Dr Shannon Nott is the Rural Director of Medical Services for Western NSW Local Health District. Through this role, he oversees 35 rural and remote hospitals and multipurpose services across western NSW. Shannon also works for the Royal Flying Doctors Service (South Eastern Section) as a retrieval and primary care Rural Generalist. Shannon also works as a GP Anaesthetist at Dubbo Base Hospital. Through his work with Western NSW LHD, Shannon led the implementation of the region’s vCare critical care hub, a 24/7 virtual support and logistics centre designed to assist rural and remote communities. Shannon has also led the creation of Australia’s first Virtual Rural Generalist Service as well as the development of a Virtual Clinical Pharmacy Service for rural communities. Following being awarded a prestigious Churchill Fellowship in 2014, Shannon has been regarded as an expert in the field of virtual care. In 2020, this expertise was recognised when he was appointed as the clinical lead for the Virtual Care Community of Practice for NSW Health, coordinating the virtual care COVID-19 response for the state. He was also appointed as the inaugural Clinical Director of the Virtual Care Accelerator, a multi-agency business unit embedded within NSW Health to advance virtual care across the state. This role has now transitioned under the NSW Ministry of Health where Dr Nott has been appointed as the Virtual Care Medical Advisor for NSW Health. Dr Nott has also supported the progression of research in both rural and remote communities and virtual care. Most recently, Dr Nott has been Chief Investigator for the Translational Research Grant: “A stepped wedge trial of efficacy and scalability of a virtual clinical pharmacy service (VCPS) in rural and remote NSW health facilities,” as well as the COVID-19 Research Grant: “Evaluation of the Virtual Rural Generalist Service.” Through these roles, Dr Nott has led large mixed methods studies in real-world virtual care projects utilising a broad array of clinical and heath information including ED, inpatients, incident reporting and patient experience datasets. Shannon is also a member of the World Health Organization’s Roster of Digital Health Experts, sits on Rural Council of the World Congress of Family Physicians (WONCA) and was previously the NSW Rural Representative to the Federal AMA. As a clinical leader in NSW, Shannon sits on the NSW Health COVID Clinical Council and is an advisor to the Rural Doctors Network.

Dr Konrad Kangru is a rural GP from Proserpine in north Qld. He has been in rural practice for over 20 years, and supervises students and registrars in his practice. Dr Kangru is also very actively involved with rural health advocacy and policy, serving on multiple Councils and Boards for the purposes of reducing fragmentation in rural health care delivery, and seeing that rural patients and communities receive the same quality of care as their urban colleagues

Rica Lacey A proud Wakka Wakka woman, with over 10 years’ experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, Rica provides leadership to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce and supports Darling Downs Health to improve health equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through innovation and collaborative practice. She is passionate about helping Indigenous communities to implement strategies to improve health outcomes. Rica’s approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health service delivery is strengths based and focuses on self-determination and empowerment through locally led, shared decision-making processes. Rica is the lead for the Darling Downs Health First Nations Health Equity Strategy, working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Organisations, Primary Health Networks, Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to improve access to care, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Maternal and Child Health, Cultural Safety and Care Coordination through co-design.