The role of the Board is to exercise good governance in the achievement of Northern Health’s stated objectives.
Key aspects of this governance role include:
- setting the organisation’s strategic direction
- establishing a policy framework (primary policy)
- appointing the Chief Executive Officer and monitoring their performance
- evaluating organisational performance
- ensuring organisational accountability and compliance with legislative requirements
- evaluating the Board’s own effectiveness in governance.
The Directors contribute to the governance of Northern Health collectively as a board by attending to business through meetings and a range of informal processes over the year. In addition to the minimum number of Board meetings required to be attended, individuals contribute through participation or chairing the various committees of the Board. Between committee meetings they are often involved in assisting management in the performance of Northern Health functions. Directors also attend significant functions and ministerial events across Northern Health.
Adjunct Professor Alan Lilly
Board Chair
A/Professor Alan Lilly is the Board Chair of Northern Health appointed on 1 July 2025.
Alan is a leading expert and independent consultant in health and aged care with a distinguished career across public, private and not-for-profit organisations. He brings a wealth of experience across health, aged care and social care sectors, currently as Principal of Acumenity and having held Chief Executive roles at major health and social care services including Eastern Health, BlueCross and Jewish Care Victoria.
Alan also brings a strong track record in governance, having served on the Boards of The Royal Women’s Hospital, The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, and the Mayflower Group, and contributed to state-wide initiatives as a Council Member of the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity. As a Consultant, he co-conducted independent COVID-19 outbreak reviews for the Commonwealth Department of Health and contributed extensively to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. He previously served on the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) Aged Care Advisory Group and he is an Adjunct Professor of Australian Catholic University.
With a clinical background as both a Registered Psychiatric Nurse and Registered General Nurse, and postgraduate qualifications in Health Services Management and Health Administration, Alan brings both frontline insight and strategic leadership expertise spanning operational excellence, clinical governance, care quality & safety and consumer experience. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow and Certified Health Executive of the Australasian College of Health Service Management.
Associate Professor Cate Kelly
A/Professor Cate Kelly is a Northern Health Board Director appointed on 1 July 2025.
She is an experienced medical healthcare executive with a background in leadership roles across Victorian health sector, most recently as Chief Medical Officer at Royal Melbourne Hospital.
She is currently working as a healthcare consultant in Australia and internationally, advising on health system strengthening, clinical governance and clinical leadership. She serves as Deputy Academic Lead, Transforming Health Domain at University of Melbourne. Cate brings experience as a Board Director at Berry Street Yooralla where she is also Chair of the Quality and safeguarding committee.
Nirasha Parsotam
Appointed to the Northern Health Board in July 2025, Nirasha Parsotam is a strategic health leader with over 20 years’ experience spanning clinical, corporate, and research sectors She is currently serves as a independent Healthcare Strategy & Innovation Consultant with the Digital Health CRC, and brings deep expertise in healthcare strategy, systems thinking, quality and safety, digital transformation, innovation and commercialisation.
Beginning her career as a clinical pharmacist, Nirasha has since held senior leadership roles across both the public and private sectors, including health insurance at Bupa Australia, research innovation and commercialisation at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and various health, quality, and safety programs with the New Zealand Health Quality & Safety Commission, Ministry of Health, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
She holds postgraduate qualifications in pharmacy, public health and health administration from the University of NSW, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Nirasha was a member of the inaugural Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board and is known for building inclusive cultures and driving measurable improvements in health outcomes, safety, and system integration.
Dr Michael Walsh
Dr Michael Walsh is a Northern Health Board Director appointed on 1 July 2025.
He has served as Chief Executive of major healthcare organisations in Australia and internationally for over 20 years, including Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH), Cabrini Health, and National Health Authority Qatar. In his role as Chief Executive of JHAH in 2020, he has been pivotal in driving significant organisational growth and transformation, focusing on a people-centric approach, clinical excellence, and strategic business insight.
His experience spans three countries managing health services for diverse populations, with prominent leadership roles including 11 years at Cabrini Australia where he led growth in teaching, research, and fundraising, and positions at South East London NHS Strategic Health Authority in the U.K. and The Alfred in Melbourne.
He has led major health system reforms, COVID pandemic responses, and organisational transformations across public and private sectors, while serving as Vice President of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators for eight years.
A medical doctor by training and specialist in Medical Administration and Health Service Management with advanced qualifications from Harvard University, his expertise encompasses strategic healthcare leadership, international health systems development, and large-scale organisational change management.
Dr Andrea Kattula
Andrea originally trained as an anaesthetist, working in hospitals in Australia and the United States. She transitioned to a career in safety & quality in healthcare and brings broad experience in successfully establishing clinical governance systems and processes, leading change, engaging clinicians and supporting clinical leadership development.
Alongside medical and anaesthesia qualifications, Andrea has completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science degree and a Master of Quality Improvement in Healthcare. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), an Associate Fellow of the Australian College of Health Service Managers (ACHSM) and an Affiliate of the Governance Institute of Australia (GIA).
Committed to delivering safer health care, Andrea has served in a range of safety and quality roles over the past 20 years. Most recently these roles have included Chair of the Victorian Consultative Council on Anaesthetic Mortality and Morbidity (2017-2019), Deputy Chair of the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council (2019-2022), and member of the Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality Management Committee (ongoing since 2012). She presently teaches as a Lecturer in the Master of Public Health program for Monash University.
Andrea is also a keen Meals on Wheels volunteer in her local community.
Mr Peter McDonald
Peter McDonald was appointed to the Northern Health Board in December 2016.
He is an executive with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood and previously worked as CFO at Austin Health and Alfred Health for 12 years. Prior to that he had a number of senior management roles in Victorian Government departments.
Peter is a Council Member, Chair of the Finance & Resources Committee and a member of the Corporate Governance & Audit Committee at La Trobe University, as well as a Fellow of CPA Australia.
Mr Domenic Isola
Domenic Isola commenced his career in Local Government in 1996 following a career in institutional banking audit in a leading financial institution. He has expertise in financial management, reporting and audit, extensive management skills and experience in governance and risk and strong leadership and public sector experience.
Domenic commenced with Hume City Council in June 1999 and held the positions of Finance Manager and Director, City Governance and Information before being appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer in August 2007, a position he held for 13 years.
He was previously a co-opted member of the former board of Dianella Community Health and Community Chef. During that time, he was a member of the Finance and Audit committees and remains a member of DPV Health.
Domenic has led a number of local initiatives and dealt with a broad range of complex matters in the north and worked with a range of stakeholders including Government Ministers, community health organisations and Government agencies and maintains strong working relationships with community health organisations.
Domenic is a Board Director of Lower Murray Water and member of the Finance and Audit Committee.
Mr John Watson
John Watson was appointed to the Northern Health Board in August 2016.
John has had a long career in State and Local Government over more than four decades. He has held several leadership roles in Local Government including Chief Executive Officer of the former Shire of Bulla, Moonee Valley City Council and Hume City Council. John’s Victorian Government roles include periods as a Director, and then as Executive Director, of Local Government Victoria.
John has been Chair of the Victoria Grants Commission since 2012 and was Chair of the Panel of Administrators of the Brimbank City Council from 2012 to 2016. He Chairs or sits as an independent member on the Audit and Risk Committees for a number of Victorian local governments, the Municipal Association of Victoria and the Maryborough District Health Service.
Ms Jo-Anne Mazzeo
Associate Professor Mazzeo was appointed to the Northern Heath Board of Directors in November 2023.
Ms Mazzeo is an Australian Legal Practitioner who works across the health, education and disability sectors to conduct investigations, provide legal advice and deliver training and methods of alternative dispute resolution.
Ms Mazzeo has previously worked as in-house Counsel for the Mental Health Review Board of Victoria and the Disability Services Commissioner of Victoria, has held various positions on State Government Boards and Tribunals, is currently a Legal Member of the Mental Health Tribunal of Victoria and is Deputy Chair of the Independent Office for School Dispute Resolution (within the Department of Education).
Ms Mazzeo is also the Convenor of the Medical Law Program within the Monash University Medical Degree, is a Senior Lecturer at both Monash and LaTrobe Universities, where she teaches health law related content at both undergraduate and post graduate levels, and is a Senior Legal Advisor for the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Ms Mazzeo is admitted to practice in both the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Victoria.
