ASIEQ Conference 2024 – Presenters
ASIEQ Conference 2024 – Gaining Momentum and Leading the Way
10 and 11 June 2024
Sofitel Brisbane, 249 Turbot Street, Brisbane
Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland and the second person to graduate medical school with quadriplegia in Australia. Dinesh is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, and researcher.
Halfway through medical school, he was involved in a motor vehicle accident that caused a cervical spinal cord injury.
As a result of his injury and experiences, Dinesh has been an advocate for inclusion. He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia.
Dinesh works in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital. He has completed an Advanced Clerkship in Radiology at the Harvard University and is a senior lecturer at the Griffith University and adjunct research fellow at the Menzies Health Institute of Queensland. He is a research fellow at the Jamieson Trauma Institute. Dinesh is a researcher in spinal cord injury. He is a doctor for the Gold Coast Titans physical disability rugby team. Dinesh is a senior advisor to the Disability Royal Commission. He is an ambassador to the Human Rights Commission’s Includeability program. He was a 2021 International Day of People with Disability ambassador.
Dinesh was the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service’s Junior Doctor of the Year in 2018. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019. He was the third Australian to be awarded a Henry Viscardi Achievement Award. He was the 2021 Griffith University Young Alumnus of the Year.
He is the author of Stronger, how losing everything set me free, published in 2022.
Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM is the 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year.
In 2023, Dinesh joined the advisory board of healthylife where he uses his experience and skills to provide expert health information and advocate for the health of Australians, and became a John Monash Scholar.
Jess Wilson is a world-renowned Speaker, Functional Nutritionist and Gut and Hormone Practitioner.
This is her story.
“I believe the reason I was put on this planet is to inspire people to live a big, healthy, joyful life.”
Ever since I was little, I’ve been great at two things: doing hard stuff, and inspiring others. What I didn’t realise is that these two things would eventually become my destiny.
When my children were born I was faced with the hardest challenge of my life. They were sick – very sick – and at the hands of the medical system I found myself in a four year long fight for their health that would very nearly break them (and me).
In the darkest of hours, with a fire of determination burning in my belly and my ever present there’s-always-a-way attitude, I turned to the healing power of food to help us, and our world started to turn around.
I learned that the human body is capable of incredible things.
I learned that taking responsibility for your health was the most powerful choice you could ever make.
I learned that we are not invincible. That we do break. But that we can fix ourselves too.
I learned that leading with love and following your heart meant learning to love yourself, too.
And that on the other side of the struggle is a big, healthy, joyful life.
Dr Adam Fraser is one of Australia’s leading educators, researchers and thought leaders in the area of human performance. Adam works in the corporate and business world to provide one on one coaching, consulting, workshops and keynote presentations that elevate and sustain employee performance. Adam is renowned for making the complex, simple and engaging… and for taking the latest science and translating it so that people can immediately apply it to their own situation.
Dr Adam Fraser is a human performance researcher and consultant who studies how organisations adopt a high performance culture to thrive in this challenging and evolving business landscape. Adam has a true passion for the research behind his work and has long held partnerships with various Universities throughout Asia Pacific. In fact, he is thought to be the only keynote speaker in the world to have had the impact of his keynote presentation measured in a University study (It improved the behaviour of attendees by 41%).
He has worked with elite level athletes, the armed forces and business professionals of all levels. In the last 10 years he has delivered more than 1500 presentations to over half a million people in Australia, New Zealand and worldwide. He has worked in many industries with clients including CBA, Westpac, Optus, Telstra, IBM, PwC, Ernst & Young, Asteron, AON, Local Government Managers Association, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Queensland Law Society and the Department of Education. In addition to this Dr Adam is the author of four best-selling books, including his latest book released in 2020 ‘Strive‘ and the acclaimed ‘The Third Space‘.
His topics included the psychology of performance, improvement of productivity, transformational leadership, engagement of teams, work life balance and development of high performing cultures.
He is regularly featured in the media, having appeared in the AFR, SMH, The Age, CEO magazine, BRW, Fast Thinking, Readers Digest, Human Capitol Magazine and Management Today. He has held regular radio spots on ABC Radio Nationally and his own slot on Sky Business. He is also regularly on Channel 7’s Sunrise & The Morning Show, Channel 9’s Today and Today Extra and Close Up in Auckland.
The Coroners Court of Queensland: An overview for Workers Compensation Practitioners
Coroner Don MacKenzie has worked within the Criminal Justice System for over 30 years, commencing as a law clerk in the Public Defenders Office in 1990. He holds a Master of Laws, a Bachelor of Arts and a Graduate Diploma of Military Justice. He was admitted as a Barrister in 1993, spending 5 years working for the Legal Aid Office and 14 years at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Qld), rising to the positions of Senior Crown Prosecutor then Consultant Crown Prosecutor. In 2008, Don MacKenzie joined the Private Bar, practising almost exclusively in the area of criminal law as a member of More Chambers in Brisbane. Mr MacKenzie estimates that he has prosecuted or defended something like 1000 jury trials (including dozens of murder trials), has appeared on hundreds of Court of Appeal matters and as sole counsel in the High Court of Australia. He is also an officer in the Royal Australian Navy with the Defence Force Legal Service and held the statutory appointment as the Chairman, Public Records Review Committee of Queensland before his appointment as a Magistrate in 2017 and Coroner in 2019. He is also a Conduct Commissioner with Queensland Cricket. He has regularly appeared as a guest lecturer on criminal law and evidence for the Queensland Law Society and at the University of Queensland and he is the senior editor of the Thomson’s loose-leaf publication Summary Offences Queensland. Coroner Mackenzie has written thousands of coronial findings over the last five years. He has particular expertise in work homicide, health and safety, suicide and road traffic deaths.
Privacy is not dead but it is changing… some tips on how to cope
Jodie Siganto is one of Australia’s leading privacy and cyber security experts. A qualified lawyer with over 30 years experience, Jodie advises government departments, Australian businesses and international organisations on matters related to privacy and information system security. Over her career, she has held in-house legal counsel roles with Tandem Computers, Unisys Asia and Dell. She co-founded data networking and security firm Bridge Point Communications and more recently Privacy108 Consulting.
Jodie has held leadership roles with industry groups including AISA and is an experienced company director, holding positions with government-owned corporations and private businesses.
WCRS Update
Janene has over 20 years experience delivering policy and regulatory outcomes across workers’ compensation, work health and safety and electrical safety. Janene has responsibility for developing and providing strategic advice on workers’ compensation policy and legislation as well as overseeing the regulatory functions of Queensland’s Workers’ Compensation Regulator. This includes overseeing the review and appeal of insurer decisions, the licencing, performance monitoring and compliance of the scheme’s self-insurer’s, the Medical Assessment Tribunal and workers’ compensation prosecutions.
Suzanne D’Andrea – Vocational Redirection
Future proofing careers
A Career Specialist offering tailored return to work and job-seeking services, Suzi is passionate about empowering people to discover and achieve their career goals. With a people-centred approach, she delivers employment planning to a diverse clientele, including Worker’s Compensation, Insurance, Disability Services, and Veterans. Suzi’s expertise lies in providing personalised support and guidance to individuals navigating career transitions, ensuring they are equipped with the necessary skills and resources to thrive in their chosen path. She is dedicated to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where clients feel empowered to take control of their professional futures and achieve sustainable success.
Dr L. Sanjay Nandam – Australia Telehealth
New medications for Mental Health and ADHD in the workplace
Dr L. Sanjay Nandam is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Director of Australia Telehealth. He has extensive experience in the Workers Compensation space having been a member of the QCOMP General Medical Assessment Tribunal since 2016, and on the WorkCover Queensland IME Panel since 2009. He has completed over 2800 IME reports specialising in workplace injury and return to work. He works across all levels of Workers Compensation as the treating specialist, the IME and at the MAT. Dr Nandam also specialises in telehealth appointments, having conducted over 11,600 appointments over the past 10 years.
The AAA future of workers comp – Ambition, Action and AI
Mark Wiemers is a principal in Barry Nilsson’s Insurance & Health team. Mark has represented employers in Queensland since 2002, and currently acts for seven self-insured entities within the scheme. He is passionate about innovative practices, such as early resolutions beneficial to all parties and focuses on helping employers achieve sustainable outcomes in claims management. His approach is to obtain, through collaboration, an understanding of the client’s objectives and tailoring advice on each matter to achieve an outcome in line with those objectives. Mark’s experience includes representing and advising in relation to all aspects of statutory and common law workers’ compensation claims, managing dust diseases claims in Queensland and interstate, pursuing recovery actions in respect of lump sum compensation paid under the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) and handling property damage and public liability claims on behalf of insurers and corporates under the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld). Mark has a longstanding relationship with ASIEQ in providing educational seminars and events for employers and stakeholders within the scheme. Mark has been listed as a Recommended Workers’ Compensation Lawyer (defendant) and Recommended Dust Diseases Lawyer (defendant) in Doyles Guide.
Unpacking the Secrets of Talent Attraction: Harnessing Workforce Drivers within Workers Compensation for Maximum Hiring Impact
Andrew has over ten years of experience in recruitment across Insurance and Personal Injury, supporting businesses through periods of significant growth, change, and strategic direction. He has worked across the workers compensation industry nationally supporting claims agents, self insurers and employers with recruitment across case management through to executive leadership roles.
The AAA future of workers comp – Ambition, Action and AI
Trent Forno, is a Partner in Brisbane’s MinterEllison Workplace Division. He has significant experience in all areas of employment law in both the public and private sectors and is regarded for his technical skills and commercial acumen. Trent practises in a variety of industry sectors, including education, retail, energy and resources, banking and finance, government, manufacturing and construction.
Ben Sheat – Reality Health
Unlocking rehabilitation and recovery with Virtual Reality Pain Education
A Physiotherapist by background, Ben also has a Master of Management (Personal Injury) and extensive history working in the workers’ compensation industry in Australia with leadership roles in major Australian insurers, TPAs and corporates. He joined Reality Health in 2022. The business evolved from discoveries in modern pain science and follows guidelines from around the world that stipulate a management approach to modern pain that trains the body and the brain. Their goal is to empower Healthcare Professionals with powerful tools that enable their clients to start recovering from chronic pain through the combination of proven science, immersive education and management.
Dr David Brentnall – Axis
Early intervention: with limited team resources, why data driven targeted care is the future
Dr David Brentnall is the Managing Director at Axis. David has a Masters in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy and became a Specialist Physiotherapist and Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapy in 2007. He is also an Associate Lecturer with the Australian Catholic University. David has provided expert clinical treatment as part of more than 10 multicentre randomised controlled trials. He provides independent clinical reviews for complex compensable cases and is an expert witness to the court.
Dr Chris Cunneen – OccPhyz Consulting
Gaining Momentum in Medicine: The Role of AI in Health Care
Dr Chris Cunneen is a Director of OccPhyz Consulting. He is also one of Australia’s leading Occupational and Environmental Physicians (OEP) with expertise in providing independent medical opinion to the corporate and government sectors. Dr Cunneen’s qualifications include Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery, Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine/Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Diploma of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Certified Independent Medical Adviser (ABIME), Accredited Medical Review Officer (MRO), Cert of Musculoskeletal Medicine, Cert of Manual Medicine, Cert of Orthopaedic Medicine and Cert of Occupational Health & Safety. Dr Cunneen is an expert in Permanent Impairment Assessments using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment 4th, 5th and 6th Editions. As an Australian member of the International Board of Advisors to ABIME, he consults and advises jurisdictions both within Australia and internationally. Dr Cunneen is also a highly sought after Permanent Impairment trainer for various jurisdictions in all areas including AMA Guides 4th, 5th and 6th Editions as well as Queensland’s GEPI. Colonel Cunneen is an active serving member of the Australian Defence Force having served as a Medical Officer for more than 30 years. He has served on numerous overseas deployments including Iraq, East Timor and Bougainville Island.
Esra Alzamily – Medex Pharmacist Group
Idea to impact: case studies in optimising medications
Esra is a highly experienced consultant pharmacist with over 13 years of experience. As co-founder of Medex Pharmacist Group, a leading provider of independent medication management services, she has played a pivotal role in transforming the company from its inception into a nationwide force. Medex now delivers contracts with major insurers and has established itself as a trusted partner in assisting injured workers and relevant stakeholders. Esra’s expertise in independent medication reviews ensures optimal outcomes for all parties involved by unravelling the potential impact of medications on claims and recovery.
Jenan Abdulwahed – Medex Pharmacist Group
Idea to impact: case studies in optimising medications
Jenan, a highly skilled clinical pharmacist with over 9 years of experience, possesses a keen eye for detail. This meticulous approach allows her to effectively navigate the complexities of medication management. As co-founder of Medex Pharmacist Group, a trusted partner for major insurers, she leads a team of experts who tackle medication roadblocks in claims and recovery for injured individuals. Her expertise spans across various claims systems, including Workers’ Compensation, CTP, Life Insurance, and DVA schemes.
Dr Mary Wyatt
Transforming trajectories: enhancing care in work injury management
Mary is an occupational physician who is active in policy development and research through AFOEM and other organisations. Her interest is in getting research into practice. Decades of work in injury management has included running an early intervention case management approach across several medium to large employers. Other work has included IMEs, running RTWMatters.org (a non-profit seeking to share evidence-based practices that support better RTW), research on RTW, teaching via Monash University, work as a treating practitioner, conducting a state-based review of return to work for a regulator and advisory work for various insurers / regulators. Mary is the lead Fellow in AFOEM / RACP’s most recent Health Benefits of Good Work policy development – It pays to care: Bringing evidence-informed practice to work injury schemes helps workers and their workplaces. An imperative for change and call to action.
Aycia Jeffrey, Finity
The cost of psychological injuries
Alycia is a Senior Consultant at Finity specialising in self-insurance and corporate risks over the last 10 years. Alycia is the lead actuary for many of Finity’s self-insured clients, providing regulatory support, actuarial valuations and self-insurance feasibility assessments. Alycia strives to make her actuarial advice easy to understand and actionable. As well as having a special interest in psychological injury claims from a workers’ compensation perspective, Alycia is also an Accredited Crisis Supporter at Lifeline Australia.
Registrations are open, click here!
Program
We have curated a variety of interesting presentations. Preview our full program.
Partnership Opportunities
ASIEQ are seeking like minded organisations to join us as Partners for this event. To download our Partnership Prospectus, click here.