Board

¶Ms Fiona Evans, Chair

Fiona commenced her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and qualified as a chartered accountant before gaining post-graduate qualifications in marketing. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Governance Institute of Australia.

Fiona is an experienced director in mental and allied health, aged care and NDIS organisations ranging in size from $40m to $200m turnover and 15 to 1500 employees. She brings risk assessment, analysis and operational accountability to all phases of board governance and strategy. Fiona has a strong belief in community involvement and a passion for making a difference.

¶Ms Kay Toshach

Kay has over 30 years of experience in public healthcare. She has been responsible for leading a range of broad change initiatives including workforce and performance models, critical service partnerships, planning frameworks, corporate governance models and innovative infrastructure planning projects.

For the past decade, Kay has focused on strategic health service planning and the delivery of major capital projects for Metro South Health Service; one of the largest in Queensland.

As past Board Secretary and Health Service Executive, Kay has strategic capability to identify and align health service need, investment planning and capital requirements in organisation and project planning.

Kay currently works in the private sector and continues to focus on health service, health infrastructure and health sustainability planning.

¶Associate Professor Chris Freeman

Associate Professor Freeman is an established leader with a strong track record in the primary care sector. He currently works as a Consultant Practice Pharmacist at Camp Hill Healthcare in Brisbane’s south and as a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Queensland.

Associate Professor Freeman graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from James Cook University and has gone onto complete a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy and a PhD from the University of Queensland. In 2012, Associate Professor Freeman became the first Australian pharmacist to obtain specialisation in ambulatory care pharmacy under the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (USA) and in 2015 was a part of the initial cohort credentialed as Advanced Practice Pharmacists.

Associate Professor Freeman has served on the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Board since 2015, appointed as National Vice President in 2016, and National President and Board Chair in 2018. Other past governance roles include Directorship of the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy and as a member of the Brisbane South PHN’s Clinical Advisory Council.

¶Dr Dilip Dhupelia

Trained in Dublin, Ireland, Dr Dhupelia immigrated to Queensland as a Registrar at Toowoomba Hospital and subsequently Medical Superintendent at Millmerran (1978-1982) and then practised in Toowoomba (1982-2005) as a Rural Generalist Obstetrician.

Since 2010, Dr Dhupelia works at Queensland Health as the Director of Medical and Clinical Services of Queensland Country Practice, Queensland Rural Medical Service. Dr Dhupelia has operational responsibility of the successful Queensland Rural Generalist Program, and he is a member of the Jurisdictional Forum, coordinating the roll out of the National Rural Generalist Program in Australia. Dr Dhupelia also works as a part time general practitioner in Toowong, Brisbane.

His current leadership roles also include:

• Chair of AMA Queensland Foundation
• Member of the AMAQ Council of General Practice
• Chair of the QIP Impartiality Committee of the AGPAL Group of Companies.

¶Ms Kerrie Mahon

Kerrie has over 28 years of expertise leading health and human services, including primary care, community health, hospitals, community relationship and family support services and specialist disability services.

Kerrie has served on the Board of Relationships Australia, Queensland, and is currently an Honorary, Associate Adjunct Professor for the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University.

As an experienced CEO and Director, she brings experience in leadership of complex health and human services, as well as expertise in corporate governance, strategy, risk management, clinical governance, and research.

¶Dr Faiza El-Higzi OAM

Dr Faiza El-Higzi OAM brings over 25 years of leadership experience across both the government and NGO sectors, making a profound impact on improving health outcomes for diverse and underserved populations.

With more than 15 years of board experience, including roles as Chair of Radio 4EB, Islamic Relief Australia, and Women of Colour Australia, she has consistently provided strategic insight and a strong focus on financial management, compliance, and risk mitigation. Faiza is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

A passionate advocate for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, Faiza has extensive expertise in health policy and community health advocacy. As a Research Fellow in Health Equity at the University of Queensland, she is dedicated to advancing evidence-based approaches to address systemic health disparities.