Principal consultant
Janette Donovan

Curtain Consulting, Melbourne

Current appointments

• Board Member, National Prescribing Service, Commonwealth funded body established to promote the quality use of medicines, 1998 –

• Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council (APAC), 1993-1995 and 2000-ongoing.

• Representing Council on the Ageing. APAC provides advice to the Health Minister on National Medicines Policy

• Member of the Mediconnect Development Group 2000-ongoing. The Mediconnect Development Group is designing a national system for electronic medicines records for consumers, doctors and pharmacists.

Other Memberships

• Consumer member representing APAC on Steering Committee for the evaluation of the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) into Victorian Hospitals in preparation for policy in relation to the next Health Care Agreements between the States and the Commonwealth;

• Consumer member of the APAC Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) Taskforce to negotiate the roll out of CMI in Australia through retail Pharmacy

• Consumer member of APAC Committee to develop policy in relation to PBS sustainability in preparation for an APAC submission to the Inter-departmental Committee (IDC) on the Future of the PBS

• Chaired the organising committee for the National Prescribing Service (NPS) conference the National Medicines Symposium titled Linking people, policy and actions.  Four hundred people attended the conference held in March 2002 and opened by the federal health minister

• Chair of the Communications working group of the National Prescribing Service (produces NPS News for prescribers)

• Member of the Community /Communications working group of the NPS which is responsible for developing the Antibioitics campaign to the public (2000-ongoing).

• Member of the management group of the consumer medicines information service known as Medicines Line 2002

• Media spokesperson for the NPS launch on the antibiotics campaign to the public and for the launch of Medicines Line 2002

• Chair, Board of Management,(1999-2000) TRANX Incorporated (Tranquilliser , Recovery and New Existence) Service, Melbourne, Member Committee of management  1997 – Sept 2002

•  Represented COTA (A) on CHF Pharmaceuticals Project Steering Committee (1993-94).

• Current member, Editorial Committee, Health Issues Journal, Health Issues Centre, Melbourne.

• National Health and Medical Research Council - Expert Panel on the Clinical Management of Older People (consumer representative), 1992.  The Panels brief was  to oversee the preparation of NH&MRC papers on issues of relevance to the health of older people.

• Community Health Services Board, ACT Health Authority (community representative) 1985-1986,

•  Disciplinary Committee, ACT Law Society, 1987-88 (community representative)

• Consumer member representing APAC on Steering Committee for the evaluation of the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) into Victorian Hospitals in order to inform policy for the next Health Care Agreements between the States and the Commonwealth;

• Consumer member of APAC Committee to develop policy in relation to the PBS sustainability for inclusion in a submission to the Interdepartmental Committee on the future of the PBS

• The BMMS Development Group is developing national policy including evaluating a trial of the BMMS in order to provide policy advice to the Federal Health Minister on the national roll out of the BMMS.

My work with Council on the Ageing COTA (Aust) also involved extensive work in national policy development and project development, including:

• coordinating  with the state councils and drafting the initial Federal Budget submissions in all social policy areas for Council on the Ageing to the Federal Government

• analysis of government policy documents in health, housing and retirement incomes

• analysis Federal Government Budget Papers for COTA (Aust) State COTAs and Government.

•  co-ordinating and supervising preparation of summaries and submissions representing COTA's views in response to background and issues papers released by the National Health Strategy and the National Housing Strategy.

•  representing and advocacy for COTA on matters relating to national policy with federal government ministers eg. the health minister, government inquiries, departments and relevant organisations and individuals.

 My project work involved:

• Coordinating and resourcing major national projects for COTA (Australia) on the wise use of medicines, training older people as peer educators for National Medicines Week 1996 and the International Year of Older People 2000/2001.

• co-ordinating and writing consultation reports for a team of health experts reporting on the health of older people for the Federal Government's National Better Health Program.

• organised and reported on focus groups meeting with older people in three States for National Better Health Program

• co-ordinated National Polypharmacy Taskforce Meetings of 25 experts and older people.

• established National Polypharmacy Taskforce working groups and co-ordinated aspects of their work specifically running focus groups on the needs of older people from non-English speaking backgrounds.

• liaised with Hill and Knowlton, PR consultants for the National conference on Older People and Drugs.

• managed conference organisation and liaised with conference organisers on all organisational matters.

Major publications:

Qualifications

• BA University of Western Australia (1975)

• Diploma in Teaching, Secondary Teachers College Western Australia 1975

• Dip.TESL (Teaching English as a second language), University of Papua New Guinea (1980)

• Graduate Diploma in Public Policy (University of Melbourne) 1995

Previous positions    

• Former National Policy Officer, Council on the Ageing (Australia), 1990-1995

• Acting Executive Director, COTA (Australia) (Aug/Sept 1992, 1993, 1994)

• National Project Co-ordinator (Polypharmacy Project), 1990

• National Policy Officer, Consumers' Health Forum, 1988-89.

• Secondary Teacher ACT Education Authority formally Commonwealth Teaching Service (1975-88)

• Tutor Department of Extension Studies University of Papua New Guinea 1978-79