Governing Committee

Antonio Russo is a passionate advocate for accessible, affordable, safe and quality health care. As Chair of the CHF Governing Committee, he aims to further entrench CHF in the health landscape and promote consumer participation, thus centring consumers to shape health in Australia to meet their needs.

Antonio believes it is important for consumers to engage with the health sector and bring the consumer perspective to health decisions. It is equally important for the health sector to respect consumers and treat their concerns fairly.

Every consumer has a story and each story has its own perspective, or colour. These colours become the rainbow that is the consumer need in health care. CHF brings those rainbow colours together to make the white light that spotlights health consumer issues and the need for change. Antonio aims to intensify that light. His main interest is improving the safety and quality of health care in Australia for all.

Antonio is a member of Health Rights and Community Action (South Australia), a community group dedicated to promoting the consumer focus in health services. He has been a consumer representative on a number or safety and quality and health professional training committees and was a former chair of the CHF Safety and Quality Reference Group.

Vice Chairperson Diane Walsh has been on the CHF Governing Committee since 2002. She has a long association with consumer organisations, and has been a consumer representative in the Northern Territory since 1998 and nationally since 2000.

With her election to the Board of Management of the Top End Division of General Practice in 2007, Diane became the first consumer Chair of a Division of General Practice. She is also the Chair of the National Prescribing Service (NPS) Community Quality Use of Medicines Working Group, a consumer advocate on the Australian Medical Council, Alternate Director of NPS and a consumer representative on several committees, including Medicare Australia Consumer Consultative Group and Therapeutic Goods Committee.

Diane believes that the new political climate and changes in the health arena offer great opportunity for consumers to meet the challenges of the current health environment. She is particularly interested and involved in health workforce issues and medicines regulation and policy and quality use of medicines. She has also been involved in implementing an effective model for consumer led community engagement in health.

Diane was nominated to the Governing Committee by the Consumer Reference Group, General Practice Network NT, an has links to many health networks in the Territory, including rural and remote organisations.

Stephen Murby is the CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Victoria and current Chairperson of the Chronic Illness Alliance Inc (Vic). He believes the major public health challenge for Australia over the next two decades will be people living with multiple condition chronic illness; with consumers having an important role in how the nation addresses the issues emerging from this challenge.

Stephen's most recent experience and perspective relate largely to invisible illness; particularly people living with a multiple condition chronic illness that is largely unknown or often misunderstood in the community. He has a wealth of knowledge and resources from a wide range of organisations both in Australia and overseas.

Prior to joining Cystic Fibrosis Victoria, Stephen was a strategic business development and innovation consultant working in the not-for-profit sector and from 1995-2004 he was a Vice President of Swinburne University of Technology.

Tim Benson has been Chairman of the Health Consumers' Council of WA since 2006. He has been an active health consumer since 1996 and recognises the value of consumer participation in health care. His particular area of interest is ambulatory care and chronic conditions, together with the diagnosis and management of long-term illness.

Tim currently represents consumers and the community on a number of committees, including: North Metropolitan Area Health Service (NMAHS) Community Advisory Council, Physiotherapists' Registration Board of Western Australia and the Complaints Assessment Committee of the Board, Australian Government Department of Heath and Ageing Quality Use of Pathology Technical Reference Group, WA Health Endocrinology Health Network, Diabetes Western Australia Board of Management , NMAHS Ambulatory Care Service Community Advisory Group, the Diabetes Consumer Reference Group (WA), and WA Clinical Senate.

Previously he has represented consumers on the Osborne Park Hospital Community Advisory Council, Osborne Division of General Practice Consumer Reference Group, and the joint Commonwealth/WA Health GP Hospital Integration Project.

Tim holds qualifications in business administration, company administration, accounting, and psychology, as well as being a certified Internal Quality Auditor for ISO9000 (QAS).

Ainslie Cahill is keen to ensure that consumers play a meaningful role in health policy. The CEO of Arthritis Australia is a passionate advocate who supports the need for consumers to influence health care policy through their relevant illness-based organisation and through CHF, the peak health consumer organisation.

Ainslie believes in the power of the consumer voice to get better health outcomes. She supports community participation in government, proactive intervention in decisions that affect consumers, fairness and equity, and greater participation of women in advisory roles and decision making. She has a special interest in aged care; for 20 years she has voluntarily helped independent-living and residential-care elders in a variety of ways.

Ainslie has held senior management positions in consumer health education, promotion and advocacy; vocational education; marketing and communications; publishing; and film, television and theatre production. She has served as Board Member of TAFE NSW ' Western Sydney Institute and worked for a state government MP.

Ainslie was nominated to the Governing Committee by Arthritis Australia, a consumer peak organisation.

John Daye was nominated to the CHF Governing Committee by the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA). He was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2003 for service to the community as an advocate for people with HIV/AIDS, particularly in the provision of support and treatment services.

John advocates that delivering healthcare to people with HIV/AIDS ' or other chronic conditions ' is much more than drug treatment; it is a partnership with health care professionals, researchers, government and the pharmaceutical industry to ensure health service delivery is holistic and multidisciplinary, thus delivering better health and lifestyle outcomes for individuals.

John's background is in nursing and mental health services, particularly in psychiatric and substance abuse services. He is a current director and former president of NAPWA Victoria and is the co-convenor of the NAPWA Health, Treatments and Research Portfolio. He is a Director on the Board of the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men's Health Centre and serves on a number of Ministerial Advisory Committees on health issues. His consumer representative responsibilities include positions on the Alfred Hospital HIV Advisory Care Committee, Working Groups of the National Centre of HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, the Community Advisory Committee of Bayside Health, as well as the Board of the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. He is also a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Collaborative Fund and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition on HIV. He is a regular contributor to state, national and international conferences, committees and projects.

Russell returns to the Governing Committee after previous terms from 2000 to 2006, including Vice-Chairperson from 2002 to 2006 and Secretary from 2001to 2002. He is also the Immediate Past President of the Health Care Consumers' Association of the ACT, which he presided over for ten years, and was appointed as the Consumer Commissioner on the Australian Safety and Quality in Health Care in December 2008.

Russell's objective for CHF is to reinforce the effective national voice of consumers in national healthcare reform through a well constructed and implemented strategic vision. He is an advocate for self management of chronic conditions, better integrated primary health care services and improved safety and quality in health care. He would like to see new alliances between CHF and other progressive health care groups that result in more engagement of CHF members in the national health care reform agenda.

Following a bone marrow transplant in the early 1990s, Russell lives with an ongoing chronic condition that led to his early retirement from the paid workforce. His career had included field work, teaching, policy and program management in the public and community sectors, mainly involving employment, training and education for Indigenous people. Since retiring, he has used his governance expertise on numerous national level boards and committees including the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, the Australian General Practice Network, Cancer Council of Australia, the Australian Screening Advisory Committee and the National Blood Authority. He is also an elected member of the executive of the Australian Healthcare Reform Alliance.

Russell was nominated to the CHF Governing Committee by the Health Care Consumers' Association of the ACT.

Sheila Rimmer is the longest serving member of the CHF Governing Committee, which she joined in 1998. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2000 for service to the welfare of the aged through the Council on the Ageing Australia, and as an advocate for improved services and the promotion of developing a more positive image of ageing in the community. She was awarded the Australian Federation Medal in 2002 for services in the area of health and ageing.

Sheila has an immense knowledge of the CHF organisational corporate history and has seen CHF go from strength to strength. She is a consumer representative on a number of national and state committees, including a former NSW and national President of the Council of the Ageing (COTA). She has a special interest in important issues for older people, including the safe use of medicines, appropriate medicines information and self management of chronic conditions. She has a particular interest in preventative health, which increases quality of life and reduces expenditure on the health budget.

Sheila was nominated to the Governing Committee by the Council on the Ageing (SA). She is currently a consumer advocate on the Medical Services Advisory Committee and Australian Medical Council Accreditation of Specialist Colleges Committee, and a senior consumer representative on the Medicines Australia Monitoring Committee (Code of Conduct).

With a background in consumer engagement and patient safety and quality improvement, as well as business, banking and finance and occupational health and safety, Stephanie is passionate about advocating for and ensuring the perspectives of consumers inform every level and area of the health system. Stephanie believes that the unique perspective and experiential wisdom that consumers bring to the table in partnership is critical to ensuring the provision of safe, high quality, effective and responsive health care.

Stephanie is a member of Health Consumers Alliance SA and a past member of the Alliance's Management Committee. She is a foundation member and current global Patient Safety Champion of the World Health Organisation's World Alliance for Patient Safety - Patients for Patient Safety, a member of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's Consumer Engagement Advisory Committee and the Clinical Handover Advisory Committee, the Flinders Medical Centre Consumer Council and the SA Department of Health's Safety and Quality Consumer and Community Advisory Committee, currently holding the position of Chair. She is nominated by CHF to the Australian Government's Department of Health and Ageing Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation,

Stephanie is nominated to the CHF Governing Committee by the Cochrane Consumer Network.

Moya's involvement with Health Consumers of Rural and Remote Australia (HCRRA) affords her a strong link with grass roots health issues. With a health career spanning 30 years, her professional interests lie in the areas of rural and remote health, community capacity building, business management, professional development and communication.

She is currently a Service Manager and Community Aged Care Package Coordinator. Through this position and her past roles as Practice Nurse Manager of a busy rural medical practice for 15 years and Course Coordinator/Teacher in Business Studies at the Wide Bay Institute of TAFE for 5 years, she has a broad knowledge base and associated expertise in all aspects of rural health, business administration and government policy on aged care.

Moya has held executive positions with the Queensland Rural Women's Network (QRWN), chaired the QRWHN BridgIT project, and was Treasurer/State Convenor for Women in Vocational Education (WAVE). Her passion and active participation in rural and remote health issues led to her appointment in 1996 to the Queensland Ministerial Rural Health Advisory Council, which provides strategic advice and recommendations on rural health policies to the health minister; she was re-appointed recently for a third term.

Moya was nominated to the CHF Governing Committee by Health Consumers of Rural and Remote Australia Inc. Currently, she also represents HCRRA on Queensland Health State Recognised Practice Committee for the Rural Generalist program and the Queensland Health Griffith/Bond University Medical Bonded Scholarship Area of Priority Reference Group.