Home About us Who we are VicHealth Board Body The VicHealth team is made up of experienced, dedicated individuals, working collaboratively to lead the organisation. They are passionate about the people and the mission of VicHealth – working hard to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone across Victoria.VicHealth is governed by a Board whose members include those with expertise in health and prevention, sports, business management, communications or law, and the arts. The membership composition is governed by the requirements of the Tobacco Act. Eleven members are appointed by the Minister for Health, while three are elected by the Victorian Parliament from the major political parties.The current board members are:Board of Directors The Hon Nicola RoxonChairNicola Roxon joined the VicHealth Board as Chair in November 2020 and also serves on the Workforce and Remuneration Committee.The Honourable Nicola Roxon is an experienced Chair and non-executive director who has served in various board roles for the last 8 years. Currently she is Chair of HESTA, a large health and community sector superannuation fund, and a non- executive director of listed companies Dexus and Lifestyle Communities, and the charity Health Justice Australia. Nicola Roxon served as a member of the Australian Parliament for 15 years, representing the Western suburbs Melbourne seat of Gellibrand.Elected at 31, 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, and the Minister for Emergency Management in 2012. She has received national and international awards in recognition of her public health work, particularly in tobacco control.With Nicola’s leadership, Australia successfully introduced a world first: all tobacco sold must now be in plain packaging with large, graphic health warnings. 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. Nicola resigned her ministerial positions February 2013 and finished her period in Parliament in August 2013. Ms Stella SmithDeputy ChairStella Smith joined the VicHealth Board in September 2018 and currently serves on the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.Stella Smith is the Chief Executive of Crime Stoppers Victoria and has previously held senior executive roles with Melbourne Victory Football Club and ‘Life. Be in it’ Australia.Stella is also a Director of Blue Light Victoria and a ‘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. Stella has also previously held board positions with Women’s Health East and the Melbourne Victory FC Academy and has considerable experience in community sporting organisations.Stella holds a Master of Marketing and Graduate Diploma of Business. She is passionate about promoting gender equality, encouraging social inclusion and using sport to create greater opportunities for community engagement. Mr 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 and community resilience. Previously Vedran was General Manager, Public Affairs with RACV Ltd, and he also worked in the humanitarian field 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, management and stakeholder relations across the corporate, not-for-profit, government and philanthropic sectors. Vedran is currently a Board member with AMES Australia, GMCT and the Order of Australia Association Foundation, a trustee with the Betty Amsden Foundation and a member of the committee of management of the Hobsons Bay Community Fund. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT. Having arrived in Australia as a refugee from the Bosnian war, Vedran worked hard to start a new life in his adopted homeland and 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. Mr 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. Mr 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. Ms 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. Professor Anna Peeters 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. 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 is the recipient of an NHMRC Investigator Grant (2020–25). Ms Div Pillay Div Pillay joined the VicHealth Board in July 2021 and currently serves on 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). She utilises all of these diverse experiences to take a human centric approach to addressing equity and equality. 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, being named as one of the 100 Women of Influence (AFR & Qantas) 2018. In 2021 she was named as one of two Australians in a Global List of 25 Influential leaders by the (AACSB), the world’s largest business education alliance. 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. Mr 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.
