Our Board

Susan has had twenty-five years’ experience in residential and home care, having worked in clinical and managerial leadership, undertaken design and project coordination for new aged care facilities and made a sustained contribution to service and policy thinking at state and national levels. Susan is a Casual Academic with Flinders University in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences and is currently working with the City of Marion Community Connections program in Positive Ageing and Inclusion

She has been a recipient of numerous awards including an international study scholarship and “Citizen of the year” from one of SA’s largest councils. Susan is a member of the Australian College of Nursing’s Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Expert Advisory Group (EAG) 2021, the National Aged Care Alliance, a Clinical Expert Advisor, for the Australian Digital Health Agency and Board Chair, Palliative Care SA. She is a member of the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority Interim Aged Care Advisory Group and a Ministerially appointed member of the Aged Care Financing Authority (past). She participated in the research and development of the stage 2 trial of the assessment, classification and funding model to underpin the single in-home care program with eh Global Centre for Modern Ageing.

Nick Muirhead is a senior lawyer and Wills and Estates Specialist at Clelands Lawyers.

Nick is also a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, the peak body for professionals “Advising Families Across Generations”.

Nick is passionate about raising awareness of the importance of Estate Planning and Advance Care Planning. He is also keen to assist in better positioning the PCSA to invite and attract private philanthropic giving, so that the PCSA’s many dedicated members are better resourced to focus their time and expertise on improving the availability and quality of palliative care services for all South Australians.

Babis Mavrakis has extensive experience in business and commerce. He is the Director – Business Advisory at William Buck Chartered Accountants and Advisors and a member of CPA Australia.

Babis also worked for the Australian Taxation Office, and completed the first GST audit in South Australia.

Babis believes that care is essential in any approach to service and his financial expertise will be an asset to the board.

Paul Caskey has worked extensively in investment management throughout his professional career, bringing leadership and investment experience to the Board of Palliative Care South Australia.

Paul is the Chief Investment Officer for ReturnToWorkSA and is responsible for implementing the investment strategy of almost $4 billion in assets. Previously, he was a Director for the Blind Welfare Foundation of South Australia.

Paul’s qualifications include a Masters in Applied Finance, Graduate of the Governor’s Leadership Foundation and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

After graduating from the University of Adelaide in 1986, Dr Montanaro spent the first 10 years gaining extensive medical experience in a variety of hospital and community roles.

She now splits her time between general practice and a variety of non-clinical roles with a strong focus on health advocacy, health outcomes and training the next generation of doctors, including Registrars at the Kensington Road Medical Centre.

She served as President of the AMA in South Australia and on the College Executive as well as being an examiner of students and registrars. Dr Montanaro speaks fluent Italian and has been consulting in Norwood Medical Centre for over 15 years.

Sally Huefner works within the food industry in a FMCG South Australian food manufacturing business and has been in this position since 2012. The South Australian food industry and the FMCG environment is a dynamic and exciting industry and Sally’s role as a Category Brand Manager within the Marketing department is to set and manage the strategic direction for the brand portfolios that fall under her control.

As a professional marketing person with a wide range of corporate experience, Sally recognises the importance of consumer trust in a brand and understands the target market.

Sally’s previous roles have included positions at Metcash as a Category Buyer Food and at Harris Scarfe as Buying Controller for Homewares, Manchester & Furnishings. Her career is solidly based within the retail and marketing environment which has enabled her to get a strong understanding of consumer behaviour and commercial business drivers.

On a personal note, Sally has 2 adult sons and a German Short Haired pointer. She is an active competitive and social tennis player and Junior Coordinator of the ETKG tennis club, supporting junior players during the summer and winter seasons.

Dr Beatriz Negrette Velasquez is a Palliative Medicine Specialist at Central Adelaide Palliative Service in South Australia.

Andrea Rivers-Thompson is a Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner Candidate for the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network at Murray Bridge Country Health Connect. Andrea is passionate about person-centred palliative and end-of-life care and supporting the regional communities in the acute, community and aged care setting.

Andrea started her career as a personal care worker in residential aged care (RAC) in 2008 and has been studying for the past 15 years, completing a Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Nursing, a Bachelor of Health Science/Nursing (Health Promotion), a Graduate Diploma in Palliative Care, a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education, and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Andrea is studying for a Master of Nurse Practitioner at Flinders University, focusing on palliative care.

Andrea was a finalist in the 2023 Premier’s Nursing and Midwifery Scholarship and co-authored a successful ARIA grant for a palliative care link nurse (PC-Link Nurse) program to be implemented in regional RAC facilities in South Australia.

PCSA Board members welcome Andrea!