Board

The Australian Self-Care Alliance is a collaboration between healthcare consumers, health promotion charities, policy experts and industry partners.

We promote self-care as a key component of good health and advocates for the adoption of self-care support as a core element of health service delivery and health policy design in Australia. We are incorporated as a company limited by guarantee and registered as a health promotion charity.

Karen Booth, RN
President
Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association

Karen Booth, RN – Independent Chair

Karen Booth is a Registered Nurse with a keen interest in health policy, workforce development and advocating for the role of the nurse in primary care. Karen is currently the President of the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA), a position which she has held for the past six years. She has worked as a manager in general practice and has set up systems to support a team approach to care, including nurse clinics for preventative health and supporting people with chronic health conditions. Karen is currently a member of the Primary Health Reform Steering Group advising the Commonwealth on the National Ten-Year Primary Health Plan and the primary care committees of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care. Karen is passionate about self-care because prevention is a key role for nurses.

Dr Andrew Cottrill - Director

Dr Andrew Cottrill is Chief Medical Officer for HCF, Australia’s largest not-for-profit private health insurer. He joined HCF in 2004 and during that time he has been responsible for chronic disease management programs, clinical governance, doctor networks and utilisation review (analytics). Andrew is a pioneer of self-care having initiated Australia’s largest chronic disease management program which has supported 51,000 people with chronic conditions to reduce complications leading to hospitalisation. He is a reviewer for the HCF Research Foundation, a fellow of the International Federation of Health Plans and is a member of their Expert Panel on Clinical Effectiveness and High-Cost Drugs. Since 2017 he has been a member of the Research Advisory Committee for the National Foundation of Medical Research and Innovation.

Dr Andrew Cottrill
Chief Medical Officer
HCF

Giulia Jones
CEO – Painaustralia

Giulia Jones – Director

Giulia Jones is a highly accomplished political and not-for-profit leader with broad experience, including serving as ACT Shadow Health Minister, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, working with trade unions and undertaking board directorship, media advisory, and federal and state policy development. In addition to her governmental expertise and established networks, Giulia also brings a successful track record in robust advocacy, strategy development, organisational excellence, and fundraising. A passionate advocate for the members and stakeholders she serves, she specialises in creating compelling programs that build widespread awareness, foster engagement, and drive positive change. Mrs Jones not only has a deep understanding of the health system but a genuine empathy for people suffering from health-related issues born from personal and close family experiences.

Ben Harris – Director

Ben Harris is the Director, Policy and Research, at Private Healthcare Australia. An economist by training, Ben has been working in health and community services policy for over thirty years. He has worked for governments, professional associations and consumer groups, as well as a stint with the Australian Health Policy Collaboration where he contributed to the development of ‘Self-Care for Health: A National Policy Blueprint’, which underpins the work of the Alliance. Ben has long promoted self-care, health equity and reducing the burden of treatment. His publications include Australia’s Mental and Physical Health Tracker, and Australia’s Health Tracker by Socio-economic Status.

Ben Harris
Director, Policy and Research
Private Healthcare Australia

Professor Sharon Lawn
College of Medicine and Public Health
Flinders University

Professor Sharon Lawn – Director

Professor Sharon Lawn is a lived experience researcher at Flinders University and is Executive Director of Lived Experience Australia. Her research has included a focus on the service system interface, self-management, physical health and mental health, peer work, service user and family perspectives, and addictions. She is a former SA Mental Health Commissioner and Director of Flinders University’s Psychiatry Research Unit. Prior to academia, Sharon worked in mental health, aged care, and disability services. She has led many research projects examining the involvement of service users and their families in shared care, with a particular focus on the person’s expertise and experience in self-care. Sharon is a passionate advocate who believes that human rights sit at the core of self-care.

A/ Prof Steve Morris – Director

Steve Morris is currently CEO of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. Previous roles include those of CEO Arthritis South Australia and CEO NPS Medicinewise. Prior to that he was Executive Director SA Pharmacy and Chief Pharmacist, SA Health, having responsibility for the delivery of statewide pharmacy services to the public sector within South Australia. He has worked in numerous clinical and managerial roles within health spanning pharmacy practice, including community, hospital, primary care, industry and NGO sectors. Prior to moving to Australia, he was the Deputy Chief Executive of the National Prescribing Centre in the UK an organisation which supported pharmacists working within General Practice . He has a keen interest in self-care, medicines safety, health literacy and strategies which enhance the impact of pharmacists on patient outcomes.

A/ Prof Steve Morris
CEO – Pharmaceutical Society of Australia

Randall Pearce
Managing Director
THINK: Insight & Advice Pty Ltd

Randall Pearce – Director & Company Secretary

Randall Pearce is one of Australia’s foremost experts in not-for-profit management. A former association CEO, management consultant, board chair and executive coach, Randall has worked to maximise the performance and governance of some of the nation’s top peak bodies, associations, NGOs and government agencies. He is managing director of THINK: Insight & Advice, a consultancy that works with leaders in the not-for-profit sector and government.

Randall brings a background in politics and policy from his native Canada where he advised a former Canadian Prime Minister and led several successful business and social justice campaigns. Randall made Sydney his permanent home in 2003 and started THINK: Insight & Advice in 2006. He has worked to support the development of the Australian Self-Care Alliance since 2015.

In addition to his Board role as Company Secretary, Randall also serves as the Public Officer of the Alliance.

Dr Deon Schoombie – Director

Dr Deon Schoombie is a qualified medical practitioner whose career journey has taken him through clinical practice, hospital management, private business, healthcare advertising and the pharmaceutical industry. Deon has been the CEO of Consumer Healthcare Products Australia, the peak body for the non-prescription medicines industry, since 2010. He is also a member of the board of the world body of the industry, the Global Self Care Federation, based in Geneva. Deon is one of the first and strongest advocates for the adoption of self-care in national health and care policy in Australia. As CEO of CHP Australia, he has supported the development of an Australian Self-Care Alliance over many years. He believes responsible self-care is vital in improving individual and public health outcomes and contributing towards creating a sustainable health and care system.

Dr Deon Schoombie
CEO
Consumer Healthcare Products Australia

Professor Rosemary Calder, AM
Professor of Health Policy
Mitchell Institute of Health Victoria University

Professor Rosemary Calder, AM – Policy Advisor

Professor Rosemary Calder is a respected health and social policy expert. She is Professor of Health Policy at the Mitchell Institute of Health at Victoria University in Melbourne, Victoria. She is also director of the highly successful Australian Health Policy Collaboration after which the Australian Self-Care Alliance is modelled. Rosemary has extensive experience working in and with peak non-government organisations in health and social issues. She has held positions as a senior executive in health policy and administration in both state and Australian departments of health and was head of the Office for the Status of Women in the Australian Government and served as Chief of Staff to a state minister for Health. Rosemary and her team at the Mitchell Institute have conducted the foundational research into self-care in Australia including the 2017 literature review, The State of Self-Care in Australia, and most recently, our landmark 2020 report, Self-Care for all: A national policy blueprint. Rosemary is committed to self-care because she believes it is important that consumers and clinicians ‘listen to one another’. She says, ‘the best way to change healthcare is to change how we support people to navigate their way through the system’.