BARRIER BREAKERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Board Member ( past Chairperson )
Derek Amos, a co-founder of Barrier Breakers serving as Board Member for 14 years, has a long history of service to the community. This includes serving as a Member of Parliament, a Municipal Councillor in Morwell and as a member of a number of government and non-government Boards and Committees.
Aa s long standing Member of the Victorian Parliament representing the central Gippsland electorate of Morwell, he held many leading positions, including Ministerial portfolios, Chair of the then all-powerful Victorian Parliamentary Public Works Committee and membership of a number of all party committees of inquiry. For 20 years following his retirement from Parliament, he was the principal of one of Australia's leading government/corporate relations consultancies.
Now retired from professional life, he devotes his time and energy to advocate for people with a mental illness and improved mental health services. Derek in a full member of the Institute of Marketing and is a local justice of the Peace. in 2019 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his life long services to the community.
Job Titles:
- Medical Doctor
- Member of the Board
Dr Andrew Fordyce is a Medical Doctor at Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, being employed here for 4 years and continuing his Anaesthetic Specialist Training. He has extensive research experience in health systems analysis and cost effective analysis, including publications in the British Medical Journal and Australian Journal of Surgery, and is currently involved in other clinical research trials at the Alfred Hospital. He holds a position as an assessment surveyor for the Post Graduate Medical Council of Victoria which is responsible for hospital accreditation compliance. He has also gained international scholarships in China and Timor Leste.
Job Titles:
- Registered Nurse
- Secretary
Madelaine is an experienced registered nurse, she is the Manager of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) at Northern Health in Victoria, and has provided IPC direction for the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.
Commenced working in Human Services in 1999 as a Youth Worker within residential settings throughout metropolitan Melbourne. Since that time my work has involved providing complex care in Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug, Housing and leadership positions supporting and developing staff within these services.
Relocated with my family to the Gippsland area in 2006 from Melbourne and continue to work in Human Services.
Melissa initially trained in agriculture and has since then obtained qualifications in counselling, community services and leadership and governance. She is a fellow of the Gippsland Community Leadership Program and a full member of the Australian Institute of Community Directors. She has held numerous positions in the agriculture and community services industries over twenty years.
She is the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Gippsland farmer Relief Inc. and has served on numerous Boards and committee in and around Gippsland. She was appointed by the East Gippsland Shire's to their Drought Reference Group.
For her commitment and ongoing service to the health and well being of farmers in Gippsland and east Gippsland she was awarded the Victorian Premier's Impact Award and was a a Dame Elizabeth Murdoch award recipient.