Board of Directors

Matthew Charles Burke OAM was appointed as the fourth Chair of Albury Wodonga Health on 1 July 2020 and has been a member of the AWH Board since 2013. 

Matt served 25 years in the Australian Regular Army, in logistics and transportation, finishing up in senior executive management in the Albury Wodonga Military Area, at Bandiana in 1995. Matt has served on active military operations overseas.

Matt was appointed Regional Manager of British Aerospace Australia on leaving the Army, and after two years was appointed Regional Manager – Riverina for Removals Australia, a business that he set up from “scratch” in Wodonga and Wagga, turning over $6M in two years.

Matt was appointed General Manager of the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre in October 1998, responsible for a business growth of 24.6%; Matt was then appointed Chief Executive Officer, Consec Security in 2006, a National Defence Security Business with over 200 staff. He then worked as a Divisional Manager at Aware Industries Ltd, and since 2010 has been the appointed Chief Executive Officer at Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation. In 2015 matt joined the United Protestants Association (NSW) Murray Riverina as the Strategic Planning Manager, and before his retirement he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Lifeline Albury Wodonga in 2018.

Matt is very involved in the community as follows:

• Immediate past Chairman of Vocational Training for Rotary District 9790,
• Current secretary of the Rotary Club of Wodonga West, and was Past President in 2002,
• Immediate Past Vice Chairman of the Australian Peacekeeping Memorial Project in Canberra,
• Past Chairman of Rotary District 9790 Conference 2004 and 2006,
• Past Chairman of Kirinari Community Service Ltd,
• Past President of the Australian Peacemaker and Peacekeeper Veterans     Association –   Victorian Branch, position held for 10 years
• Member of RSL Wodonga Sub Branch.

Matt received the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 1991 New Years Honours List, for outstanding and exemplary services to the Australian Army, and was also awarded the Centenary Medal in 2003, for outstanding contribution to the local community. In 2004 Matt was a recipient for Rotary International's highest award, a Paul Harris Fellow, and in 2006 received the 1st Sapphire to the Paul Harris Fellow.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Health Science degree.

He has two children, and four grandchildren, and lives in Wodonga with his wife.

Doug McRae has been involved in the health care industry for more than 10 years. In 2017 he retired as the Chief Executive Officer of Ramsay Health Care in Albury Wodonga, managing the facilities of Albury Wodonga Private Hospital, Murray Valley Private Hospital and the Border Cancer Hospital for five years.

From 2012, Doug was a member of the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre Planning Steering Committee, consequently had a close working relationship with Albury Wodonga Health with the Border Cancer Hospital contracting to provide patient care for public cancer patients as well as private patients. Prior to this appointment he was the Commercial Manager at Ramsay’s Baringa Hospital at Coffs Harbour.

Working in senior finance and general management roles in a number of other industries including construction, transport, retail, theatre production and information technology, Doug previously held the role of Finance Manager at Auckland Hospital in New Zealand.

Doug is a Fellow CPA, a Director on the Board of the Albury Wodonga Cancer Foundation, a past Board member of the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre Trust and is the past President of the Rotary Club of Albury West.

Doug is the Deputy Chair to the AWH Board and Chair for the Board Finance Committee. 

Catherine Prichard is a chartered accountant and registered tax agent with many years’ local experience including both private and public sector appointments. Cath has worked in senior public accounting roles with some of Australia’s largest accounting practices as well as local practices managing client needs in respect to Preparation of financial statements (both special purpose and general purpose), taxation compliance (Federal and State), succession planning, business reconstruction and analysis of business proposals, corporate wind up, budgeting, and accessing government assistance programs.

In 2004 Cath was appointed to an Executive Director role with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Cath lead a team involved the design and implementation of new best practice corporate functionality for the acquittal of suite of indirect taxation and superannuation obligations. This included building the corporate capability needed to integrate and govern the functionality whilst also servicing the business needs of internal stakeholders across a large public sector entity. Cath’s role also included managing the salary packaging function for the ATO and departmental accounts receivable.

In late 2012 Cath retired from full time professional work to focus on family farming enterprises in North East Victoria. Cath is a past board member of the Wodonga Institute of TAFE and a current board member of North East Catchment Management Authority (NECMA) and Chair of NECMA’s Audit Committee. In addition Cath operates a small farm secretarial practice assisting farmers in North East Victoria and Southern New South Wales with a variety of specialist agricultural business services.

Cath is the Chair for the Board Quality Committee.

Angela Verde GAICD holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and a Diploma of Business Management, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has extensive executive level leadership experience across multiple Victorian state government departments and the not for profit sector.

She has worked in clinical, research, management, policy and governance roles and is also currently the Deputy Chair of the Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE Board and a Non-Executive Director on the North East Water Board. Angela is also a member of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANCOG) Appeals Committee and works as an independent consultant.

A background in strategic regional development and knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing regional communities brings an important perspective to Angela’s work.

With a strong record of achievement in facilitating change, leading teams, delivering regional programs and building sustainable partnerships, Angela also brings an enduring passion and commitment to improving outcomes for regional communities.

Angela is the Chair of the Primary Care & Population Health Committee. 

Lisa Ryan, MBA, GAICD has extensive experience in Banking and Finance, and specialises in Technology, Cyber Security, Data and Digitalisation, on both a local and global level.

She has also worked on an NFP board with the Fragile X Association of Australia. She holds a Master in Business Administration from Charles Sturt University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Lisa is the Chair of the Community Advisory Committee.  

Dr Rowan O’Hagan FAICD has qualifications in agricultural science, regional economics and accounting. Rowan is the Research Development and Governance Officer at Northeast Health Wangaratta and Deputy Chair of Indigo Power Ltd.

Previously Rowan was a Graduate Member of Charles Sturt University Council, and a director of Coliban Water, North East Water, WAW Credit Union, Ovens & King Community Health and Gateway Health.

Rowan is actively engaged in the rural women’s and sustainability movements, being a founding member of Australian Women in Agriculture, the Wangaratta Sustainability Network and the North East Regional Sustainability Alliance.

Rowan is the Chair of the Board Audit and Risk Committee. 

Dr Kristy Robson holds a PhD, Masters in Health Science (Education) and a Diploma in Health Science (Podiatry). Kristy is a registered allied health professional, academic and health researcher, and has been involved in the delivery of healthcare services to the Albury Wodonga region for the past 25 years.  Currently, Kristy is a senior academic at Charles Sturt University in the School of Community Health.

Kristy has extensive health related board experience at a national, state and local level. She has significant health service delivery expertise in providing patient centred healthcare to rural and regional Australia within the private, public and education sectors.

Kristy has developed considerable skills and abilities in the areas of clinical governance, risk management and stakeholder engagement to facilitate high quality healthcare outcomes across a range of service types. This has been achieved through her broad clinical experiences and her current ministerial appointments to the Podiatry Board of Australia, working with the Australian Health Professionals Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and as the Deputy President of the NSW Podiatry Council, working with the Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA).

In addition, Kristy has significant expertise in analysing complex health data to proactively respond to emerging health issues, organisational risks and instigate quality improvement strategies, as well as experience in the areas of accreditation and curriculum design for health courses. Through her varied professional experiences and research focus, she is passionate about improving the health outcomes for rural and regional communities. 

Anna Speedie is the director for a family business that manages a small portfolio of commercial properties across the state. She has more than a decade of experience in private commercial and development, business development and management. She has worked in the private sector in high-level management in corporate accounting, international marketing, and international medium-sized business and at an executive level in education.

Anna Speedie has been a councillor for the City of Wodonga since 2005 and became Mayor for the first time in 2015. The development of Junction Place, the central business district and Logic are high priorities for Cr Speedie, along with attracting services and businesses that create new jobs and opportunities for the city

Ms Speedie has previously served as the chair of Regional Cities Victoria and is on the executive of Regional Capitals Australia. She served on a mayoral advisory panel to the Victorian local government minister, the technical working group for policy development for rural and regional councils and the Regional Jobs and Investment Package Committee.

She is the Deputy Chair of Regional Cities Victoria, a Director for Tennis Victoria and in 2019 sat on an expert panel for the Federal Government response for investment in regional Australia.