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Guest Speaker Profiles
Senator the Hon Kay Patterson
Minister for Health & Ageing
Since her election to the Senate in 1987, Senator Kay Patterson has been able to bring her background in areas as wide ranging as health, ageing, women, education, youth affairs and small business to bear on her role.
Prior to entering the Senate, Senator Kay Patterson was Principal Lecturer and Chairman of the School of Behavioural Sciences, at Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences. She co-ordinated the development of the Diploma of Gerontology at Lincoln following time as a Kellogg Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan, and as Visiting Fellow at Pennsylvania State University, where she studied gerontology - the study of ageing.
With a long standing involvement with Aged Care and Older Persons, Senator Patterson was appointed by the Prime Minister to chair the 1997 Conference for Older Australians. The Conference was established to prepare the Commonwealth's response to the International Year of Older Persons. Other Parliamentary appointments have included Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs where she had responsibility for the overseas student program (a large export earner) and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, working closely with the Minister in the delivery of Australia's Overseas Aid program. In November 2001, Senator Patterson was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Health and Ageing.
Mr Stephen Smith MP
Shadow Minister for Health & Ageing
Stephen Smith, Federal Member for Perth since 1993, became Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing in November 2001 after the 10 November 2001 Federal election. He was Shadow Minister for Communications from October 1998 - November 2001, Shadow Minister for Resources & Energy from March 1997 - October 1998 and Shadow Minister for Trade from March 1996 - March 1997. He was the Chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Corporations & Securities from 1994 to 1996, and has been a member of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Banking, Finance & Public Administration.
Before being elected to the Federal Parliament as Member for Perth, Stephen was Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Australia and Senior Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer of Australia. From 1987 to 1990 he was the State Secretary of the Western Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party and from 1983 to 1987 he was Principal Private Secretary to the Attorney General of Western Australia. Stephen is a Barrister and Solicitor by profession. He completed his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Western Australia.
Stephen worked as a Barrister and Solicitor in Perth, then completed a Master of Laws at London University, and subsequently lectured and tutored in Law in London. Stephen was born in Narrogin, Western Australia and spent his early years in Narrogin and Southern Cross. Stephen received his secondary school education at Christian Brothers High School Highgate in Perth.
Ms Helen Owens
Productivity Commissioner
Helen Owens was appointed as a full-time Commissioner to the Productivity Commission in 1998, following 5 years as Commissioner on the Industry Commission. Helen carries special responsibility for matters relating to the social effects of economic adjustment and social welfare service delivery. She holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons.) and a Master of Economics from Monash University.
She is currently the presiding Commissioner on the Government-commissioned study investigating general practice compliance costs associated with Commonwealth programs. She recently presided on an inquiry into Section 2D of the Trade Practices Act 1974 relating to local government.
Helen has directed inquiries into the Pharmaceutical Industry, Medical and Scientific Equipment Industries and Private Health Insurance. She recently presided over an international benchmarking study of pharmaceutical prices and mentored an international review of health policy reforms and a study of supplier-induced demand. Other projects include: private hospitals, public hospital contracting, hospital casemix funding and the cost of alcohol consumption. She directed PC submissions to the Welfare Reform Reference Group and National Review of Pharmacy Regulation. In 2002 she facilitated PC roundtables on health policy and managed competition.
In 1992-93 she was Associate Professor in Health Economics in the National Centre for Health Program Evaluation, Monash University, with responsibility for projects in health program evaluation and health economics. Her research interests included health system financing, casemix funding, evaluation of health technologies and pharmaceuticals and quality of care.
Dr Julie Thompson
Chair, ADGP
Dr Julie Thompson has been a general practitioner for 20 years, currently working in rural Victoria. She has an extensive history of contributing to general practice policy through her representation on national and state GP organisations and committees.
Dr Thompson has broad experience in the development of collaborative models of primary health care in regional and rural Victoria. She has chaired committees that led to the establishment of a community health service in West Gippsland, the regional Gippsland breastscreening service and a multidisciplinary youth health clinic in West Gippsland. Until recently, she was president of the West Gippsland Health Care Group which manages acute, community and aged care facilities.
Dr Thompson currently represents Divisions of General Practice nationally as Chair of the Australian Divisions of General Practice Ltd and she is the Medical Director of the Central West Gippsland Division of General Practice. She sits on a number of national committees including the General Practice Representative Group, the General Practice Partnership Advisory Committee, (GPPAC) for which she chairs the Primary Care Standing Committee, and the Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee (APAC).
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