Our Board 2022-2023

Experienced non-executive Director and Chair, Wendy Machin is the Chairperson of the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network (PHN).

Wendy currently sits on Boards in the public, private and NFP sector. She is a Director of Heritage Bank, Golf Australia, Vice Chair of the NSW Nationals party and also operates her own beef cattle property on the mid north of NSW where she was born and raised.

Wendy’s early and formative years were in politics, serving 11 years in the NSW Parliament as Deputy Speaker of the House, a Minister and a Shadow Minister, along the way becoming the first Australian woman to have a baby in office as a Minister.

Prior to her Board career Wendy worked in-house as Director of Corporate Affairs in Australia’s largest funeral corporation, now known as InvoCare. She has also been the Executive Director of the Urban taskforce, an advocacy body for urban developers.

David has a Bachelor of Health Administration, Master of Health Management (hons), PhD (UNE) and an honorary Doctorate in Public Health (Naresuan University, Thailand).

David is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management, a Foundation Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Health Service Executives, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New England, Adjunct Professor, ASEAN Institute of Health Development, Mahidol University, Thailand and Honorary Editor in Chief of the ASEAN Journal of Health Development.

David has extensive senior management experience in the public health sector, which includes Chair, New England Medicare Local, CEO of a large Area Health Service, General Manager of a District Health Service, and CEO of a 300-bed acute regional referral hospital. He has had extensive experience in both rural and community health services and in the accreditation of health and aged care services. David is currently engaged in consultancy, research and publications in the health sector, most recently in primary health care, in the Asia Pacific as well as Australia. In 2020 David was recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to health services, medical administration and to education.

Dr Trent Watson is CEO of Ethos Health, a multidisciplinary health and safety business based in Newcastle and the Hunter region. Trent combines this work with a number of appointments including Conjoint Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, Chair of the NSW Mineral Council Obesity subcommittee and media spokesperson with the Dietitians Association of Australia.

Trent was a former Director (2012 – 2015) and Chairperson (2014 – 2015) of the Hunter Medicare Local. Trent completed his undergraduate studies and PhD in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newcastle, and has continued his research interests in workplace health, with a special interest in obesity, obesity-related lifestyle disease, and fatigue.

Elizabeth Ward is a Physiotherapist, AHTA Accredited Hand Therapist and President of the NSW Physiotherapy Council (HPCA). She is a PHN Board member, a member of the PHN Central Coast Clinical Council and of the Central Coast LHD Clinical Council. She is a member of the PHN Allied Health Reference Group and holds positions in other PHN committees..

Elizabeth has completed a Bachelor of Science (UNSW), Post Graduate Diploma of Physiotherapy (USyd), Master of Public Health (USyd) majoring in health care management and health promotion, Master of Health Science (Physiotherapy) (USyd), and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Elizabeth is Practice Principal and Director of Coastal Physiotherapy Group Pty Ltd and Coastal Hand Clinic. She is a Director of Core Health Pty Ltd, and Partner, Erina Sports and Spinal Physiotherapy.

Scott is the Chief Executive of the Central Coast Local Health District and has held leadership roles in health, both private and public health systems, for over 20 years.

Having been raised in country NSW he understands the highly complex landscape of the health care environment and the unique challenges of health care delivery in Australia. He is passionately motivated every day to head up improving health outcomes for the community through authentic engagement, strong collaboration with clinicians, strategic partnerships and fostering and leading innovation.

Brad is a Technology Entrepreneur and Innovator, Strategy Consultant and Investor/Board Director with over 25 years working and consulting in the areas of enterprise technology adoption and enterprise operating model transformation.

Brad has previously acted in roles ranging from CEO to Corporate Development to Technology Strategy Consulting and is currently an investor in a number of companies focused on preventative health care. He sits on a number of Boards and acts as a Board Advisor.

Brad is a Senior Lecturer at Western Sydney University in the Bachelor of Entrepreneurship Program and is the Entrepreneur in Residence at several high-profile Technology Startup Incubators. He is a Board Member of the Central Coast Montessori Primary School, and a member of The Institute of Company Directors and Director Institute.

Anita is a proud Wiradjuri woman, currently working part time as a GP in a large mainstream urban general practice in Newcastle.

From 2005 to 2019 Anita was a Senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle, teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health with a special interest in the provision of health care to underserviced communities.

She previously worked in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Sector and continues to work in close partnership with community- controlled health organisations.

Anita is the current NSW and ACT representative of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and was a previous board member of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.

Managing director and founder of online digital health tech company Birth Beat, Edwina Sharrock OAM is a passionate health advocate focused on advocating for the advancement of primary healthcare.

A firm believer that high quality, sustainable primary healthcare is critical to ensuring regional communities thrive, the Tamworth-based influencer embraces technology and innovation as the keys to addressing the health challenges in regional and rural communities.

Ms Sharrock was a founding member of the PHN’s Hunter New England Rural Clinical Council and is now the PHN’s Board representative for that group.

She has a distinguished list of achievements, including being named as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence and NSW Telstra Small Business Woman of the Year in 2019, and recently Australia's fellow of the Cartier Women's Initiative - an annual international entrepreneurship program.

“Being based in Tamworth, I know that there are particular health challenges in our regional and rural communities, and this increases with geographical remoteness.

“High quality, sustainable primary healthcare is a critical factor to ensure our communities thrive,” Ms Sharrock said.

Tracey McCosker PSM is Chief Executive of Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD). She has worked in the NSW public health system for over 30 years and previously held the positions of Director of Finance, Director of Corporate Services and Director of Clinical Services with HNELHD. She started her health career as Business Manager for the Hunter Area Pathology Service, now part of NSW Health Pathology.

Tracey was appointed Chief Executive of NSW Health Pathology in 2012 after developing a business model for an integrated statewide public pathology service. In 2018 Tracey was awarded an Australian Public Service Medal for her outstanding service to public health in NSW. She has a Bachelor of Commerce (Newcastle University) and a Master of Business Administration (University of Southern Queensland). She is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Tracey is committed to leading a Caring, Connecting and Pioneering organisation that consistently models its RITE (Respect, Innovation, Teamwork, and Excellence) values. She values being involved with and leading organisations that make a positive difference in people’s lives.

Rohana has been a Rural Generalist for the past 8 years and has a passion for rural health care. Together with his wife, Dilini, they are the owners of the Bridge Medical Centre in Narrabri.

Rohana completed his MBBS and MS (General Surgery) in Sri Lanka followed by the completion of his FRACGP in Australia. In addition to working at his general practice, Rohana works at the Narrabri District Hospital, servicing the emergency department and general surgery, including some obstetrics.

Rohana is the chair of the Barwon Division of General Practice and has been one of the directors for the last 4 years. Rohana general practice registrar supervisor and was awarded the GP Synergy award Supervisor of the Year, for the Hunter New England/Northwest region in 2021 and RACGP Supervisor of the Year in 2022.

Rohana is dedicated to improving health care access for rural NSW, which includes increasing the rural health workforce.

Stephanie is an honorary professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney with a clinical and academic background, initially as a registered physiotherapist, then as an academic health sociologist and academic manager.

Stephanie has served on the Board of Directors of the Community Health Association of NSW, and as Company Director for KU Children's Services (which operates over 130 early childhood services across Australia). She currently serves on the Board of the Central Coast Community Women's Health Centre and Dying with Dignity New South Wales, and is a Senior Advisor on the Design, Reform and Implementation of Health Practitioner Regulation across countries to the World Health Organization in Geneva.

Stephanie has particular expertise in health policy analysis, strategic thinking, models of care and health workforce.