Our board

Mr Peter Tighe, Deputy Chair of EE-Oz Energy Skills Australia and a member of the Board of Exemplar Systems Pty Ltd and Exemplar Learning Pty Ltd. Previous roles include CEO of the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency (ASEA), National Secretary of the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) and Divisional Secretary of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU). Peter was an Executive member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and a ministerial appointee to Safe Work Australia. He has served on a variety of vocational Boards.

Dr Chris Colquhoun is an occupational and environmental physician and is the Chief Medical Officer of iCare NSW (Insurance and Care NSW). He has proven clinical skills and experience in leadership, healthcare management, strategic planning, health surveillance and research in both clinical and corporate settings.

Appointed: 15 June 2020

Dr Teresa Anderson is the Chief Executive of Sydney Local Health District, one of the leading public health services in Australia. She has more than 35 years of experience as a clinician and health service executive. She has a well-established reputation for implementing strategies to foster innovation and best practice, supporting collaboration and building partnerships. She is an internationally recognised Speech Pathologist and is passionate about developing programs and services to support and improve the health and wellbeing of all people in the community. In 2018 Dr Anderson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). Dr Anderson is a Vice President and has been made a Fellow of the NSW Institute of Public Administration Australia, is a member of seven Medical Research, Health and PHN boards and is an active member of the Sydney Health Partners Governing Council and Executive Management Group, one of the first four centres in Australia designated by the NHMRC as an Advanced Health Research Translation Centre.

Professor Stephen Clarke is a medical oncologist at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney and Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney. After completing his medical oncology training at RNSH, St. Leonards, Stephen undertook a PhD at the Institute of Cancer Research/Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital, before returning to Australia in 1994. He was Professor of Medicine at Concord Hospital from 2004-2010.He has clinical and research interests in thoracic and GI cancers, including mesothelioma. He has had 2 PhD student completions in mesothelioma including Steven Kao and Anthony Linton and has one current student (Tamkin Ahmadzada) undertaking research in microvesicles in mesothelioma. His research has achieved over $26 million in competitive grant funding that has led to over 330 publications, which have been cited 20,000 times. Stephen is an Oncology Advisor to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and is a Member of the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Review Committee.

Paul is the Chair of the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency (ASSEA). Paul Bastian was previously the National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) retiring from the position in September 2020. Paul commenced his employment with the AMWU in 1981 and in 1997 was elected State Secretary of the NSW Branch. He is a shipwright by trade and completed a Law Degree while studying part-time at the University of Technology, Sydney. Paul has worked throughout the manufacturing industry, in the construction, shipbuilding and metal industries, in both metropolitan and regional areas of NSW. He represented the AMWU on a number of Boards and Committees, including ACTU Executive. Paul was a member of the Asbestos Management Review Advisory Group, as well as once being on the Boards of AustralianSuper, APHEDA, the NSW Manufacturing Council, and the NSW Workers Compensation Advisory Council. He has a long history of involvement with community and union campaigns against asbestos and has represented the AMWU and IndustriALL Global Union (previously known as the International Metalworkers Federation) at numerous international asbestos conferences.

Appointed: 10 February 2020

Christine is head of the Respiratory Group at The George Institute for Global Health; Clinical Professor at Concord Clinical School and University of Sydney; and Professor of Respiratory Medicine at UNSW Sydney. She is a thoracic physician with a clinical and research focus on the management of airways disease and retired from her position as staff specialist in thoracic medicine at Concord Hospital in December 2020. Christine has led many sponsored and investigator-initiated clinical trials in asthma and COPD and in her role at The George Institute she supervises a research team and PhD students, implementing several trials in asthma, COPD and pulmonary rehabilitation in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. She is active in advocacy and leadership for lung health in Australia and is a member of several global advisory boards for the pharmaceutical industry. She has previously chaired the National Asthma Campaign, the TSANZ, the National Asthma Reference Group which advised government on asthma as a National Health Priority, the Respiratory Conditions Advisory Group of AIHW, and The Thoracic and Sleep Medicine Review of the MBS. She is the current chair of the Board of the Lung Foundation of Australia and is a member of the National Dust Diseases Task Force.

Mathew Werfel is a sufferer of mesothelioma resulting from exposure to asbestos containing materials contracted through work and home renovations in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. As a result, Mathew went through numerous invasive surgeries coupled with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Mathew was previously employed by the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) rising to this position from work as an Occupational Health and Safety Representative at the Woolworths Distribution Centre at Gepps Cross, South Australia and then Office Manager and Chief of Staff for Federal Parliamentarians from 2007 to 2023. Mathew has completed a Graduate Certificate in Business from the University of South Australia and Master of Business Administration candidate. Mathew has been a strong patient advocate due to his own personal experiences. He continues to represent patients to asbestos related peak bodies as the Chairperson of the Dust Diseases Alliance in South Australia and Director at the Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute (ADDRI) based in Sydney. Mathew engages with members of parliament at state and federal jurisdictions, industry and trade unions, to raise awareness. He is currently employed at the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency (ASSEA) as an Assistant Director in the Awareness and International Team.

Appointed: 6 December 2021

Armando Gardiman AM is the Managing Partner at Turner Freeman Lawyers. He specialises and practices in the area of asbestos litigation and acts for clients suffering from mesothelioma, asbestosis and asbestos related lung cancers. He has run more successful mesothelioma cases than any other lawyer in Australia and has played a leading role in developing the largest dust diseases litigation practice in Australia. Armando prepared the submission for the NSW Trade Unions and Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia which resulted in major legislative reforms in NSW, including the removal of all time limits in dust diseases claims and the survival of damages where a victim’s death preceded the finalisation of the claim. All other States and Territories in Australia have now followed suit in preserving claims for victims. He was instrumental in the development of the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI), having prepared the submission for construction and development of the purpose-built, state of the art Bernie Banton Centre at Concord Hospital.