Professor Karen Strickland is the elected Chair of the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (ANZ) (CDNM). Karen is Executive Dean of Nursing and Midwifery at Edith Cowan University in WA.  An experienced academic nurse leader with significant clinical, academic and research experience across the health, higher education, and social service sectors in the UK and Australia, Karen has been a member of CDNM since 2018, with an Executive role since 2019.  Karen led the development and implementation of the CDNM Aspiring Deans Leadership Development Program to support the capacity and capability of academic leaders across Australia and New Zealand.

Karen is recognised as an expert in the field of cancer, palliative and aged care through various appointments including as invited member of the Professional Advisory Council of the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia and two Visiting Professor appointments with international universities in New Zealand and Scotland. Karen’s expertise as an education leader is internationally recognised through various roles including international education consultancy for both program and institutional level accreditations. She is also an accreditation consultant for the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council. 

Karen has held a number of board level appointments including Non-Executive Director of Ovarian Cancer Australia (current), and previously Board Chair to Canberra College in the ACT, as member of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia ACT Board and as Non-Executive Director of Alcohol and Drugs Action, Aberdeen, Scotland. 

Prof Ann Bonner is Head, School of Nursing and Midwifery at Griffith University. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Kidney Health Service, Metro North Hospital and Health Service where she leads the Kidney Nursing Collaborative Research Centre, Visiting Research Fellow at Gold Coast University Hospital, and a Visiting Scholar at Princess Alexandra and Logan Hospitals. She has over 30 years in the education of nurses having worked in the tertiary sector since 1994 across universities in Queensland and New South Wales. Recently she was a Chief Investigator on two NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence and has attracted over $7 million in competitive research funding. Ann has over 150 publications and has delivered over 200 peer reviewed conference presentations and invited papers. 

Ann is recognised nationally and internationally as an expert nephrology nurse and is a member of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Chronic Kidney Disease Expert Advisory Group and the External Advisory Board for the Australian Kidney Trials Network (AKTN). She is life-member of the Renal Society of Australasia, and in 2021 was inducted into Sigma International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. 

Associate Professor Julia Slark is the Head of School of Nursing at Waipapa Taumata Rau/University of Auckland. She qualified as a Registered Nurse in London, UK in 1993. She has 15 years’ experience as a senior clinical nurse specialist in Stroke patient care, and was part of the team at Imperial College NHS Trust which implemented the London-wide, new stroke strategy to provide urgent hyper-acute stroke interventions to London regional populations in 2009. Julia obtained her PhD from Imperial College London, in 2012 which looked at risk awareness as a tool to improve secondary stroke prevention strategies. 

Since arriving in New Zealand in 2013, Julia has led two stroke development projects in Auckland and Waikato to implement hyper-acute stroke services and she coordinates New Zealand’s only stroke specialty nursing course. She was the academic director of the BNurs programme at the University of Auckland for five years prior to taking up the position of Head of School in 2019. Julia is the inaugural Chair of the Stroke Nurse Forum Aotearoa which was established in November 2020. 

Julia is an enthusiastic and committed nurse, educator and researcher who is passionate about providing the highest standards of care to patients. Her research interests include nursing, education and all aspects of stroke patient care.

Professor  Kathleen Baird has been a midwife since 1996, and has clinical and academic experience which stretches over two continents.  She is currently the  Professor of Midwifery, Head of the Midwifery and Co-Director of the Midwifery, Child and Family Health Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). 

Professor Baird’s research has a strong focus on maternity care, models of maternity care, women’s health and intimate partner violence, particularly in relation to pregnancy and the role of health. She has worked alongside Government organisations such as the UK Home Office, Department of Health, Queensland Government and midwifery professional bodies such as the Royal College of Midwives and the Australian College of Midwives. 

Professor Baird is currently the Chair of ANMAC Midwifery Accreditation Committee, an executive member of SPHERE CAG for Women, Children and Newborn, and an executive member of the Australasian Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Trials Network. In recognition of her education expertise, she was awarded a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Authority (SFHEA) in 2019.  

Frank Donnelly began his nursing career at the Royal Adelaide Hospital after graduation from the University of South Australia (Salisbury). After a stint in neurosurgical nursing Frank moved to work in Intensive Care, where he spent the majority of his clinical life. After completing post graduate qualifications in ICU Frank moved to a role in clinical education. Further study included a Master of Nursing Science and then PhD exploring the development of nursing knowledge and the influence of clinical placement experiences. 

Frank is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). In 2019 Frank was awarded The Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence, the University of Adelaide’s premier learning and teaching award. This award recognises the University’s highest achievers in teaching, support of teaching, and supervisory practices.

Professor Brendan McCormack is Head of The Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery (inc. Sydney Nursing School) & Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney.  

He is a leading academic with 32 years of research, scholarship, management, and leadership experience focusing on the development of person-centred services in higher education and healthcare organisations. Brendan's research into person-centred practice has been globally adopted. He has developed theories, frameworks, methodologies, processes, and tools that have been tested and refined in over 70 projects globally, resulting in sustained changes to healthcare practice, policy, and leadership.

Brendan has over 700 published outputs, including 13 books, 221 peer-reviewed journal publications, and my h-index is 32.  He is a Fellow Emeritus of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing UK; Fellow of The European Academy of Nursing Science [EANS]; and Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Since 2000 he has held 14 honorary professorial positions with universities internationally. In 2014, Brendan was awarded ‘Researcher Hall of Fame’ by Sigma Global (global nursing organization). 

Professor Rachael Vernon is Dean of Programs (Nursing & Midwifery) and Professor of Nursing at the University of South Australia.  

Rachael leads the academic portfolio of Nursing and Midwifery programs in UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences and is committed to the development and delivery of high-quality academic programs and Nursing and midwifery graduates.  

Rachael has held senior leadership roles in nursing education, research and policy, health management, and clinical practice. She is an experienced academic leader, clinician and researcher and has achieved professional distinction through her contribution to the professional nursing scene in Australia, New Zealand and internationally. 

Is the Dean of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Sciences at CQUniversity Australia. She is an experienced academic, manager, midwife, and nurse.  

Moira commenced in academia in 1996 as the Head of Midwifery, University of Wollongong. She was actively involved in the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) as an elected member of the ACM NSW Branch 1996 to 2012. Moira has been involved in numerous committees, councils, and boards, including the NSW Nursing and Midwifery Council from 2011 to 2015. Moira represents the CDNM on the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) Strategic Accreditation Advisory Committee (SAAC). She is also currently a member of the Queensland Nursing and Midwifery Executive Council.   Moira is a Fellow of the Australian College of Midwives, and an Associate Editor for the Women and Birth Journal.

Moira’s teaching within the tertiary sector was recognised nationally in 2006, when she received a National Carrick Citation for curriculum development, for the Master of Science (Midwifery) course, at the University of Wollongong for her promotion of evidence-based practice, research and enhance student-practitioner interaction. This was awarded by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Ltd (now Australian Learning & Teaching Council). 

Moira’s research interests are Curriculum Development, Midwifery Education, Midwifery Practice, Pregnancy and Nutrition, Incorporating Cultural Sensitivity into Health Care Practice.

Debra brings with her a wealth of professional experience in nursing, midwifery and health policy. As a previous Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer and Acting Head of School at QUT, Debra has a vast understanding of  education and government. Additionally, Debra has held senior operational roles in health service delivery in NSW. This has enabled her to contribute to the intersection between health service provision, education and the important role that nursing and midwifery education and research play in delivering  high quality health care to Australian and New Zealand  communities. Internationally, Debra has represented Australia at the International Council of Nurses and on the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation.

Ms Nicole Stanes has been the CDNM Executive Officer since 2013.  

Nicole has worked in higher education since 2001 and has held various roles at Monash University over this time; encompassing research, student administraton and executive support and committee roles. Nicole holds qualifications in Business Adminstration,  Accounting and a Graduate Certificate in Marketing.  

Phone: (+61) 3 9904 4366

Email: executive@cdnm.edu.au

Ms Sabrina Fukuda is the CDNM Communications and Policy Officer.

Sabrina has worked in the higher education and health industry since 2020. During this time, she has had various roles in communications, engagement, events and administration at the University of Melbourne (School of Health Sciences). Sabrina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Linguistics.

Email: s.fukuda@unimelb.edu.au