Annual report 2015–16

Barry Sandison was appointed Director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in June 2016. With over 33 years' experience in the public sector across more than 13 agencies, his expertise covers a wide range of health and welfare related work, with previous roles in both policy and service delivery. Most recently Mr Sandison was the Deputy Secretary, Health and Information within the Australian Government Department of Human Services (DHS) where he was responsible for the administration and delivery of a range of programmes in the health, government, and business areas. This included undertaking the function of Chief Executive Medicare and oversighting the department's strategic information management function. Prior to this role Mr Sandison was a Deputy Chief Executive in Centrelink and held senior executive roles in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Mr Sandison holds a Bachelor of Business Management, is an Australian and New Zealand School of Government Executive Fellow, and a Board Member for L'Arche Genesaret, an ACT community organisation for people with intellectual disabilities.

Matthew James is the Senior Executive, Housing and Specialised Services Group at the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare and he is the Deputy Director of the Institute. He was the Assistant Secretary, Information and Evaluation Branch in Indigenous Affairs Group in the Department of the Prime Minster and Cabinet (PM&C) from 2013 to November 2016. From 2008 to 2013, he was Branch Manager, Performance and Evaluation Branch in the former Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). Prior to joining FaHCSIA, Matthew was a Branch Manager in the former Department of Education Employment and Training (DEEWR). At DEEWR, Matthew worked on employment policy and implementation as well as workplace relations policy and analysis. From 2002 to 2004 he was Counsellor, Employment, Education, Science and Training in the Australian Delegation to the OECD in Paris. Matthew was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2016.

Fadwa Al-Yaman is responsible for the Institute's data collection, development, reporting activities and stakeholder relationships in the areas of the health and welfare of mothers, children, youth and families, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. She also has responsibility for the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse and the online Indigenous observatory. Dr Al-Yaman has wide ranging experience in statistical analysis and reporting, demographic techniques, data development, data quality assessment and improvement activities, and in building strong collaborative relationships with key stakeholders. She has a strong research background in health and a keen interest in knowledge translation and the link between research, policy and practice. She holds a PhD in Immunology from the John Curtin School of Medical Research and a Masters of Population Studies from the ANU. Dr Al-Yaman was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 1990 and the Australian Public Service Medal in 2008.

Michael Frost is responsible for the Health Performance Accountability Framework Group. His experience spans 17 years in federal and state governments in policy advice, performance reporting and administrative roles. Previously Mr Frost was the Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives for the (former) National Health Performance Authority. Prior to that he was the Deputy Head of Secretariat for the COAG Reform Council for more than six years, where he oversaw the council’s performance reporting in the health, education, skills, disability, housing, Indigenous sectors and microeconomic reform. He also led the council's review of the strategic planning systems of Australia’s capital cities against agreed national criteria. He has held various policy and management roles within the NSW Government in both the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Office of Community Housing. This included periods managing the Cabinet Secretariat and advising on a range of portfolios, including treasury, finance, commerce, arts, health, Aboriginal affairs, youth, and intergovernmental relations and regulatory reform. Mr Frost has a Bachelor of Economics (first class honours in political science) and a Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (with Merit).

Jenny Hargreaves leads the AIHW's Hospitals, Resourcing and Classifications Group. The Group provides statistical leadership, develops and compiles data, undertakes analyses and disseminates policy-relevant statistical information about hospitals, about human and financial resources in the health and welfare sectors, and about health sector performance. The Group also provides metadata repository and publication services, and support for national health and welfare metadata developers. As part of her role heading the Group, Ms Hargreaves is Head of the Australian Collaborating Centre for the World Health Organization's Family of International Classification (a role of the AIHW), and also manages relationships with two of the AIHW's Collaborating Units: the National Injury Surveillance Unit, and the Dental Statistics and Research Unit. In the past, Ms Hargreaves was also responsible for the Institute's data and information on Australia's mental health services and palliative care services. Prior to joining the AIHW in 1996, she held professional and research positions in communicable disease surveillance at the Department of Health and Ageing, in the Therapeutic Goods Administration and at the Australian National University.

Andrew Kettle is responsible for the Business and Governance Group. Mr Kettle qualified as a chartered accountant in the United Kingdom and then worked for Coopers & Lybrand in Canada and Australia. He was the Chief Financial Officer at the Australian Fisheries Management Authority before joining the Institute in 2006 as a senior executive. During his time at the Institute he has at various times held senior executive responsibility for finance, human resources, governance, information and communications technology, office accommodation, publications and media. He has worked closely with internal and external stakeholders to deliver corporate services that support organisational objectives and deliver value for money. Andrew has a degree in engineering with management studies from the University of Cambridge, England and a diploma in computer science.

Lynelle Moon is responsible for the Health Group which reports and collects data on the health of Australians, including population health, disease monitoring and primary health care. This includes health inequalities, risk factors, international health comparisons, mortality, the burden of disease, and specific chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, musculoskeletal conditions, and respiratory conditions. Lynelle has held a number of health leadership positions in AIHW since 1995, and spent 2 years working in the Health Division of OECD, Paris. She is also the Lead Analyst for the national component of the Australian Burden of Disease Study, which is a large project using international best-practice methods to calculate the fatal and non-fatal burden of 200 diseases and injuries, along with the attribution of this burden to various risk factors. Lynelle holds a PhD in epidemiology, a BMath, and post-graduate qualifications in statistics and population health.

Geoff Neideck heads up the Institute's Data Strategies and Information Technology Group. His responsibilities include leading development of the Institute's strategies for acquiring and managing the Institute's data assets, and their use for data integration and analysis. He is responsible developing information technology strategies, implementing appropriate IT architecture and delivering new IT applications to support the Institute's data management, processing and dissemination. Mr Neideck has extensive experience in statistics and data ranging across statistical conceptual and operational development, survey and administrative data collection and major statistical infrastructure projects. He has managed large national economic and social statistics programs at the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and has also worked at Statistics Canada.

Louise York leads the Community Services and Communications Group which spans community services and corporate communications functions. The group develops, maintains and analyses national data to support reporting on the health and welfare of key sub-populations including children and youth, older Australians and people with disability; and use of services within a range of health and welfare sectors including community-based focused on aged care, child protection, juvenile justice and disability services. The group manages the AIHW’s online communications and print-ready publishing, promotes the AIHW and its work through media, marketing and client relations activities, and helps AIHW staff to produce interesting and informative work. Ms York has over 20 years' experience at the AIHW, including leadership positions in both health and welfare areas, and one year at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research. Louise holds post-graduate qualifications in population health and bachelors’ degrees in Economics and Science.