Conference Program

Chris has had dual, parallel careers for the past 25 years in both Loss Adjusting and Emergency Medical Services and has presented numerous lectures to national and international audiences. His extensive loss adjusting experience throughout the United States and Australia as both a Catastrophe and staff adjuster has lead him to his current position as State Manager for Crawford & Company in Perth. Chris’s experience in both fields has allowed him to experience a number of technological advancements and developments first hand as well as their effects on businesses, employees and customer.

Sophie’s career began in Nursing, providing a practical foundation as she moved into case management and coordination with Disability SS and Families SA. Her experience within Workers’ Compensation began in 2007 as a Dispute Resolution Officer, and later as a specialist in Learning and Development, concentrating on work capacity and long term claims.
Commencing with Gallagher Bassett in 2014, Sophie’s involvement in the South Australian start up and work capacity projects supported her move to the position of National Learning & Development Advisor where her focus was on personal injury, legislative requirements and staff competency frameworks, allowing her to work across all Australian jurisdictions and ACC with New Zealand. Last October Sophie moved into her current leadership role as a Team Manager in the Northern Territory where she uses her ability to build good working relationships with all stakeholders and ensure high quality and consistent decision making.

Colin was recently appointed as the Local Managing Partner for our Darwin office that opened its doors in August 2018.
He is an experienced lawyer with over 22 years’ experience in insurance litigation, including public liability, professional indemnity, property loss, fraud, statutory lines and local and state government.

Dr Eugen Mattes is a Consultant Occupational Physician and Epidemiologist. He has provided policy and clinical advice to corporations especially in the mining; oil and gas; and service and health industries.
Dr Mattes is accredited as an Approved Medical Specialist with WorkCover WA. He is a Certified Independent Medical Examiner (CIME) with the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME) and a Certified Medical Review Officer (MRO) and member of AMROA.
Dr Mattes has been widely published in peer reviewed journals, and has presented papers and been invited to speak at numerous national and international meetings and conferences.

As an occupational therapist with post graduate qualifications in the same field, Alison has worked in both clinical and non-clinical settings in this profession for over 12 years, in both Australia and the United Kingdom. Currently Alison is employed as the National Military Account Manager at IPAR where she oversees the services IPAR provides to both current and ex serving ADF personnel. She works closely with IPAR’s research and Innovation team who developed Positivum.

Samantha specialises in all manner of personal injury claims investigation, and heads Quantumcorp’s acclaimed Workers Compensation Practice.
After obtaining tertiary qualifications in communications and social sciences, Samantha spent 15 years working as a journalist and editor prior to entering the investigations field.
Her vast experience in investigative journalism honed her information gathering and analytical skills and meant she was well placed to excel in the investigations sector and she quickly forged a reputation for producing high quality, relevant evidence and articulate, succinct investigative reports.
Such was her rapid rise that Samantha was frequently requested to investigate matters of a highly sensitive nature, as well as complex litigated matters involving catastrophic injuries.
Her sound understanding of common law potential coupled with her meticulous planning and attention to detail made Samantha well-placed to oversee the management of Quantumcorp’s Workers Compensation Practice and the introduction of its flourishing group of specialist teams.
With a keen interest in developing both new and existing investigators, Samantha’s focus is set firmly on delivering high quality investigations to clients every single time, via the appointment of specialist investigators, matched to claim or injury type.
Through her track record of diligence and skill, Samantha has forged a reputation with workers compensation insurers for producing significant and relevant information upon which solid liability decisions can be made, often within tight time-frames to facilitate a rapid return to work, and no negative impact as a result of the investigative process.

Dr Paul Pers is an experienced personal injury medical professional who works with organisations to update the communication that is seen and heard by customers. As a human behaviour specialist, Paul converts the latest research in behaviour change and influence into practical tactics that deliver results.
Paul is known for his engaged style and a passion that is contagious. You will come away with practical techniques that can be used in business … and in life.

John commenced his career as a workplace rehabilitation consultant in Sydney, predominantly working within the NSW WorkCover and Comcare schemes before joining a NSW scheme agent as an Injury Management Advisor.
John moved from technical specialist positions into leadership within the NSW scheme prior to joining Gallagher Bassett in 2013. John has held senior leadership roles as part of the South Australian start up as well as New South Wales and the Northern Territory division providing self-insurance operations to the NT Government. In addition to his national experience, John has led GBs joint partnerships throughout the wider Gallagher Group in the United States.
John has completed a Masters of Business in Personal Injury and previously spoken at the impacts of technology in claims management at the ANZIIF Claims Convention and in Insurance Business.

Kylie is a Senior Leader in Personal Injury, with over 20 years’ experience.
Currently Kylie holds the positions of National Account and Marketing Manager for Medilaw Group and General Manager of Caseworks Australia Ltd.
Kylie has previously held senior roles within mlcoa, Australian Unity, Worksafe Victoria (as the originating Director for Service Improvement for the scheme) and TAC.
Kylie has a passion for improving the experience of those who are injured, seeking opportunities to improve return to work and life outcomes as a result of early access to evidence based treatment pathways and a positive customer experience.

Dr Brett Halliday is a Queensland trained orthopaedic surgeon. He graduated from the University of Queensland in 1988. He received his FRACS (Orth) in 1997, becoming a full Fellow of the Australian Orthopaedic Association (FAOrthA) in 2002. He is a certified independent medical examiner and a senior visiting specialist orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. He works in private practice at the Holy Spirit Northside Hospital. Since finishing his training as an orthopaedic surgeon in Queensland, Dr Halliday completed additional training in joint replacement and trauma at Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital in the United Kingdom. Upon returning to Australia he took up the position of the Director of Orthopaedic Surgery in January of 2000. He remained as the Director of Orthopaedic Surgery in at the Royal Brisbane Hospital with interests in orthopaedic trauma management and hip and knee replacement until mid-2002. At this point he left the public position to undertake private practice. Dr Halliday is an active participant in post-graduate medical education.
He is involved with the training of medical students, resident medical officers, and is the supervisor of orthopaedic registrar training at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Additionally, he is a member of the Australian Orthopaedic Association State Committee, Queensland Branch. In the past Dr Halliday has been a member of the Road Trauma Committee of Queensland (a branch of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 2000 to 2005). He was also a member of the Medical Advisory Committee at the Holy Spirit Northside Hospital from 2003 to 2005.

Ralph has an extensive background in the provision of advice and advocacy in a range of insurance related areas. His client base is diverse and in addition to insurers it includes large corporations, professionals and government instrumentalities. Ralph has acted in complex multi-party professional indemnity claims as well as public liability and catastrophic personal injury claims and medical malpractice claims. He is a past a President of the Law Society of South Australia as well as a former director of the Law Council of Australia. In both those capacities he has and continues to sit on a number of committees dealing with national issues, including indigenous issues, professional indemnity, proportionate liability and the NDIS.

Dr Ghazala Watt completed her Primary Medical Degree in 2003 from Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan.
She pursued Psychiatry training in United Kingdom and became a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2010. In 2014 she became a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.
Dr Watt is currently a Consultant Psychiatrist with the Psychosis Academic Unit, Metro South Health Services, in Queensland. She has extensive experience working in different communities and cultures across Australia, Asia and the United Kingdom.
Dr Watt is accredited with AMA 5 and Comcare Permanent Impairment Assessment.
Her assessment specialities include but not limited to Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Trauma and Stress related conditions, Psychotic Disorders, Criminal Responsibilities and Transcultural Psychiatry.