan and rural NSW health services. She holds tertiary qualifications in Science and Physiotherapy and a Masters in Public Management, a graduate of the Australian Institute for Company Directors and the Premier’s NSW Leadership Academy.  Lou-Anne’s broad portfolio experience and networks contributes towards the development, implementation and evaluation of integration initiatives, and collaborative cross agency and community partnerships across Sydney Local Health District.  Committed to equity and delivery of care to the most vulnerable in the community, in her senior executive role she considers herself privileged to work with multidisciplinary teams that continue to strive for better lives for all in the community.

Anthony is the Chief Executive Officer of Health Consumers NSW (HCNSW). HCNSW is the peak consumer group in NSW; it is an independent, membership-based charity that works to ensure that the consumer voice is heard and that health consumers, carers and their families are involved in the decisions that impact them. Anthony has over 30 years’ experience working with consumer and community organisations, he also led the research team at the Men’s Health Information and Resource Centre (MHIRC) at Western Sydney University, where he obtained his PhD in 2014 focusing on Retired Men's Community Engagement. He is a Partner Investigator on the Community Health Workers Extending Care into the Community research project. In 2022 he was awarded the Consumer Award, by the Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity at the University of NSW, for his contributions to building partnerships between service users, researchers and other stakeholders.

Tish is the Executive Director, Health and Social Policy Branch at the Ministry of Health. The Branch is responsible for the development, implementation and governance of health policy and strategy in areas across the life course from maternity to aged care and includes a focus on people from a range of priority populations including people with a disability. Tish has worked in the NSW public health sector as a clinician and manager for over 30 years and has a continuing interest in working to improve equity of health and wellbeing outcomes across the population.

BA.App.Sc.Physio: Grad Dip Ger: GAICD

Rene graduated as a physiotherapist in 1989 working in clinical and management roles for the first 14 years. He then gravitated to leadership roles in both the public health and not for profit health sector. In 2003 he became the CEO of the Macarthur Division of General Practice, ceasing this role in 2015 as CEO of the South Western Sydney Primary Health Network. Over the last decade he continues to perform some consultancy work coupled with various Board Directorships within the health and disability sectors, including Chair of Central Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network. His passion remains firmly with his family, coupled with an enduring commitment to ensuring community and health provider voices, are at the forefront of primary health care improvement.

Sarah is the Senior Project Officer International Centre for Future Health Systems (UNSW) and coordinates the Community Health workers Extending Care in the Community (CHECC) study, a randomised controlled trial aiming to reduce repeat hospitalisations among elderly and chronically ill patients. Before joining UNSW, she spent five years at Family Planning NSW. Sarah holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Western Sydney University, where she investigated bilingualism as a neuroprotective factor in cognitive aging. She also holds undergraduate degrees in Social Sciences (Social Psychology & Social Research) and Psychology (Honours). With considerable experience in public health, she has worked on projects related to chronic disease, healthy aging, community health, sexual and reproductive health, and nurse/midwife-led models of care.  Sarah is passionate about addressing health inequities, healthcare accessibility, and the social determinants of health and wellbeing through a lifespan approach to physical and cognitive health.

Kath has over 30 years’ experience as a mental health worker, educator, and consultant, and lived experience as a close family member/carer, Kath is a casual researcher at the International Centre for Future Health Systems (ICFHS) having recently completed a PhD with ICFHS exploring the processes and outcomes of co-design to address physical health disparities experienced by mental health consumers, with a focus on primary care. Kath is also co-director and co-founder of inside out & associates Australia, which is recognised for expertise in collaborative approaches to co-producing knowledge and improvements to mental health services, resources and practice with an emphasis on lived expertise. Kath has significant experience co-leading and managing a range of co-design and co-production projects and co-facilitating co-design processes. Kath was awarded Outstanding Co-design at the 2024 Equally Well Symposium and is co-author of the Co-design Kickstarter.

Shane is currently employed by Sydney Local Health District Integrated Care team as the Manager of the Healthy Living Program. His role involves Health Navigation and design of programs and support services for social housing residents. He recently completed a three-year project training 22 social housing residents in Waterloo Sydney to be peer educators. They delivered over 35 health workshops to community. He has previously been nominated by the Sydney Local Health District for a NSW Health Award for his work with residents in Waterloo. Shane was also the founder and CEO of and NGO, Weave Youth and Community Services where he worked for 35 years. Shane led the development of the very first AOD and mental health program in a youth Centre in NSW and in 2019 won a lifetime achievement award from The Network of Alcohol and other drug agencies for work in this field. He also received a lifetime achievement award from NSW Youth Action for work with young people. He was awarded an OAM in 2020 for his work providing counselling and youth services in the Redfern Waterloo community.

Rebecca is currently the Director of the Victorian Centre for Virtual Health Research and Acting Director of Research at Northern Health. Rebecca is an expert in health literacy, and her research focuses on different types of interventions to improve access to care, including digital interventions and health navigators. Rebecca led a Workforce Training and Innovation project with Medibank and Swinburne to develop a new Certificate III in Community Services focused on the role of health navigators. Rebecca currently leads the Volunteer Peer Health Navigator project, a Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund collaboration with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Monash University, and La Trobe University. This initiative empowers cancer patients by providing peer-led support to navigate complex healthcare systems.

Tamara is the Director of Future Workforce, NSW Ministry of Health and leads a program of work that is future proofing the healthcare workforce in NSW through scanning and identifying trends and disruptors impacting on critical levers for workforce skill mix supply and demand, whilst provoking innovative thinking to empower a prepared and continually evolving future ready NSW Health workforce. Tamara has more than 25 years’ experience shaping and setting organisational directions and driving outcomes in the Healthcare sector.

Brendan is the General Manager of Primary and Community Care Improvement at the Central and Eastern Sydney PHN.  He leads teams in general practice and allied health support, population health, disability, digital health, immunisation, disaster management, urgent care and supervisors post graduate students and has responsibility for research.  His work has focussed on achieving health gains for priority population groups and is particularly committed to finding innovative service solutions to long standing issues and driving an agenda for sustainable change.