
Our team
The work of Adelaide PHN is achieved with the support of a dedicated staff team and Board. Our team are passionate about primary care and have a diverse range of skills and leadership experience in the health industry. Learn more about our team below.
Board Members
The Adelaide PHN Board is comprised of up to nine Directors (three must be general practitioners) who are all required to be registered as members of the organisation. Adelaide PHN actively seeks Directors who are dedicated to improving health outcomes for people living in metropolitan Adelaide.
Our Board is responsible for providing leadership to the organisation and overseeing the strategy, governance and performance of Adelaide PHN.

Mr Tom Symonds He/Him
Chair of Board
Tom Symonds has been the Chair of the Board since August 2020 and a Board Director since 2016. Prior to this, he was an inaugural member of the Adelaide PHN’s Central Community Advisory Council.
Tom is keenly interested in community engagement, health care quality, health workforce development, and health research and innovation. He serves as a community member on the South Australian Board of the Nursing and Midwifery of Australia and as a council elected director of the Australian Medical Council Board. He also previously served as community member on the South Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia.
Tom was previously the Innovation Ecosystem Manager in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet with the SA Government.

Dr Melanie Smith She/Her
Deputy Chair of Board, Chair of Commissioning Oversight Committee, Member of Board Selection Committee.
Dr Melanie Smith is an associate contractor GP at Chandlers Hill Surgery with interests in palliative care, paediatrics, mental health, diagnostic reasoning and evidence-based practice. She is also the Deputy Chair of the SA/NT Faculty for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).
Dr Melanie Smith is an associate contractor GP at Chandlers Hill Surgery, Co-Clinical Lead, SA Virtual Care Service and Deputy Chair of the SA Faculty of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).
Melanie is a member of the South Australian Health Performance Council, Australian Institute of Digital Health SA Branch Committee and the CEIH Urgent and Emergent Care Clinical Network.
As a former software engineer who transitioned into medicine, Melanie is passionate about general practice-led primary health care as well as incorporating digital innovation and data analytics to keep the patient at the centre of health system improvement strategy.

Ms Linda Abrams-South She/Her
Board Director, Member of Commissioning Oversight Committee
A senior executive and experienced board director with extensive experience across Australia in strategic and operational leadership of large and complex organisations across health, infrastructure, economic, and justice sectors; this includes as General Manager of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and District Director of Rural and Indigenous Health in Queensland.
Linda has 20 years of board director experience in both South Australia and Queensland, including Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, Northern Regional Development Board, Workskil Australia Inc., and Wide Bay Group Training Ltd.
Linda is degree qualified in Finance and Accounting; Commercial Law; Business; and Computer and Information Science and is a Fellow with the Governance Institute of Australia; Australasian College of Health Management; and Institute of Managers and Leaders. She is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Linda is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing outcomes for the most disadvantaged in our communities through partnerships, performance, and good governance.

Ms Claudia Goldsmith She/Her
Board Director, Chair of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee
Claudia is a qualified Accountant and graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), with extensive experience in strategic financial management and governance, compliance, and risk management.
An experienced Audit and Risk Committee Chair, and current board member of SA Health’s Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Area Network, Rural Business Support Inc., and the Blind Welfare Foundation, Claudia is also an independent audit committee member for two council regional subsidiaries, two councils across Victoria, and NT, and external member of the Governance Committee for Southern Cross Care (SA, NT and VIC) Inc. Through these various governance roles, and with former involvement in health and aged care, Claudia has developed a solid appreciation of the challenges for the sector.
She is keen to contribute her broad-ranging skills and experience to Adelaide PHN and appreciates the need to work collaboratively with consumers, GP’s, health providers, and key stakeholders to develop and deliver improvements in services.

Mr Scott Williams He/Him
Board Director, Chair of Governance and Remuneration Committee.
Scott Williams, CEO of Police Health Group, has worked within the health care industry for over 30 years.
Scott has worked in community and hospital health in Australia and the United Kingdom and held several senior executive roles. He has successfully led and delivered several large-scale capital and service redesign projects through cultural reform.
Scott has actively represented his organisation in industry forums, public events and interactions with critical strategic partners.

Dr Peter Del Fante He/Him
Board Director, Member of Governance and Remuneration Committee.
Dr Peter Del Fante is a part-time General Practitioner in private practice, a public health physician and a clinical informatician with extensive experience in clinical and data governance, general practice and health systems innovation, and population health analytics.
He is also a senior digital health advisor at the Australian Digital Health Agency, where he has been involved in all aspects of the design and delivery of the National Digital Health Strategy. Previous leadership roles include being the CEO of a successful division of general practice and the clinical lead for the National McKinsey Integrated Diabetes Care Project (2012-2015).
Peter is very passionate about equitable, integrated and digitally supported health care ecosystems that optimise people’s health and well-being.

Mr Shane Mohor He/Him
Board Director, Member of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.
Shane Mohor is the previous CEO of the Aboriginal Health Council of SA Ltd (AHCSA). He has previously worked in Aboriginal health as a registered nurse and as a senior executive in government, university, and non-government organisations for over 30 years.
Shane is strongly committed to improving the health and well-being of the Aboriginal community. He supports Aboriginal-led, owned and driven collaborative research projects that provide positive outcomes for the Aboriginal community.
He is firmly committed to advancing employment for all Aboriginal people, particularly for Aboriginal Health Workers and the Aboriginal Health Workforce in general. Shane is also past Chairperson for Nunkuwarrin Yunti of SA Inc. and AHCSA’s previous Member of the South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Network.

Ms Tamara Cavenett She/Her
Board Director, Member of Governance and Remuneration Committee.
Endorsed clinical psychologist with expertise in organisational leadership, clinical governance and policy in mental health.
Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), past President and Board Chair of the Australian Psychological Society (2020- 2022),
Director at Mental Health Australia and has held positions on several Federal Department of Health advisory committees. Proven track record of advancing health system reforms to ensure evidence-based, innovative and person-centred mental health care is available to Australians.

Dr Olga Polikina She/Her
Board Director, Member of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.
Dr Olga Polikina works as a General Practitioner consultant with SA Virtual Care Services. She previously worked as a GP Liaison Officer for SA Health and the Department of Health and Wellbeing.
Other positions undertaken include GP Deputy Clinical Lead for the GP Assessment Team (GPAT), and Duty Doctor at CRCT, managing multiple primary care-focused medical, nursing, and administrative teams. She has also worked as a GP in the outer northern suburbs of Adelaide and regional areas.
Due to her interest in mental health, Olga has a good understanding of the available support, capabilities, and areas for improvement. She has extensive patient and health policy advocacy experience overseas, including involvement in ratifying and implementing the Tobacco Free Framework in Russia.

Ms Paula Davies She/Her
Company Secretary
Paula Davies is the Governance and Risk Manager, Company Secretary, and General Counsel for Adelaide PHN. She has over 25 years of legal experience in private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, including four years overseeing clinical research integrity at SA Health.
Paula has a strong interest in supporting organisations with good governance frameworks to ensure robust, transparent, and ethically sound decision-making. She also has a keen interest in safeguarding and helping remove social disadvantage. This has shaped her previous work in the disability sector as a company secretary and general counsel.
Paula is a board member/trustee of Julia Farr’s grants body and has board experience spanning over two decades in retirement living, literacy, community legal services, social housing, supporting disadvantaged youth and more. She is also an independent member of several local government Audit and Risk committees in SA, and is an Independent Member of the Child Safety & Wellbeing Panel with the Tasmanian Department of Health.
Executive team

Prof. Michelle McKay She/Her
Chief Executive Officer
With a clinical background in emergency nursing for over 20 years, Michelle has held a range of executive roles in the health sector in Australia and in the UK in public, not-for-profit, and faith-based sectors, and in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service.
This includes leading a district of 17 geographically dispersed hospitals across South West Queensland, Executive Director of Performance and Planning for Adelaide Health Service, five years executive experience in aged, community and disability services leading services across regional Queensland and the Northern Territory, including the largest service for First Nation’s people in Australia, the CEO of an Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in England, and leading Top End Health Services in the Northern Territory, responsible for all public health services for approximately 80% of the Territory’s population, over 25% of whom are Aboriginal people. Michelle is currently the CEO of the Adelaide PHN and a Board Director of Apollo Care and Disability Living.

Ms Sarah Murray She/Her
Deputy CEO and Executive Manager of Strategy Planning and Performance
Sarah has worked in primary health care for over 15 years. Holding health management and executive roles for the most part of that time focused on commissioning, governance, design, and performance.
Currently the Deputy CEO and Executive Manager of Strategy Planning and Performance at Adelaide PHN, Sarah has a strong interest in creating contemporary, needs oriented, community and clinician informed services focused on increasing health equity.

Ms Niamh Wade She/Her
Executive Manager Primary Care and Integration
Niamh has held a range of leadership and executive roles in the health sector across New Zealand and South Australia, with experience in health workforce policy, project management and population health screening.
Currently the Executive Manager of Primary Care and Integration at Adelaide PHN, she is keenly interested in exploring opportunities to improve health equity through working across the health sector.

Ms Tamira Pascoe She/Her
Executive Manager MHAOD and Procurement
Tamira has over 13 years’ experience in the primary care sector, directly working within the mental health space. Previous roles include working as a clinical mental health social worker and program manager in Northern Adelaide.
While working within Adelaide PHN, Tamira has undertaken a variety of roles at the operational level and has been a member of the executive team for three years. She is responsible for the Mental Health, AOD and Procurement portfolio within the Adelaide PHN. With the mental health and AOD treatment needs of the community constantly increasing Tamira is interested in innovative design options focused on integration with tertiary services, co-commissioning opportunities and efficiencies focused on increasing access for Adelaide’s most vulnerable community members.