VicHealth Board

The Hon Nicola Roxon

Chair

The Honourable Nicola Roxon was appointed as Chair of the VicHealth Board in November 2020. She also serves on the Workforce and Remuneration Committee. 

Nicola is an experienced Chair and non-executive director who has served in various board roles on listed, unlisted and not-for-profit Boards for the last 10 years. 

Currently she is Chair of HESTA, a large health and community sector superannuation fund, and is a non- executive director of listed companies Dexus and Lifestyle Communities, and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. 

Nicola Roxon served as a member of the Australian Parliament for 15 years (1998-2103), representing the Western suburbs Melbourne seat of Gellibrand. She served as Australia’s Health Minister for 4 years from 2007 and oversaw major reforms to Australia’s public hospital, primary care and preventative health systems. In 2011 Nicola became Australia’s first female Attorney-General. 

With Nicola’s leadership, Australia successfully introduced a world first: requiring all tobacco to be in plain packaging with large, graphic health warnings. She has received national and international awards in recognition of this public health work, and plain packaging has now been introduced in many countries around the world. 

Originally trained as a lawyer, protecting the dignity of workers and promoting the standing of women has been a hallmark of Nicola’s career. Prior to entering parliament, Nicola worked as an industrial lawyer, union organiser and an Associate to High Court Judge Mary Gaudron. 

Stella Smith

Deputy Chair

Stella Smith joined the VicHealth Board in September 2018 and currently serves on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.

Stella is the Chief Executive of Crime Stoppers Victoria and a Director of Crime Stoppers Australia. She has previously held senior executive roles with Melbourne Victory Football Club and ‘Life. Be in it’ Australia. 

She has also previously held board positions with Blue Light Victoria, Women’s Health East and the Melbourne Victory FC Academy. She has considerable experience in community sporting organisations and was an inaugural ‘Change Our Game’ Ambassador through the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation.

Stella has broad experience in community, government and stakeholder engagement, advertising and health promotion. Her experience spans commercial, sport and the not-for-profit sectors. 

She is passionate about promoting gender equality, encouraging social inclusion and using sport to create greater opportunities for community engagement.

Vedran Drakulic OAM

Vedran Drakulic is the CEO of Gandel Foundation, one of the largest private family foundations in Australia, providing grants and funding in a wide range of areas of interest in the community, including in areas of public health, mental wellbeing, support for Indigenous initiatives and community resilience. 

Previously Vedran was General Manager, Public Affairs with RACV Ltd, and he also worked in the humanitarian field in Australia and overseas for over 15 years, including with the Australian and International Red Cross and Oxfam Australia. 

A respected community leader and advocate, Vedran is a senior executive with a diverse background, knowledge, skills and experience which include resource mobilization and fundraising, advocacy, public relations, marketing and communications, strategic planning, project management and stakeholder relations across the corporate, not-for-profit, government and philanthropic sectors.

Vedran is currently a Deputy Chair of AMES Australia, a Non-Executive Director of GMCT and the Order of Australia Association Foundation, and a trustee with the Betty Amsden Foundation. He is also an Adjunct Professor at RMIT, in their School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. 

Having arrived in Australia as a refugee from the Bosnian war, Vedran worked hard to start a new life in his adopted homeland. In 2017 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for ‘service to the community through a range of charitable organisations’. 

Vedran holds a Masters Degree in Public Advocacy and Action from Victoria University, and he is a member of the Fundraising Institute of Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Nick Green OAM OLY

Nick Green joined the Board of VicHealth in July 2014 and has served time on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and is currently a member of the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Advisory Committee.

Nick Green is an experienced leader who has worked in senior roles across global corporations, national sport and public-sector organisations. He is currently a Senior Commercial Director at Allianz SE, a global provider of insurance and professional services. Previous to this role, Nick was the Growth Director at Aon and Chief Executive Officer of Cycling Australia.

Nick has extensive experience in commercial growth, people and stakeholder leadership, governance and government relations. He has held many voluntary positions including President – Victorian Olympic Council, Chairman – Julius Patching Foundation, Director of the Australian Olympic Committee and Director of Leadership Victoria.

Nick is a dual Olympian and has attended eight Olympic Games in various roles.

He was the Chef de Mission for the 2012 Australian Olympic Team.

Nick has received life memberships of the Victorian Olympic Council and Rowing Australia, awarded an Order of Australia Medal and inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, in recognition of his contribution to sport. He is a Fellow of Leadership Victoria and studied at VCAH Burnley (now Melbourne University) and the Melbourne Business School.

Ian Hamm

Ian Hamm joined the VicHealth Board in October 2021.

A Yorta Yorta man, Ian Hamm has extensive government and community sector experience, particularly at executive and governance levels. Ian has overseen major policy and strategic reforms for government and community organisations.

He works with people from a vast array of backgrounds, managing complex and  sensitive relationships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Ian was CEO of a major Aboriginal community organisation from January to August 2018.

Ian sits on a number of boards and chair and member. He also devotes himself to improving the representation of Aboriginal people on boards and other high-level governance, through strategic action, advocacy and mentoring.

Jamie Lewis

Jamie Lewis joined the VicHealth Board in July 2022 and serves on the Workforce and Remuneration Committee and the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Advisory Committee.

Jamie is a Singaporean-Australian artist, curator, dramaturg and facilitator. She creates experimental and contemporary intercultural work, facilitating participatory experiences on identity, place, and time, through autobiographical stories, conversation and food. She creates and curates site-responsive performances that engage audiences as participants, and communities as artists. Jamie also has a long-term creative partnership – curiously exploring place and new vantage points with Dan Koop as Jamie, Dan & Co. 

Committed to diversifying practice, Jamie seeks alternative models in her work and a re-imagining of leadership, governance, and structures. 

Jamie’s practice also shapes her experience in audience development – focusing on strategies that are underpinned by mutuality, conversation and conviviality. She is a passionate artist and arts worker with a broad understanding of national narratives in the arts and cultural sector. Her relationship management and communication-centred approach with communities is reflected in her strong networks across the sector. 

Jamie is currently CEO / Executive Director at Next Wave. She has previously been on the Board of MAV (Multicultural Arts Victoria), Program Manager at TNA (Theatre Network Australia), and was in the 2018 cohort of Australia Council for the Arts’ Future Leaders program.

Kathleen Matthews-Ward MP

Kathleen Matthews-Ward has made significant contributions to public policy and the community throughout her professional life. 

In 2022, she was elected to represent the district of Broadmeadows in Parliament, where she works to improve housing, transport, education, social connection and employment conditions for her community. 

Before entering Parliament, Kathleen was a policy advisor to the Parliamentary Secretary for Carers and Volunteers, the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers, and the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Mental Health. 

Kathleen also served on the Moreland Council from 2004-2012, driving many local projects to improve planning outcomes, parks and sports facilities, and increase opportunities for walking and active transport. 

Kathleen has worked in retail, hospitality, financial planning and the credit union movement, and has volunteered with the SES to tree planting and many community organisations, including as chair of the Glenroy Neighbourhood Learning Centre and as District Chair for Scouts Victoria. 

Kathleen has a Specialist Certificate in Public Administration through the University of Melbourne School of Government and is currently studying the Graduate Certificate of Public Health at Deakin University. 

Rayoni Nelson

Rayoni Nelson joined the Board of VicHealth in July 2023 and is currently a member of the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Advisory Committee.

With over 20 years’ experience working across government, sport, health and transport sectors, Rayoni’s career has included management roles in a broad range of areas including sport, physical activity, active transport, road safety and customer service and communications, including a focus on strategy development and implementation. 

Rayoni is currently the Head of Program Strategy and Research at the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, where she leads the design and delivery of Change Our Game program and research initiatives, to level the playing field for women and girls across all roles in sport and active recreation. 

She was previously the Chief Executive Officer of School Sport Victoria, as part of the Department of Education, where she led a team to provide an extensive school sport program to primary and secondary schools across Victoria. 

Rayoni has experience across the sport industry including working with State Sporting Associations, Regional Sports Assemblies, community sporting clubs and local governments and has had previous roles at VicHealth, where she led the physical activity, sport and healthy eating portfolios. 

Rayoni currently holds Board positions with Vicsport and Badminton Australia, has a Bachelor of Management and a Masters in Sport Management and has represented Australia in badminton at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. 

Professor Anna Peeters AM

Professor Anna Peeters joined the VicHealth Board in July 2019 and currently serves on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.

Professor Peeters is Director of the Institute for Health Transformation and Professor of Epidemiology and Equity in Public Health at Deakin University. Anna also sits on the Board of Western Health. She is Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society and sits on national and international advisory boards and steering committees.

In 2014 she was awarded the World Obesity Federation Andre Mayer Award for research excellence in obesity and a Churchill Award for innovative work in equity and population prevention.

Professor Peeters leads the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence into Healthy Food Retail (RE-FRESH, 2018–2022) and the Nourish Network and is the recipient of an NHMRC Investigator Grant (2020–25).

Div Pillay

Div Pillay joined the VicHealth Board in July 2021 and currently serves as Chair of the Workforce and Remuneration Committee.

Div Pillay is an experienced and respected diversity and inclusion practitioner, leader and advocate, for over 20 years. She is an entrepreneur, leading award-winning consultancy, MindTribes and social enterprise, Culturally Diverse Women. Prior to founding MindTribes in 2012, Div held senior human resource leader roles in public and private sectors, working across Australia, Malaysia, India, the Philippines and South Africa (where she was born and raised). Her work is backed by her education in behavioural psychology, economics and business. She holds a Masters in Human Resource Management.

Div is award winning and recognised for her impact. She has been listed as one of the 100 Women of Influence (AFR & Qantas) 2018; one of two Australians in a Global List of 25 Influential leaders by the (AACSB), the world’s largest business education alliance and is one of the Top 5 Linkedin Voices for Gender Equity in Australia. Div has been a Board Director at STREAT 2018–21 and is currently the Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce, since 2019. She is passionate about health equity, specifically the impact on mental health from exclusionary acts and behaviours, like racism, bullying, harassment and gender inequality.

Dr Tim Read MP

Dr Tim Read is the Greens MP for Brunswick in the Victorian parliament.

He was first elected in 2018 after a career, first as a GP, then a sexual health physician and ultimately an NHMRC-funded researcher with a PhD in the epidemiology of sexually transmitted infections.

His research interests included HIV treatment and prevention and the management of antibiotic-resistant sexually transmitted infections.

As a medical student Tim campaigned against cigarette advertising and was arrested for spray-painting health warnings on cigarette billboards. As a doctor, he worked to obtain affordable HIV medicines for overseas-born patients who did not have access to Medicare.

Tim Read is now the Victorian Greens spokesperson for population health, mental health, and integrity and he chairs parliament’s Integrity and Oversight Committee. He is particularly interested in the health effects of climate change, air pollution and advertising.

Bridget Vallence MP

Bridget Vallence was elected to the Victorian Parliament in 2018 to represent the Evelyn District and is the Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation, Manufacturing, Employment and Industrial Relations, and Skills and Training. 

Previously, Bridget has also been Shadow Minister for Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Environment and Climate Change, Youth Affairs, and Equality. 

Bridget has served on the Parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) and the Parliament’s Environment and Planning Committee. 

Bridget is a Board Member of VicHealth, is an Advisory Committee Member for the Pathways to Politics Program for Women (Victoria), and is a Director of Mont De Lancey Historical Museum in Wandin. 

Prior to entering Parliament, Bridget was a procurement executive in the automotive industry in both the manufacturing and retail sectors in Australian, Asian, and global markets, and is also experienced with organisational change and business transformation projects. 

Bridget holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Melbourne. She is passionate about helping people, volunteer groups and businesses to thrive, and lives in the Yarra Valley with her husband and two sons. 

Phil Wade

Phil Wade joined the VicHealth Board in October 2021.

Phil Wade is a marketing, eCommerce, and digital professional. He is currently the Director of Marketing for the Bunnings Group and has held various director and leadership roles across the world at the Qantas Group, TJX, Unilever, and Wesfarmers.

He is an experienced Non-Executive Director and Independent Advisor and has a deep passion for health and wellbeing and equality of outcomes for all.

Phil holds a master’s degree in Politics and Economics from the London School of Economics. He is part of a global family, originally British but now a dual Australian citizen living in Melbourne with his South African wife and two children.