Alex Carbonetti

I have a commitment to social justice and the protection of the rights and dignity of people, who are disadvantaged or marginalised. I work to assist human services organisations build contemporary, person-centred practices that recognise human and legal rights. My learning and development background showed me the significance of an organisation’s culture in supporting the competency of staff, and the importance of keeping a focus on purpose with straightforward systems and tools to support the work.

I have over 20 years’ experience in the disability sector coming from a learning and development background. My ten years’ experience as a quality assessor has given me the opportunity to assess many organisations across the community services sector and I have been conducting NDIS audits for five years. Through this work I have the privilege of meeting and talking to so many people working to support and assist others and hearing from clients about the impact of the service on their life.

I work as a consultant in the community services and disability sector: training people at all organisational levels; supporting organisations to build contemporary systems and practices; and reviewing and developing policies and resources.

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Alicia McGowan

I enjoy helping people in our communities by creating better lives for those that voices may not get heard. I was drawn to HDAA due to their purpose. As I believe we all deserve high quality Health and Human Services.

I have a background in not-for-profit Employment Services, Telecommunications and Retail. With 20 years of customer service. I enjoy working alongside a team that has a shared goal with people in the forefront. I am looking forward to completing my Auditing qualifications in the near future.

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Allison Rahman

I have a strong belief that quality practices deliver quality services. I have seen firsthand how quality systems and procedures can improve organisations and result in staff feeling valued and are able to provide quality, safe and successful outcomes for their clients. I started my career in the Legal Industry and Human Resources sectors when I quickly realised, I liked helping people and had a passion for improving the lives of our most vulnerable people.

I have owned and operated my own disability services for over 11 years and had personal family experience which has driven my passion to make a difference. I have sat on the other side of the table for many years and understand the importance of being audited and the value it can add to an organisation. I currently run and own three businesses, one within the disability sector. I am driven by successful outcomes of the clients I support and love working in a role that makes a real difference.

I am a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, I have a Diploma in Human Resources and Business and currently completing my Bachelor of Psychology.

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Amie Hancock

I have a passion for working with people and making a positive difference in people’s lives andthe world we live. I believe I’m achieving this both within and outside my role with HDAA every day. I have over 7 years’ experience in healthcare which include nursing in both private and public hospitals, aged care, and dentistry. I also have more than 11 years’ experience in administration. Currently I provide support and assistance for the Diagnostic Imaging and Accreditation Standards (DIAS) and dental practices in scope of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHSS).

I enjoy being active within the community wherever I can by volunteering and getting involved with fundraisers. I have a Diploma in Nursing and hold current registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

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Andrew Gillespie

I love to walk in my client’s shoes and become an integral part of their compliance journey. I striveto understand the big picture of compliance and how it improves the lives of consumers. I take the time to build an open relationship and appreciate my client’s approach to, and understanding of the standards, and not just go through the motions of ticking boxes.

I have been a passionate practitioner of continuous improvement, assessment, and compliance management for over 20 years. I am Principal of a boutique management systems consultancy and an active member of Rotary International.

I have spent the majority of my engineering career in executive management and hold qualifications in electrical and electronic engineering, project management, quality auditing, energy efficiency auditing and training & assessment. I am a Queensland Commissioner for Declarations and Commonwealth Registered Marriage Celebrant.

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Anika Rozario

I am passionate about improving our communities’ health and wellbeing and ensuring everyone can access the same resources. As an assessor, I have the opportunity to create this change in our communities and ensure our services are providing the best possible care. I have a background in public health and worked in organisations that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of communities in Victoria. As part of this, I volunteer as a program consultant at an organisation called Community Health Advancement and Student Engagement (CHASE), which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of Victorian youth by teaching them about preventative health.

I hold a Bachelor of Health Science (Honours).

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Anne Li

I am passionate about supporting workers and organisations to provide high quality services for their patients and clients.

I am a social worker with 20 years’ experience in hospital social work and 7 years' experience as a manager of social work teams. I have prepared for and participated in 10 accreditation assessment processes as a clinician, manager, and accreditation champion.

I have visited hospitals in Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, and Hobart as the social work representative on multidisciplinary peer review panels and consider it a privilege to help teams review their processes while acknowledging their expertise and passion for their work.

I have Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Social Work, a Diploma of Neuroscience of Leadership, and a Graduate Certificate of Primary Health Care Research.

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Anthea Jackson

I love working with people and organisations who want to make an impact through deliveringquality services to their communities. I particularly value the opportunity to work alongside organisations to identify strengths, areas for improvement and how to move forward. I’m a believer in continuous improvement and capacity building and being an assessor enables me to assist organisations on their own continuous improvement journey.

I have worked in early childhood, disability, housing and health and human service sectors, both government and not for profit. My experience includes: direct service delivery in child and family services; senior management in multi-functional and integrated services; policy advisor; and Board membership. I have assessed Aboriginal controlled services, disability services, housing providers, peak bodies and human and health services across a range of services including: Human Service Standards (HSS), National Standards for Mental Health Service; and NDIS Practice Standards.

In my consultancy, I work alongside organisations to develop innovative, practical and quality solutions to support their work, improve how they do business and address challenges they’re facing. I work with organisations to set their strategic direction, secure funds and new services and programs, measure impact, develop policies, procedures and practice, get ready for accreditation and audit, and much more. I hold a Masters of Social Work and post graduate qualification in human resource management and training and development.

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Bernadette Barry

As an assessor, I see each assessment as a privilege to work with clients, providers and staff to inspire, enhance and contribute to organisational capacity to ensure quality, access, care and opportunities are afforded to everyone.

I have over thirty years’ experience working in not for profit, government and corporate sectors representing Disability services, Child Protection, Domestic Violence, Residential and Out of Home Care focussing on program development and service delivery for children and families experiencing significant disadvantage. I am currently a consultant to the NFP, Human Services, Early Childhood and NDIS Sectors in business growth, development, governance and compliance. I also have an association with an NDIS Plan Management provider in NSW and this gives me great insight into the delivery of NDIS services.

My qualifications include Diploma, Specialist Early Childhood; Graduate Diploma, Education; Master of Education (Adult Ed.) and Diploma of Quality Auditing.

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Brooke Sims

I am driven by delivering positive outcomes for vulnerable people within our community.With a keen interest in streamlined processes, systems and client interaction, I have the opportunity to integrate both my passions and professional skills working with HDAA. I come from a strong client-focused Government background, where I was also involved in assessments of processes within a different industry. I have always centred my work around continuous improvement and delivering results. I am looking forward to furthering my knowledge within HDAA.

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Carly Gudgion

Being an “empath” has always been a huge part of my identity, and I consider myself driven by my need to help others. I try to do so by being unconditionally kind, considerate and compassionate to everyone I meet, ultimately being described as a big people-pleaser. Always thinking of others and ways in which I can assist those around me takes up most of my time – so why not make it my job! I come from a veterinary background, working as a vet nurse in the UK and Australia. The veterinary industry is chock full of compassionate people of course, and unfortunately with this compassion comes Compassion Fatigue. My veterinary career ended in this way, and with it came some disabilities. These disabilities gave me the kick I needed to move over to the human health services field instead, and eventually to the HDAA team, and I couldn’t be happier!

Outside of this industry, I am currently studying a Bachelor of Environmental and Earth Science – I hope to never stop learning. I have completed training by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission for Approved Quality Auditors, Disability Awareness and Worker Orientation, alongside the SBS’s Cultural Competency Program.

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Caroline Jeffs

I have a very strong sense of social justice, particularly around access to education, housing, health and social supports. I want to leave the planet knowing, that in some small way, I made a difference to those people who crossed my path, be it through friendship, advocacy or something I did that made a positive difference to them. I feel like joining HDAA enables me to do that in my work life and consider myself fortunate to work with such a great team of people.

I have an extensive background in improving the quality of health services, across a variety of organisations and roles, including a Commission, Registration body and hospital and health service. I believe that bringing people with you, creates positive and meaningful change, and I always strive to work empathically and collaboratively with all stakeholders and team members. I ran a volunteer program finding homes for ex-harness racing horses for over 15 years and retired from that role a few years ago. I am currently not attached to any external organisations.

After settling in with HDAA, I am looking forward to taking on some part-time study in 2023. My tertiary qualifications are unrelated to health or human services. I moved into this field when I accepted a part-time job with the Health Rights Commission in Queensland. I fell in love with the work, and continued to grow my skills across a variety of roles and organisations.

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Cheryl de Blaquiere

I value the ethos of Quality Management Assessments and its focus on continuous improvement. Being an assessor is a great job for coming alongside people, sharing their journey, and working together towards attaining the best possible outcomes. It’s such a nice feeling to be able to let organisations know about all the great processes they have in place and what they have achieved. In turn, this also enables me to provide support and encouragement if gaps are identified. I enjoy meeting with clients too, knowing I can be a voice for them if they need this.

I have experience with a broad spectrum of non-profit services ranging from children through to aged care which has progressed throughout a life-time career primarily in this sector. I apply my Governance and Accounting qualifications to provide consultancy and Pro Bono services for board training and development as well as establishing governance frameworks, both locally and overseas.

My main qualifications are: Master of Commerce, Diploma of Governance, Diploma of Quality Auditing, Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) /Business English and current certification as an Exemplar Global QMS Lead Auditor and NDIS approved auditor.

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Claire Curtin

Improvement and value add in systems and in life is a passion of mine. Respect, integrity, honesty, and communication are key in bringing out the best in people and practice and as an assessor it is rewarding to see client systems, and people within, becoming more confident along their system journey.

I have worked in systems and compliance roles for over 20yrs across a wide range of sectors and industry developing and implementing certified and accredited management systems, including governance and operations. Through consultancy I work alongside organisations in multiple service areas; provide coaching and mentoring on management systems; external audit readiness; and supporting the development of training resources. I am an advocate, in particular, of the Deaf community.

I have qualifications in Business, Management, Training and Assessment; and maintain lead auditor and assessor qualifications across Aged Care, NDIS, Disability Employment Services, Human Services Quality Framework, Quality, Safety, Environment, Asset, Information Security, and food Safety.

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Clarisa Rahmat

For me, being a quality management professional is the best way I can contribute to the wonderful services I see being delivered every day. I work as an auditor/assessor because I love human services, and ever since I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to work in this sector.

I have 15 years’ experience in the human services sector as a quality management professional, with a focus on capacity building and business improvement. I have worked with many different quality standards over the years across small to large organisations. I have completed over 100 audits as an external auditor, mostly in the NDIS Practice Standards and Human Services Quality Standards. I have audited organisations with services such as aged care, disability services, child protection, family support, domestic and family violence, sexual violence, and mental health programs.

I have a quality management consultancy called The Quality Nerd where I specialise in writing organisational documents and supporting organisations to develop strengths and skills in managing quality and meeting standards. I have Graduate Certificates in Human Services, Evaluation, and am currently Studying the Foundations of Sexology. I would like to acknowledge First Nations people as the Traditional Custodians of the land I live and work on, and pay my respects to elders past and present.

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Eleanor Skinner

I strongly believe in the importance of an impartial, external voice to ensure standards are met across a sector, that problems in care or service provision are identified & to ensure that consumers are supported to have their voices heard. My prior experience involved a similar role of assessment & consumer advocacy for NSW Health, so I am excited to bring my skills and passion for best practice & quality improvement to the aged care sector, as well as continuing to expand my knowledge.

My background is in Psychology and mental health, including a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from Western Sydney University. Since 2014 I worked for NSW Health, first with headspace and later with the Official Visitor’s Program in an assessment & advocacy role.

My other qualifications include several language courses with both UNSW & MQU. I speak fluent French & Spanish and some basic German & Greek. My love of languages is another skill I bring to the job, with an understanding that consumers from diverse backgrounds, especially those with low English, can face particular challenges which should be considered in their care.

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Gary Bourke

I have a passion for people and services committed to working with vulnerable and complex people. My goal has always been to create the organisation conditions and service contexts and environments which allow great people to do great work. I have a passion for innovative and strategic thinking, organisational adaptation, people, and leadership. I have a strong business development professional background with extensive experience and proven track record in Mental Health for both acute and community sectors. I am an expert in Quality and Performance Management and delivering Innovative solutions to complex problems through business change, development, and partnerships.

I commenced my career as a Social Worker in community and mental health, and over the subsequent 30 years I have worked in a number of senior leadership and management roles in the human, health and social sector.

I possess a broad range and depth of leadership and managerial experience. I have worked in frontline service delivery and across policy, project and operational environments, encompassing community health (ATSI services, Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs, Home and Community Care, Child Health, Allied Health, and Sexual Health), Community Mental Health and hospital settings. This includes within and across rural/remote and metropolitan service environments.

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Georgia Page

Being a part of the team at HDAA means that I get to contribute to making a difference to the lives of vulnerable people in our community. I am passionate about supporting and advocating for the rights of those who are vulnerable and supporting organisations to do the same. I am excited to be part of a team of like-minded individuals who are passionate about working towards the same common goals.

My background involves some work in the community services sector, working with schools to provide much-needed programs for young people at such an influential time of their lives. This role aligned with my values and allowed me to make a difference in people’s lives and I am so excited to be able to continue doing so from another angle with HDAA. I also have extensive experience in customer-facing roles and love being able to work and interact with a wide variety of people and personalities.

I graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Social Science and a Bachelor of Laws and am excited to put these to good use with HDAA.

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Gretlyn Wessling

I am passionate about making a difference in people’s lives by making sure that systems and processes are in place to support care. I believe in supporting organisations to strive for continuous improvement and providing high quality services.

I have been a Registered Nurse for 33 years. I have a Master of Nursing, a Graduate Certificate Infection Control and Bachelor of Health am a member of the Australian College of Nursing. I worked for Queensland Health for 35 years with roles in Safety and Quality, Incident and Risk Management and Emergency Response. I currently provide Clinical Governance support to a private company that provides paramedics, event first aid and emergency medical services for public and private events throughout Australia.

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Helen Zollinger

I am passionate about social justice and that all people are treated with equality.  I have seen firsthand the injustices that occur in systems that are not maintained and feel that this is something that can be overcome by putting in best practices. I genuinely enjoy working with people and feel privileged to hear their story and be included in their journey.  I take pride in ensuring that my work is of high quality so that all those I interact with receive the best possible outcomes.

I have been involved in human services for the past 15 years.  This has included 10 years of working in the non-government sector with particular focus on Family Intervention, Domestic and Family violence and child protection.  For the past 5 years I have worked in government in a child safety role.  I am extremely experienced at making assessments in the best interest of all those involved.

My qualifications include: Bachelor Science (psychology); Diploma protective intervention; Diploma Community Development; Advanced Diploma Children’s Services; Lead Auditor; and Management Systems Auditor.

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Janet Davidson McGown

I acknowledge the First Nations people as the Traditional Custodians of the land I live and work on and pay respect to all Elders past, present and emerging. As an assessor, every assessment is an opportunity to make a difference, to contribute, to support, to learn and to be inspired by the passion, commitment and achievements of health and human services. I believe that working empathetically, collaboratively and respectfully with service providers leads to better lives, not just for the people accessing the service, but also for the people working in and for these services. I am proud to lead our network of highly skilled and experienced health and human services assessors, all of us committed to our common purpose and passionate about what we do and why we do it. I am a Registered Nurse with a background in nursing and midwifery and working for healthcare quality and safety Commissions. I am an experienced assessor of health and human services across a broad range of service types and locations. I have been privileged to be involved in standard reviews, pilot programs and other sector development. My qualifications include a Diploma of Quality Auditing. I am a member of ISQua and ASQ. I recently completed the Advanced Indigenous Community Solutions short course at UQ and Governance Foundations / Governing to Protect Vulnerable People with the AICD. Close

Jill O'Brien

As an assessor it is a privilege to work with organisations who strive to provide quality environments in their chosen healthcare fields with a focus on continuous improvement ensuring the best outcomes for their clients, patients, families and staff. I enjoy the immense variety of organisations and people I come into contact with through the assessments and their passion for what they do. I have always had a desire to care for people, particularly when they are at their most vulnerable. I have worked in the healthcare sector for well over 35 years holding clinical education and executive positions including extensive experience as a Director of Nursing. I have expertise in strategic development, organisational change management, risk management, digital health and quality management. As well as holding nursing qualifications, I am a qualified Lead Auditor for ISO Standards; National Safety and Quality Healthcare Standards; National Standards for Mental Health Services, Human Services Standards; NDIS Practice Standards and the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme. Close

Jim Mackenzie

For me, being an assessor is all about making a difference, affecting positive business and personal change, and ensuring people’s rights and safety are understood and maintained. My passion is driving process and business improvement leading to increased business benefit and efficiencies, and customer(participant) safety and satisfaction, by helping organisations achieve and maintain compliant, integrated quality management systems. My personal experience in supporting a family member with a disability has also been a key driver.

I have over 30 years’ experience in leading development, deployment, assessment, integration and improvement of management systems and quality frameworks across a range of organisations from Not for Profits to global corporates in government and non-government sectors. I commenced my career as a medical scientist within allied health and then held various senior quality management roles in a broad range of organisations and sectors across Australasia including being Quality Manager for a Melbourne based, not for profit, disability service for 5 years. I also provide consultancy to human services organisations.

I hold a Bachelor of Science degree, qualifications in quality management and Six Sigma process improvement, Lead Assessing, cultural competency, project management and organisational change. I assess a range of standards including: NDIS Practice Standards; ISO 9001:2015; Human Services Standards (Vic); Human Services Quality Standards (QLD); NSDS; Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems and Environmental Management Systems.

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Joanne Keeble

I am passionate about helping people and am proud to work for HDAA where I believe our assessment process impacts positively on providers and the services they deliver to participants, to live better lives. I have experience coordinating assessments for the Northern Territory Government’s Quality and Safeguarding Framework, enabling disability service providers in the Northern Territory to progress registration with the NDIA. My background includes arranging educational workshops for general practitioners and their practice staff. I also coordinated an Immunisation Program which involved community awareness, the preparation of resource materials and conducting audits on the cold chain systems of general practices.

I have significant experience in providing senior administrative support and performing roles with a client focused approach. I understand the need for communication that is honest, considerate and timely, and I take great pride in my organisational skills and attention to detail.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Communications & Sociology) and strive to do my best each day to continually learn, develop and make a positive difference. In my role as Operations Manager, I am dedicated and very proud to support the Aged Care program.

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Judy Addison

The assessor role suits me as I like working with people and data at the same time. Another part of the role involves staying up to date with industry changes and requirements. I enjoy putting this all together by striving to write reports for our clients which are clear and easy to understand.

I provide consultancy services to human services organisations. I have a background in nursing and hold: Graduate Diploma Education, BA Hons, Diploma Management and QMS lead auditor qualifications. The key quality standards I assess are: ISO 9001: 2015; NDIS Practice Standards; Human Services Standards (Victoria); National Standards for Disability Services.

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Julie Hall

I am passionate about working alongside organisations, and using a collaborative approach, supporting them through the assessment process, providing accolades for excellence already achieved and assisting them to identify any improvements that may help strengthen the services they provide. Each assessment is different, as is each organisation and I find it vital to be aware that how each organisation incorporates the standards into their systems, can also be different. My aim is to try and make the assessment process as enjoyable for everyone involved.I love standards and how they aim to provide consistency in organisations, providing safety and quality of care to consumers, protecting those that are vulnerable and assisting consumers to lead the best life as possible. My lifelong nursing career was where I found my passion for quality, sharing knowledge and continually learning. I held the position of Quality Manager for a hospital for over 15 years and accreditation was always my favourite time of the year. Now as an assessor, I have that same excitement before every assessment! As well as my nursing qualifications I am a Lead Auditor for National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, National Mental Health Standards, NDIS Practice Standards, Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme and ISO 9001. Close

Karina Boss

I am passionate about process and take great interest in understanding how all the small actions along the way lead to the larger outcome. I like to ensure I understand the end goal and work from there to identify how to accomplish the best result. I have always been interested in human interaction and have witnessed how collaboration, passion and drive come together to change lives for the better. I want to work with organisations to assist them to develop strong and safe practices that create quality outcomes for their clients.

Since graduating from my Psychological Science (Psychology) and Criminology and Criminal Justice degrees I have focused my career on the human services sector. Over the last 11 years, I have held roles with Qld Child Safety, Not-for-Profit Disability Support Services and Aged Care Services. I have experienced the lifespan spectrum through these multifaceted roles and been able to better understand a person’s journey. With the right support’s individuals can find the confidence to take their lives in a new direction. I held a lead role in a project to prepare an organisation for their transition to NDIA and developed key policies and workflows to support this transition. I have worked closely with Quality Management during audit preparation and taken the coordination lead in the department’s preparations.

Having worked in direct client roles I understand the challenges organisations can face and value inventive thinking that support client choice and goal attainment. I am working towards an auditing qualification.

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Katie Young

I am passionate about working alongside organisations to identify strengths and continuous improvement opportunities with the goal of making the lives of people who use health and human services better.

In my consultancy, I support disability service providers in the development and implementation of policies, procedures and systems to build internal capacity.

I hold a Bachelor of Psychological Science with First Class honours, Lead Auditor Qualifications and have completed the NDIS assessor training.

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Kathy Rees

My passion and commitment to organisations being as strong and successful as possible has been my life’s work. Value-adding principles are important in my work. I walk beside people, listening to them and what they want to achieve, before drawing on different tools in my tool belt, particularly those related to leadership, management, governance, innovation, teamwork, and customer service.

I have been on the Board of community disability services and owned and managed a service for 20 years. I have been audited for this service and the Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that I owned. Having been on the other side of the table means I am empathic and supportive for what people go through when they are being audited. I am a Board Member of a national nutrition research institute, Business Consultant, Researcher, Mentor, Author, Commentator and Thought Leader.

My Qualifications and memberships include: Bachelor of Social Science with double majors in counselling and mediation as well as human resource management; Master of organisational development and training; Member American Society for Quality (ASQ); Member Australian Organisation for Quality (AOQ). I co-authored the Health Promoting Hospitals Quality manual, transcribed into German by the World Health Organisation and am the author of ‘Courageous Auditor – Beyond Compliance – towards being a catalyst for change’ (2020).

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Kelly Lewis

I am passionate about making a difference and working collaboratively with organisations to improve systems and processes. I am excited to have the ability to use my skills and knowledge to help improve the standard of care within the dental industry and beyond and to help organisations provide safe and high-quality services.

I am an AHPRA registered Dental Hygienist with 25 years within the dental industry and am fortunate to have lived and worked in remote communities, providing care for a diverse range of people and cultures Australia and NZ, practicing dental hygiene within NSW, WA and QLD. I hold Licenses and registrations for Intra and Extra Oral Radiography and Laser in Dental Applications.

I have completed Management Systems and Lead Auditor Training and worked in a variety of practices in both clinical and practice management roles.

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Kylie Hanley

I have a genuine curiosity in how services operate and enjoy meeting people from allbackgrounds. I believe I am an advocate for vulnerable communities and will work towards ensuring services are safe and respectful for those accessing the services. I enjoy assessing the diverse range of services I come into contact within my assessor role.

I am a registered nurse with 31 years’ experience in Australia and the UK at both public and private hospitals, holding both management and clinical specialist roles. I have experience in setting up and running in pharmaceutical patient support programs in a community setting. I have been working as a NDIS assessor since the program was introduced in Victoria in 2019 and currently provide consulting and education to NDIS providers to create safe and appropriate clinical care for NDIS participants.

I am a Clinical Nurse in Dental Health Services and a Program manager in community-based health. My qualifications include: Bachelor of Nursing; Post graduate diploma of perioperative nursing; Certificate 4 in Business Management; Certificate 4 in Training and Assessing; and Lead auditor certificate.

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Lara Basso

My passion is advocacy, open disclosure and dignity of risk in the Residential Aged Care space. I am driven by a strong desire to ensure Providers are building safe, inclusive, transparent and collaborative partnerships with consumers and their choices and preferences are acknowledged, supported and respected to achieve a fulfilling and purposeful life. I believe positive leadership enhances the workplace culture and the flow-on effect is overwhelmingly present when you walk in the door and experience a caring, supportive workplace that is safe and inclusive, with evidence of robust systems and processes that demonstrate best practice outcomes, continual improvement and overall organisational governance.

I am a Registered Nurse with AHPRA and have enjoyed a rewarding career in senior management roles in the Residential Aged Care Sector for over 12 years. I pride myself on being an evidenced based practitioner.

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Leanda Syme

I am curious by nature and love learning and new experiences. Talking to people about their work and life is always interesting. I have a brother with a disability who I help to access services and a good life in general. Through his experiences I am constantly reminded of the impact that good people and services can have on a person’s quality of life. It’s a great feeling if you can help an individual or organisation to see and be their best self.

I have always worked in the disability sector, initially as an employment provider and then moved into my own business – E-QUAL Disability Consultants. I have specialised in engaging with people with disability and their families and carers, quality evaluations and improvements, improving access and inclusion, and leadership development for people with disability. I have audited/evaluated disability services against various State and National Standards since 1997. I work with National Disability Services, local and state government agencies and various WA disability services.

I have post graduate qualifications in psychology and education and am a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors with 5 years experience as a Board Director for a community services organisation.

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Lisa Esaias

I have a commitment to make the audit planning process as easy and streamlined as possible for my clients by leading the effective administration and coordination of audit and certification programs. I enjoy working with clients with multiple certification requirements and through my knowledge of various certification schemes and procedural requirements, establishing efficiencies with combining audit activity. I get a genuine sense of satisfaction when I hear that clients are continually improving the services they deliver based on the outcome of their audit.

I have worked for HDAA since 2010 so have worked with our clients across a wide range of planning for certifications including the Human Services Quality Standards (QLD), Human Service Standards (VIC), NDIS Practice Standards, ISO 9001:2015, National Standards in Mental Health Services and the National Standards for Disability Services for Disability Employment Services.

I have a Bachelor of Behavioural Science, Certificate in Business, Diploma in Human Resource Management and Lead Auditor qualifications. To keep my knowledge in the sector current, I attend relevant events and seminars in relation to the schemes I work in.

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Loren Gray

I am passionate about working collaboratively with organisations to help ensure the safety ofall and identify improvement opportunities for a business. Ultimately driven to enhance the lives of people who access healthcare and human service supports, I genuinely enjoy working with and supporting people working in these rewarding sectors.

Inspired and driven by personal experience, I was called to the disability sector where I began working as an outreach worker, before joining Victoria Police. I spent almost 20 years as a detective, internal auditor and educator and was seconded to the Australian Crime Commission as an investigator. I am very experienced in managing, investigating and working with people impacted by highly sensitive and complex cases, specialising in areas of family violence, sexual offences and child abuse.

I currently work as a NDIS/QMS/HSS assessor. I am also an educator and consultant at a Registered Training Organisation where I specialise in Incident Management and Managing Compliance training. I am a qualified Lead Auditor and hold a Bachelor of Laws with Honours, Advance Diploma of Public Safety (Investigations) and Diploma of Quality Auditing.

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Magdalena Terlecka

I have a passion for promotion and evolution of quality and safety, and person-centred health and human services. I love listening to people and understand there is no single approach right for every human interaction. I have over 20 years’ experience as a pharmacist in public and private hospitals. A large part of my career has been involved in safety and quality improvement, including working collaboratively to develop policies and protocols, sitting on quality and safety committees, and conducting internal audits against the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards. I have considerable experience in assessing health and human services against the DIAS and NDIS Standards. I have a Bachelor of Pharmacy, Diploma of Quality Auditing, and have completed NDIS, NSQHS, and NSQMPS Assessor training. Close

Mark Davis

By being an assessor, I can help people understand and improve the way they deliver their services to meet the required standards. I also support the consumers to get the products and services they need.

I have worked for both health and human services organisations where my skills, training and compassion have helped them deliver the quality services their consumers have needed whilst protecting the staff and organisation. My main focuses were ensuring consistency, document management and confidentiality as well as managing governance and privacy. I’m currently a volunteer with Mater Hospital in various wards and education section and work for a charity called Roses in the Ocean who works with people with a lived experience of suicide as a mentor, speaker and a call screener.

I hold Graduate Certificates in Risk Management, Business Management, and a diploma in Personnel Management. I also hold qualifications as a Lead Auditor for ISO 9001.

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Maria Wiechers

I enjoy contributing towards a positive assessment approach. I am a well-rounded assessor with practical experience and knowledge.

I have over 25 years of experience in Governance and Management in the public and private sector including Disability Services, Aged Care and Mental Health with Councils, Local Government, NFPs, NGOs and Communities. I commenced my career in The Netherlands as a Project, Product and Financial Manager in a corporate environment in organisational change, knowledge management, business transformation and performance improvement (Balanced Scorecard).I gained valuable insight into the NDIS, working as a Consultant and Senior Planner with the NDIS, following a period working as a Case Manager in Disability Services, Mental Health and Aged Care.

My qualifications include: Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Master of Arts, Master of Business Administration, Diploma of Quality Auditing, Certificate IV Building & Construction, Certificate IV Aged Care & Community Services, Lead Auditor Qualifications.

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Megan Jones

As an assessor I am privileged to work with organisations so they can provide the best possible care to the individuals that they support. Working with the most vulnerable in our community requires perspective, commitment, and accountability from everyone involved and I am eager to contribute to that process.

I have worked for a small sized service provider operating across the disability and aged care sectors for five years. During this time, I observed many facets of the service operations and gained a strong understanding of the importance of person-centred care. For the past two and half years I was responsible for quality management within the business. This introduction to quality encouraged me to pursue a career as an assessor.

I hold a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) and a Bachelor of Justice. I am proud to be part of the HDAA team to achieve great outcomes for vulnerable people.

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Paige Hinrichs

Having worked with people from vulnerable backgrounds throughout my career, I understand the importance of high quality, respectful and transparent service delivery. As an assessor, I am driven to give consumers a voice and ensure they are heard. It is greatly satisfying to be part of a process which aims to continually improve the standard of care and quality of life for our vulnerable populations.

I have worked as an Occupational Therapist in the aged and disability sector for several years and loved getting to know my clients as people while empowering them to reach their goals. As an assessor I enjoy looking through a different lens while still having a positive impact on people and their loved ones. My qualifications include a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Hons) from Monash University. I have also completed courses in project management, dementia care and mental health.

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Penny Halpin

I love working alongside organisations who share our purpose of better lives, and seeing the amazing work being done all throughout the human services, health and disability sectors. The people I have met through my work with HDAA inspire me everyday to improve both myself and the world around me.

Previously, I have worked for a number of small community organisations in various client-facing roles. My role as Systems & Reporting Manager at HDAA involves providing oversight of the organisation's operations, finances, and various systems.

I have a Bachelor of Social Science and a Master of Public Health from the University of Queensland. I also hold lead auditor qualifications.

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Peter Jensen

My drive to be an assessor is a commitment to always try to make a difference by building on my experience in a variety of roles within the human services sector to support service providers to continually improve their services through their experience of the assessment process.

I have over 35 years’ experience in human services, initially as a psychologist in the disability services sector working in government and non-government organisations providing services to children, adults and their families. I have also worked in senior policy and managerial roles within various government departments and agencies undertaking policy and program development in human services portfolio areas, including early childhood, education, disability services, childcare, child safety and healthy ageing and older people. I have been an assessor for nearly 10 years and am qualified and experienced in assessing providers against a range of quality standards, including ISO 9001, National Standards for Disability Services, Human Services Quality Standards (community, child safety and mental health) and the NDIS Practice Standards. I have also worked as a quality assessor with the Commonwealth Government’s residential aged care accreditation process.

I am a qualified Lead Assessor and certified with Exemplar Global, an external body providing independent certification of auditors. I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree and Graduate Diploma in Psychology.

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Ramona Toi

I am passionate about people and am driven by empowering people to live their best lives. As an Assessor I will always strive to be respectful of each person’s culture and diversity, support them to share their unique experiences, preferences and discuss their needs. I want to make the most of every interaction and work collaboratively to make positive changes in Aged Care.

I have a background in Customer facing roles in the community. This includes a Regional Assessor for My aged Care, then moving into Case management overseeing in-home support and services under the Home care packages, Icare and NDIS programs. I am delighted to be working with HDAA which will enable me to see the consumer experience through their lenses, observe how organisations are meeting needs and to be part of a team that will always work hard to ensure that all organisations are providing safe and quality care.

I am currently studying a Diploma in Community Services.

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Rebecca Bradshaw

I am a passionate assessor and quality advocate, driven to support organisations to strategically integrate quality into business as usual and ensure customers receive high quality and safe services. I have worked as an assessor for over ten years and held a number of quality positions in health and human services organisations.

I own a quality business and am the author of DECIDE | DESIGN | DELEGATE – the three-step guide to implementing quality.

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Robyn DeJong

I enjoy the challenge of auditing, of having a blank page and learning about an organisation, their staff, the programs they provide and the people they support. I am continually amazed and inspired by the people I meet, staff, managers and clients/participants; in fact my favourite part of any audit is meeting with the clients/participants. I enjoy the travel, no day or site is ever the same.

Since 2000 I have worked in disability services in a range of programs in direct support and managerial roles with service providers, and have also worked for government, most recently Disability Services, WA. I transitioned into to training, and then to quality and compliance.

I own an RTO and provide consultancy services to disability service providers in WA.

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Sherri Makepeace

It gives me great satisfaction to work with organisations that are passionate about client outcomes and utilising funding in innovative ways to achieve enhanced outcomes for people, as well as their children, to break the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage. I enjoy the challenge of working with service providers, to understand their internal mechanisms, their reporting lines and processes and how they fit into a collective effort across their networks.

Client safety, quality service and outcomes are important to me. I have a rich background in the human service sector in regional and remote areas and a strong understanding and empathy for social disadvantage, particularly in Aboriginal Communities. I commenced my career in housing and held a range of positions. I have worked in project management and also as a Board Member (and Policy Council Member) of a Homelessness peak body in NSW. I have developed and delivered a training package for women with direct experience of financial abuse and project managed several constructions including SDA developments. I was contracted to DHHS as an Agency Performance and Systems Support Advisor onboarding new NDIS providers.

Through my consultancy business I work with providers to build their capacity to develop policies, systems and management processes. My qualifications include Diploma of Quality Auditing, Cert IV in Social Housing and Cert IV Training and Assessment.

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Skye Nobbs

I am a kind and compassionate person who loves to help those around me. I believe in treating others the way I would like to be treated, therefore demonstrating kindness and respect to anyone I meet is very important to me. Being a Client Services Officer for HDAA allows me to work in an environment where I can help better the lives of those in need.

I have a strong background in Office Administration and Customer Service. I have excellent organisational skills and a high attention to detail which allows me to provide a quality service to our clients.

With over 10 years’ experience in customer service and office administration, I believe I will thrive in this role.

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Sonia Serong

I have always worked in customer focussed roles and enjoy being able to assist clients to achieve their accreditation goals while making improvements along the way that not only makes their job easier, but also contributes to providing safe and quality services to their patients and clients. I enjoy working with originations at different stages of their accreditation journey and assisting them to understand how various standards may apply to them, and more importantly, how the standards can help them to achieve better outcomes. I work with a wonderful group of assessors who are always sharing their experience and knowledge, which contributes to the guidance and information I pass onto clients.

I have a background in IT support in an Occupational Health setting that blended into document control, Intranet management and quality co-ordination roles including internal auditing. Having worked in both public and private organisations I have been on both sides of the accreditation process which hopefully helps me provide a better all-round service.

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Stewart Redshaw

Stewart has over 30 years’ experience in child and family welfare, primarily in youth work, non-statutory child protection and out-of-home care. He holds a PhD in Social Work, a Master of Social Science (Counselling), Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Ministry, and a Diploma of Missiology. Stewart has presented papers at numerous state, national and international conferences, and conducted workshops across Australia about his work, and has also published in a number of journals and written practice frameworks and organisational monographs.

His research and practice interests over many years have included quality practice in out-of-home care settings, the needs of children and young people in care, best practice for caring for children with challenging behaviours, supervision and team development in not-for-profit community agencies, and organisational and program evaluation. He is passionately committed to ensuring that vulnerable children, young people and their families experience the best possible outcomes in their lives as they engage with and are supported by the human services sector.

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Tracy Boulton

I am passionate about quality management and focused on system improvements, particularly in sectors that support vulnerable people.

I have background in business management, as well as emergency veterinary nursing and education support. I have worked in management positions in the allied health sector, where I have had a strong focus on quality management, policy and procedure development, and maintaining regulatory requirements.

I hold a Bachelor of Business Management, Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing, Certificate III in Education Support, and Lead Auditor Qualifications.

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