Penny has more than 30 years’ experience in government, including as CEO of the ACT Department of Health and Community Services and CEO of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
She has worked at a high level with governments and organisations across Australia to influence outcomes and achieve collaborative solutions. She also brings a detailed understanding of government policy and budget parameters having worked in the Australian Government Department of Finance, ACT Treasury and ACT Chief Minister’s office.
Influential work
- Led performance reviews of 13 Native Title Representative Bodies across Australia, including the production of a publication-ready comparative report and analysis of systemic issues
- Led the large-scale evaluations of two National Psychosocial Support Programs, the report on which is available here
- Led development of the federal Department of Health Data Strategy, including associated consultations across the Department and recommendations for reform
- Led periodic assessments of the organisational readiness of RACGP and ACRRM to manage GP training from February 2023, providing provide assurance to the Department
- Led a review of the Commonwealth’s Distribution Priority Area (DPA) classification, with recommendations for change in access to GP services in regional, rural and remote locations
- Led development of the monitoring and evaluation framework and first stage evaluation of the National Stillbirth Action Plan
Outside of Nous
Before joining Nous in 2012 Penny was the CEO of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, an agency within the Australian health portfolio. She chaired the ACT’s Children and Young Person’s Death Review Committee for three years and was a long-term director on the board of Northside Community Services in Canberra.
Penny maintains strong connections with New Zealand, where she grew up. She has an Honours degree in New Zealand history from Massey University and a PhD in Tongan history from the Australian National University.
In her spare time...
Penny is a keen bush walker (a tramper in New Zealand terms) and finds time to walk in many and varied places.