The independent panel of judges below assesses all entrants against the established criteria. Thank you to all judges who volunteered their time to be a part of the judging panel.
Emeritus Professor Mike Daube AO Chair of the Judging Panel
Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences – Curtin University
Mike Daube is Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University, where he was Professor of Health Policy and Director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute.
He has wide experience of CEO and senior positions in government including Director General of Health for WA and Chair of the National Public Health Partnership, and has been chair or president of many national and state government committees and non-government organisations.
He has published widely on health and public policy issues, and has advised the World Health Organization, governments and health agencies in more than forty countries. He was Western Australian of the Year in 2018, and has received many further national and international awards.
Professor, School of Medicine, Macquarie University; VP Global Healthcare Akkodis, Board Australian Digital Health Agency, Chairman Alzheimer’s WA, Foresight Medical Ltd; Medivitals Ltd
Professor Warren Harding AM has a distinguished international career with over 30 years of strategy and technology consulting as a Managing Partner in global firms in healthcare, energy, oil, gas and resources sectors. He is currently Vice President of Akkodis global healthcare and is a former Senior Adviser to McKinsey.
He has extensive knowledge of the public sector as former Ministerial adviser to a WA Deputy Premier, a senior Treasury official, he was the Minister for Health’s nominee on the Sustainable Health Review 2017-19, former member of the Electricity Review Board and member of the Board of the Disability Services Commission 2020-24. He was recently appointed by National Cabinet and PM to the Board of the Australian Digital Health Agency.
In the aged care sector he is Chair of Alzheimer’s WA, member of National Dementia Expert Reference Group, and member of the Advisory Board of the National Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre at Macquarie University.
He is currently Founder and Director of two Medtech companies addressing digital telemetry and patient monitoring to support ED, acute care and aged care; and Pupillometry using Gen AI to predict early eye detection of dementia. He was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours list for his contribution to business, technology industry and community health.
Dr Yvonne Haigh
Yvonne Haigh taught public policy and public sector management at Murdoch University over several decades. Yvonne’s role within the University included serving as Chair of Murdoch University’s Human Research Ethics Committee, reviewing university governance structures, as well as teaching and research across many different public policy areas. Yvonne completed her PhD in 2004 and has since undertaken research into ethical decision making, governance structures, and democracy.
Des Pearson AO FIPAA
Des Pearson currently works as a Non Executive Director and undertakes assignments on governance, accountability and performance reporting. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2014 Queens Birthday Honours for distinguished service to public sector governance.
In his more than 40 years public service he has worked across seven Australian jurisdictions including over thirty years at senior and chief executive levels, including more than 21 years as an Auditor General (Western Australia 1991-2006 & Victoria 2006-2012). His earlier experience included financial management, program management, corporate support and regulatory roles.
He has served as National President of CPA Australia and was subsequently elected as a Life Member of CPA Australia. He is a National and Victorian Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and a Life Member of the Australian Institute of Management (WA) Inc.
Steve Potter has been a long serving Main Roads’ employee with over 50 years of service. During this time he has fulfilled the roles of Manager Executive and Corporate Communications, Ministerial and Local Government Relations Manager as well as Acting Director, Strategic Relationships. Previous appointments have included Acting Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure.
He has been responsible for managing areas focused on Government and external relations, community engagement, customer services and public affairs. A key role has been to develop and ensure strong corporate relationships with stakeholders. Steve has driven improved customer service, collaboration, inclusiveness, and engagement at both State and Local Government levels.
External to Main Roads, Steve has been a Councillor with the City of Subiaco and a board member with The Subiaco Redevelopment Authority during the redevelopment of “Subi Centro” and the sinking of the Subiaco railway line. He has also served on a number of community committees and activities.
Marina Shu
Marina Shu is a Partner in KPMG’s Finance Advisory practice in Western Australia and has almost 20 years professional advisory and external audit experience across Perth, Sydney, and London. Throughout her career, she has worked with numerous private and public sector entities to help them navigate complex accounting, financial reporting, process optimisation, and regulatory challenges.
Marina is a Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ).
