At the February AHANA Board meeting, Dr Susan Nancarrow stood down from the AHANA Chair position. Susan has been the AHANA Chair since the inception of AHANA and has been instrumental in leading the Board and setting the pace for the work to be done. During her time as Chair, AHANA has implemented the credentialing process for AHAs and has had a major role in advocating for the AHA workforce across Australia. AHANA has benefited greatly from Susan’s leadership and foresight. Susan will continue in her role as an AHANA Director.
This month the AHANA board has farewelled Emily Hoyne from her Director position. Emily is a founding AHANA Board member. Emily made a positive contribution to the progress AHANA has made. Emily has now completed her Occupational Therapy degree and is now working in a new graduate position. The AHANA Board thank Emily for her commitment to AHANA and wish her well in her new career. We have no doubt she will keep flying the AHA flag for us.
The AHANA Board now has a new leadership team who are ready to pick-up from the great foundations that Susan has provided. We are pleased to announce that your AHANA Board will be led by:
Andrew has worked as an Allied Health Assistant for Canberra Health Services since 2015. Since 2020 he has also been the Profession Lead for the AHA workforce across ACT Health; a role which entails assisting with the governance, and initial and ongoing credentialling, of the AHA workforce. Prior to working for Canberra Health Services, Andrew worked as an AHA in a residential aged care facility.
Kirra has worked as an Allied Health Assistant for 13 years, with experience in hospitals both Metro and Regional, Private and Public. Kirra holds a Certificate III (Nutrition and Dietetics) in Allied Health Assistance, Certificate IV (Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy) in Allied Health Assistance, Certificate III in Assistance in Nursing and a Diploma of Project Management.
Tara is an Allied Health Assistant and co-founded the Allied Health Assistant Network of Australia (the forerunner to AHANA) in 2020. Tara has worked as an Allied Health Assistant for more than a decade, with experience in public, private and not-for-profit health, disability and support services in Australia and overseas. Tara has been employed by the Northern Territory-based National Disability Insurance Service (NDIS) provider, Carpentaria, as an Allied Health Assistant since April 2021. Tara holds a Diploma of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Assistant.