Board members and approved persons
Board members
The members of the Veterinary Practitioners Registration Board of Victoria are nominated by the Minister of Agriculture (currently The Hon. Ros Spence MLC) and appointed by the Governor in Council. Appointments are for a 3-year term and Board members are eligible for re-appointment. The Board has 9 members made up of 4 veterinary practitioners, a veterinary practitioner employed by the Crown, a veterinary practitioner employed by the University of Melbourne, a lawyer, and 2 persons who are not veterinary practitioners.
The members of the Ninth Board, which started its 3-year term on 18 June 2022, are:
- President Dr John Harte - veterinary practitioner
- Deputy President Dr Kate Clarke - veterinary practitioner
- Dr Charlie Blackwood - veterinary practitioner
- Dr Tracey Bradley - veterinary practitioner, Crown appointment
- Dr David Colson - veterinary practitioner
- Mr Andrew Jaworski - lawyer
- Mrs Naomi Pye - not a veterinary practitione
- Professor Josh Slater - veterinary practitioner, University of Melbourne appointment
Note that non-veterinary member Ms Kerry Harris resigned from the Board in November 2023, so the Board currently has 8 members.
Scroll down to view biographical information about Ninth Board members.
Approved persons
To help the Board perform its functions, the Board or its President may appoint persons approved by the Governor in Council (known as "approved persons") to:
- conduct a preliminary investigation into a complaint, or
- be part of an informal or formal hearing panel if there are not enough Board members available to sit on the panel or the Board decides a person with special expertise or a lawyer is required for a hearing.
Approved persons appointed by Governor in Council for the period 2022-25 are:
- Dr Susan Chaney - veterinary practitioner
- Dr Clara Lauinger - veterinary practitioner
- Dr Omid Nejad -veterinary practitioner
- Dr Stewart Ryan -veterinary practitioner
- Dr Stacey Sullivan -veterinary practitioner
- Dr Helsa Teh - veterinary practitioner
- Dr Lucy White - veterinary practitioner
- Mr Geoffrey Coates - lawyer
- Ms Carol Geyer - lawyer
- Mr Jack Jacoby - community member
- Ms Sophia Panagiotidis - community member
- Ms Mary Sevdalis - lawyer