Dental Board Members

Dr Murray Thomas

Appointed as Chair and practitioner member (dentist) from the Australian Capital Territory.

Murray works fulltime as a dentist in private practice in Canberra. He graduated from Queensland University witha Bachelor of Dental Science in 1977 and a Diploma in Dental Health in 1984.

Murray has held positions in health practitioner regulation since 2005 and was appointed Chair of the Dental Board of Australia in 2018.

Murray held senior positions in the Australian Regular Army, the Australian Dental Council and the Australian Dental Association. He continues his involvement with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

He has served on the ACT Clinical Council and worked closely with the Capital Health Network (ACT).

Mr Robin Brown

Appointed as a community member from the Australian Capital Territory

While head of the Consumers’ Federation of Australia and later, with other consumer advocates, Robin has been influential in adoption of the principle of consumer representation on government bodies, advances in consumer protection regulation, tobacco control and the establishment of the Consumers’ Health Forum and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network. Much of his work has been voluntary including on the development and implementation in developing countries of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection.

Robin has served on the boards of a number of NGOs and as a Ministerial appointee on regulatory boards in telecommunications, insurance, banking, drugs, chemicals, food standards, direct marketing and travel services, and policy advisory boards in consumer protection, public health, manufacturing and social inclusion. He served 3 terms on the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania Psychology Board.

Robin holds qualifications in Psychology, Zoology and Masters Public Policy.

Dr Penelope Burns

Appointed as a practitioner member (dentist) from New South Wales

Penny has a degree in Dentistry from the University of Sydney and is the principal of a Sydney-based private practice, where she has practised for 30 years.

Penny is in her second term with the Dental Board.

Prior to joining the Board, she had 20 years of experience in health professional regulation. This was mostly in various roles with the Dental Council of NSW including several years as deputy chair.

Penny also has experience on the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Mrs Julia Christensen

Appointed as a community member from the Northern Territory

Julia worked as a radio broadcaster with the ABC in Darwin for almost 30 years, covering stories about, and becoming familiar with, the challenges and issues facing both health practitioners and consumers in negotiating health systems. Her particular interests and skills range from the importance of clear communication to access equity.

Julia has been a member of the Northern Territory Board of the Medical Board of Australia since 2016 and serves on various committees of the MBA.

Ms Jacqui Gibson-Roos

Appointed as community member from Victoria

Jacqui is passionately committed to developing greater transparency for governance within the healthcare system and retaining a system that is inclusive of all Australians. She has a strong interest in self-management and consumer participation, having worked on a number of programs involving developing strategies to integrate consumer participation into community health programs.

Jacqui is also an active consumer who has been involved in boards and committees as a member, chair and co-chair, including Inner South Community Health Service Community Participation Committee, Prahran Mission Board, Chair of Leadership Plus Board and Southern Metropolitan Mental Health Council. She was a judge of the Victorian Public Healthcare Awards 2013.

Mrs Kim Jones

Appointed as a community member from New South Wales

Kim holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours degree from the University of Sydney.

Kim’s career includes teaching strategic analysis and stakeholder engagement as Head of Marketing and Investor Communications in financial services. Her passion for business includes a Prime Minister’s business partnership award on behalf of Lend Lease for global community engagement and two Australian listed property trusts, from a former ASX100 subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank, becoming the first accepted into global sustainability indices.

As a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Kim has a broad network within the community as well as undertaking Advanced Governance for Not-For-Profits. Kim sits on the HomeSuper Advisory Board as well as returning to the Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA) Board, following her term as ACA’s interim CEO Kim’s other roles within the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme include as a national board community member on the AManC Finance, Audit & Risk Management Committee (FARMC).

Professor Richard Logan

Appointed as a practitioner member (dental specialist) from South Australia

Throughout his career Richard has worked in general dental practice in both the private and public dental sectors as well as specialist practice. Richard is currently the Dean and Head of the Adelaide Dental School at the University of Adelaide. In addition to his academic role, he maintains his specialist practice as an Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologist at Clinpath Pathology, Adelaide.

Richard has been reappointed for a second term with the Dental Board of Australia. He is past Chair of the South Australian Registration and Notification and Immediate Action Committees. He currently chairs the Board’s Equivalence Assessment Panels for internationally qualified dental specialists. He is past president of the International Society of Oral Oncology, previous Chair of the Faculty of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and he is the current Chief Examiner in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology for the College. He has previously served as an examiner for the Australian Dental Council Examinations and Final Fellowship Examination for the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons.

Mr Tan Nguyen

Appointed as a practitioner member (oral health therapist) from Victoria

Tan is an oral health therapist with special interests in dental public health, community engagement, policy, advocacy and effective governance. Tan was appointed to the Dental Board of Australia in 2018 and is in his second term. He is currently carrying out his PhD studies at Deakin University in health economics, which was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship in 2020. Tan has postgraduate qualifications in public health and clinical education. His clinical practice experience is diverse in both the public and private sector, including holding a clinical educator role at the Melbourne Dental School.

Mrs Janice Okine

Appointed as a practitioner member (oral health therapist) from Queensland

Janice is an Oral Health Therapist and has a Certificate in Dental Therapy, a Graduate Diploma in Health Promotion and completed the Academic Upgrade for Dental Therapists in the first cohort.

Janice has experience in both the public and private oral health sectors and was a previous member of the Queensland Registration and Notifications Committee. She has experience in continuing education and professional development for the oral health team at a state-wide and local level, with a strong interest in interprofessional collaboration. Janice has a passion for patient safety and has completed professional development in Safety and Quality in Health Care and is actively involved in practical continuous improvements to support safe, effective, high quality oral health care.

Dr Kate Raymond

Appointed as a practitioner member (dentist) from the Northern Territory

Kate is the Chief Dental Officer for the Northern Territory Department of Health, Sector and System Leadership Division. In addition to dentistry, Kate holds qualifications in science, management, health law and is currently undertaking a Doctorate of Public Health, where she is investigating models for health policy evaluation in rural and remote Australia. Kate has lived and worked in the Northern Territory for over 10 years and has served on the Dental Board of Australia since 2015. Kate’s areas of interest include addressing healthcare inequities and impacts of systemic racism in healthcare and the interplay with regulation, governance and models of care.

Dr Simon Shanahan

Appointed as a practitioner member (dentist) from Western Australia

Simon graduated as a dentist from the University of WA in 1984 and has practiced in private practice as a full-time general dentist in South Perth since 1993.

Simon has had a long history of regulatory involvement with the Dental Board of Australia at many levels since 2010. He has served in many roles and organisations throughout his career, both in Australia and overseas.

Simon has a continuing special interest in philanthropic dental initiatives.

Ms Carolynne Smith

Appointed as a practitioner member (dental prosthetist) from Tasmania

Carolynne holds an Advanced Diploma of Dental Prosthetics, Diploma of Dental Technology, Certificate of Dental Technology, TAFE, New South Wales and Diploma of Management, Esset Australia.

Carolynne is a registered Dental Prosthetist who worked with Oral Health Services Tasmania in clinical, technical, management and administrative roles. Carolynne has had the privilege of working in an environment that evolved to provide services delivered with contemporary practice and governance.

She has participated in many committees and working groups developing policies, guidelines, protocols and standards covering clinical and non-clinical matters.

Carolynne is interested in regulation, risk management, new and emerging dental and dental prosthetic methods and is a long-standing member of the Australian Dental Prosthetists Association.