Members

Bev Noble

Bev Noble is a breast cancer survivor and she was a carer for her partner who endured several primary cancers - prostate, bladder, bowel and lung - before succumbing to brain tumour, which ultimately claimed his life.

Bev holds a Diploma in Welfare, and previously worked as a coordinator and assessor under the HAAC Scheme Northern Sydney, Central Coast and South West Area Health Service.

In addition to being a founding member of the IMPACCT Centre Consumer Advisory Group (CAG), Bev is a member of Cancer Voices Executive.

Since her husband’s death, Bev has focused on Palliative Care Issues representing Cancer Voices at NSWOG Palliative Care Meetings, as well attending Hammond Care and Northern Sydney Area Health Meetings. She is a consumer representative on the Lifehouse Partnership Council and Clinicians Council as well as IMPACCT’s Medical Cannabis Trial. She has participated in the review of Cancer Council’s Publications as well as the Carer’s Study, and was the consumer Representative at Sacred Heart Hospice when they undertook to review their standards of care for Palliative Care Australia. 

Bev’s motivation stem from seeing firsthand the need for greater patient empowerment and involvement in healthcare management, especially in end-of-life care. Her aims are to better educate clinicians and carers to bridge the gap between patient needs and palliative care service delivery and ensure people are treated in a timely and compassionate manner.

Imelda Gilmore

Imelda Gilmore cared for and supported her husband for seven years, from his diagnosis with younger-onset Alzheimer’s Disease until his death in 2016.
Imelda's early career was as an executive secretary (PA in today's language) and on returning to the workforce after raising her children she moved through a career in information technology, specialising in database administration.

As an experienced communicator, advocate, speaker and campaigner in dementia care, carer services policy and media, Imelda works to promote the advancement of knowledge, care and services for people with dementia and their family carers.

Imelda was a consumer representative for the Health Commission of NSW in examining how a broad range of researchers, health professionals and consumers can collaborate for better health outcomes. She has been instrumental in developing collaborations between consumers, health and aged care services. She is also a consumer member of the Patient Experience and Consumer Engagement Team, for the Hospitals Commission of NSW. 

As well as participating in workshops and forums examining end-of-life care planning and palliative care for people living with dementia, she has presented at over 16 conferences (both national and international). Imelda is a founding member of the IMPACCT Centre Consumer Advisory Group, Faculty of Health at UTS.

Imelda is passionate about ensuring that the best palliative care is available for all, particularly for those who are living with dementia. The current COVID environment gives the opportunity to take additional steps to maintain the best possible wellbeing environment for those in palliative care and at end of life, despite the restrictions in place. Nobody should be forced to experience death without the unlimited support of their closest relatives/friends.

John Clements

John’s involvement with palliative care began back in 2016 when his wife reached the end stage of pancreatic cancer.  He would readily confess that his knowledge of what palliative care entailed was woefully inadequate at that time.

John’s work background was in Information Technology, where he gained a vast amount of experience in programming, systems and business analysis and applications testing across an extensive range of industries, applications and platforms.  

Since then, he has become involved in a number of different activities in and around the palliative care space, serving on numerous committees and consumer groups with a range of institutions. These include a major Melbourne hospital, Safer Care Victoria, Palliative Care Victoria and Palliative Care Australia.

These activities together with involvement with other institutions covering the areas of medical research, clinical trials and voluntary assisted dying have resulted in giving him access to a range of activities and an insight of a range of medical areas.

John has two main aims within the area of palliative care. The first is to do what he can to inform the general public as to what palliative care actually is and the potential benefits it offers. The second is to strive to get palliative care more involved at an earlier stage in patients’ illness trajectories than is currently the case. 

Padman Karamil

Padman was a carer for his wife who was diagnosed with breast cancer in mid-2014 until she reached remission in early 2015. He continued to support his wife during her after cancer care including treatment for lymphoedema and diabetes.

Prior to his retirement, Padman worked in the NSW Public Sector holding several positions in various organisations, including TAFE NSW, DET and the Office of the Protective Commissioner). Padman has a postgraduate degree in Professional Accounting from the University of Technology. He was a certified Practicing Accountant and also a member of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK).

Padman’s interests include community service through various organisations including:

• Ethnic Communities Council of NSW (for six years held the position of Vice Chair and Board Member); 
• Lions Club of Sydney Indian Inc (incl as President in 2018) – various roles
• General Council member of United Indian Association NSW Inc (four years)
• President of Sydney Malayalee Association Inc (four years)
• Public Officer of Hindu Education Centre Sydney Inc (since 2018)
• Vice President, Gandhi Peace Centre Australia (four years)

He has been involved with other consumer advocacy groups including:

• Cancer Institute Community and Consumer Engagement Panel member since 2015
• Cancer Voices NSW
• National Breast Cancer Foundation
• Healthy Living Toongabbie Inc
• Multicultural Health Week 2022 Steering Committee Member

Padman believes that the IMPACCT team is pioneering post-doctoral research activities focusing on improved quality of life to severely impacted patients and that it considers consumers input valuable. 

His exposure, though limited, to the health system in NSW is that the multicultural aspects of parents’ and their carers’ concerns are not adequately addressed and often overlooked. His special interest is how the Hindu religious practices and beliefs bear influence in Hindu’s approach to their health and well-being, and also divergent approaches to palliative care, including restrictive/unacceptability of medicinal use in palliative care. I am hopeful that by raising this aspect with the IMPACCT team it would appropriately include those aspects in their policy development and implementation.

Stephen Peterson

Stephen has had many years’ experience as a visitor to aged care facilities, initially to see elderly friends, but since 2014 as a volunteer visitor to two facilities in Melbourne. This association with the elderly has been significantly added to by his role since 2019 as a consumer member, mostly with organisations relating to care of the elderly.

A former lawyer, corporate public relations consultant, and small business owner in Japan, Stephen has established a completely new life for himself since ceasing paid employment in 2014, by undertaking numerous community-oriented volunteer roles and as a consumer member.

Stephen’s community activities reflect his interest in the elderly and aged care, social justice for the disadvantaged, and twentieth-century European history. Since first becoming a consumer member with Safer Care Victoria in January 2019, on a Committee considering issues impacting on the elderly, Stephen has been appointed as a consumer to numerous other Committees and Expert Working Groups within Safer Care Victoria. This experience, plus other aspects of his life, including living overseas, his volunteer activities and exposure to different segments of the community, has since led to his appointment as a consumer on a number of other corporate and community advisory groups. Included among these is IMPACCT Consumer Advisory Group, and drawing on his role as an Independent Prison Visitor the IMPACCT Palliative Care in Prisons research project, Faculty of Health at UTS.

Through his desire to contribute to an improved standard of living and care for the elderly, Stephen is very interested also in representing the elderly as a consumer with research into palliative care, including the specialised and growing area of care in prisons.

Sue Dowe

Sue brings her personal experiences as a breast cancer survivor to the CAG. For many years, she was also been a caregiver to her mother who had chronic and extensive peripheral venous disease.

Sue was formerly a lawyer in the financial services and insurance sector, which included advising on compliance, risk management and policy matters.

Sue is also a consumer representative for the Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA). She has been a clinical participant in various trials and research studies. She provides consumer input into research grant applications for breast cancer treatments, participates in focus groups including about breast cancer, and advises on the design and delivery of consumer focused training documentation. 

Sue is interested in innovations in palliative care treatments, and in how patients can be convinced to embrace the real benefits of palliative interventions both for themselves and for their families and carers.