The Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, announced the appointments today. Last month, Dr Kerry Breen was reappointed AHEC Chair.

Senator Patterson said well-known young Aboriginal researcher, Dr Terry Dunbar, of the Menzies School of Health Research and Dr Wendy Rogers, who currently holds the Sidney Sax Postdoctoral Fellowship in Public Health, would join the prestigious Committee.

"Dr Dunbar's knowledge of Aboriginal health and experience in research will be invaluable, as the NHMRC seeks to build on the progress made in indigenous health issues in its last triennium," Senator Patterson said.

"Dr Rogers' enthusiasm for ethics in research and her knowledge of public health will bring a fresh perspective to the Committee beyond medical research.

"I am also appointing Professor Doreen Rosenthal for her expertise in social science research. This will help AHEC broaden its knowledge in sectors other than medical research that will be important when reviewing important standards such as the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans.

"AHEC is a very important part of the National Health and Medical Research Council. It is responsible for setting and maintaining standards of ethical conduct in research involving humans. The Committee's work is the first line of protection for participants in research," Senator Patterson explained.

Four former members of AHEC were reappointed, including Dr Christopher Cordner, an academic who has demonstrated excellence in his chosen field of philosophy, and Ms Belinda Hope, a journalist whose knowledge of human research ethics committees and community perceptions has been invaluable to the Committee in the past.

The full Committee will comprise 15 members. Two positions are still to be finalised - a second Indigenous Australian and a person with a knowledge of ethics in medical research.

"I am sure all new Committee members will find their positions on AHEC both challenging and rewarding. Its work has a significant impact on the community and on the way Australia conducts research. I wish them all well in their endeavours," Senator Patterson said.

Media inquiries: Sarah Higginbottom, Media Adviser, Senator Patterson's office, 02 6277 7220.

Further information: Jeanne Klener, Media Unit, NHMRC, 02 6289 5796; 0401 995 534.

Australian Health Ethics Committee 2003-05 triennium

Chairperson:
Dr Kerry Breen
Dr Breen is a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in the current 2003-2005 Triennium. He is a physician specialising in gastroenterology and served as Director of the Gastroenterology Department at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne from 1978-1992 where he held a number of academic, general medical and management positions. He served as a member of the Medical Practitioners' Board of Victoria from 1981-2000 including its President from 1994-2000. He is also a past President of the Australian Medical Council.

Ms Belinda Hope
Ms Hope is a journalist with the Nine Network in Melbourne and has worked as the Health Correspondent in this capacity since 1991. She has produced and presented two documentaries in recent years, the latest being Genetics: Date with Destiny. Ms Hope is also a member of the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator's Gene Technology Ethics Committee.

Professor Bryan Campbell OAM
Professor Campbell is a retired gastroenterologist and physician. His previous appointments have included Chief Health Officer of Queensland Health, and Head of the Graduate School of Medicine, University of Queensland. He was a member of the NHMRC in 2000-2003, and served as Council Observer for the Australian Health Ethics Committee in the 2000-2003 triennium. Dr Campbell was awarded the Order of Australia in 1992.

Dr Christopher Cordner
Dr Cordner is Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Melbourne. His areas of specialisation are Ethics (including Health Ethics), Aesthetics and Philosophy of the Mind. Dr Cordner is a member of the Clinical Ethics Committee at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and also a member of the Expert Reference Group of the Genetic Discrimination Project of the University of Tasmania.

Mr Christopher Coyne
Mr Coyne is a Partner in the Financial Services Department and Health Group of Clayton Utz (Brisbane) and practises in the areas of insurance law, health services, directors' and officers' liability, and risk management. Mr Coyne is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, President of the Medico-Legal Society of Queensland, and chairs both the Advisory Council for the Mater Hospital (Queensland) and the Mater Adult Hospital Research and Ethics Committee.

Ms Terry Dunbar
Ms Dunbar is Deputy Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal & Tropical Health. She is also Chair of an Indigenous Steering Group for a greater Darwin Region Type Two Diabetes Project, and for the past ten years, has been a member of the Menzies School of Health Research/Royal Darwin Hospital Joint Institutional Ethics Committee and the Indigenous Sub-committee.

Dr Sandra Hacker
Dr Hacker is a psychiatrist with a private practice and has a special interest in psychotherapy. She is also a Liaison Psychiatrist with the Heart-Lung Transplant Unit of Alfred Hospital and a Psychotherapy Supervisor (Sessional) with the Clarendon Clinic in Melbourne. Dr Hacker is Chair of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and a member of the Mental Health Research Institute Board.

Reverend Professor John Morgan
Reverend Professor Morgan is Warden of St John's College, University of Queensland, Academic Fellow of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, and Founder/Director of the Australian Institute of Ethics and the Professions, University of Queensland. He is also President of the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics, and serves on two research ethics committees.

Dr Wendy Rogers
Dr Rogers was awarded the NHMRC Sidney Sax Postdoctoral Fellow in Public Health in 2000. As part of this fellowship, she worked in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh until recently returning to Australia to continue at the Department of General Practice, Flinders University. She is currently a member of the Steering Committee of the Primary Health Care Network of Health Inequalities Research Collaboration and of the Advisory Board of The International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics.

Professor Doreen Rosenthal
Professor Rosenthal is Director of the Key Centre for Women's Health in Society, University of Melbourne, and Professorial Fellow in the School of Behavioural Science, University of Melbourne. She is a Founding Member of the College of Health Psychologists, Australian Psychological Society, and has published extensively on issues relating to sexual health, adolescence and gender.

Professor Tania Sorrell
Professor Sorrell is Professor of Clinical Infectious Diseases, University of Sydney, and Director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Sydney Westmead Campus. Professor Sorrell has previously served as a member on the NHMRC's Project Grants Committee and Research Committee, and has chaired the NHMRC's Partnership Grants Committee.

Mr Noel Spurr OAM
Mr Spurr was Councillor to Whitehorse City Council from 1997-2003 and to Nunawading City Council from 1991-1994. Mr Spurr is an active and past member of a number of organisations and committees representing disabled persons, and has been ministerially appointed to several health and recreation committees. He has also served on the Board of the Municipal Association of Victoria. Mr Spurr was awarded the Order of Australia in 1985.

Ms Fiona Stoker
Ms Stoker is Principal Nurse Advisor with the Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmania. She was previously Director of Nursing and Patient Care Services at the Launceston General Hospital. Ms Stoker was a member of the NHMRC's Health Advisory Committee in the 2000-2003 Triennium.