The Board

As Chair of the Mercy Health Boards, Virginia Bourke brings experience across a range of sectors including health, aged care, community services, education, training and publishing. She has particular expertise in the governance of charitable not-for-profit organisations.

Virginia joined the Mercy Health Boards in 2016 and is Chair of the Mercy Health Corporate Governance, Remuneration and Nomination Committee. She previously served a term as a Director of Mercy Health from 2008 – 2014.

In addition to chairing Mercy Health, Virginia is Pro-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University and a Director of Catholic Health Australia and Caritas Australia. She was formerly Chair of St John Ambulance Victoria and a Director of St John Ambulance Australia. She holds an advisory role with the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG).

Virginia’s Non-Executive Director career has been complemented by her work as a lawyer and consultant in private practice and senior in-house counsel positions for over 25 years. She is currently a consultant with the national health and aged care industry team at MinterEllison Lawyers. Through that work she has developed a breadth of commercial experience, business development skill and a deep knowledge of corporate governance law.

“I am proud to be part of the Mercy story. For me there is immense appeal in the story of Catherine McAuley: a visionary, yet practical woman, whose leadership style was based on warm relationships with those around her. I believe one of the strengths of our Boards is the diversity of its members, particularly its gender diversity. I aim to contribute not only my professional skills, but my real life experience and my perspective as a woman involved in many aspects of community life.”

Angela Nolan has recently been appointed Group CEO at Mercy Health Australia, taking up this position in October 2022. This follows five years as CEO of St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and previous Executive positions at St Vincent’s in operations and corporate services.

Angela holds a Bachelor of Business and began her career as a Chartered Accountant at Arthur Andersen, working with organisations across a variety of industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, banking and finance and superannuation.

After completing a second qualification in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, Angela worked for the ANZ Bank. In her final role at ANZ, Angela was Global Head of HR Advisory and Consulting, where she led significant transformation programs.

Angela has served on the Boards of St Vincent’s Research Institute, Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery, the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre and Inclusion Melbourne. Angela was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for her work with Inclusion Melbourne, a community based not for profit organisation that facilitates community involvement for people with intellectual disabilities.

Jo joined the Mercy Health Boards and the Mercy Health Finance, Audit and Risk Committee in 2015, and provides valuable business knowledge and insight. Jo was appointed Chair of the Mercy Health Finance, Audit and Risk Committee in 2021.

Jo is a partner within EY’s Strategy and Transaction team (SaT) in Melbourne.

She has over 25 years of transaction experience in Australia, Asia Pacific and the UK, helping private and public companies achieve long-term competitive advantage by advising on the management of all aspects of their capital agenda.

Jo also serves as the Oceania Consumer Markets Service Leader and sits on the SaT Leadership team.

"I hope that my commercial experience and diverse perspective are a valuable addition to the existing strong Board and management capability.”

Alexandra (Alex) is a partner of the large national law firm, Holding Redlich. Alex has more than 15 years’ experience practicing as a senior lawyer, specialising in commercial law and regulatory investigations and inquiries.

Alex has supported the work of the Foundation through her own fundraising initiatives and is passionate about advancing research into women’s health, particularly the prevention of premature and stillbirth following the loss of her own son who was unexpectedly born prematurely and died at birth.

Alex has a Bachelor of Arts (RMIT) and Bachelor of Laws (Monash University).

Tara is a board member for the Institute for Breathing and Sleep, based at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne. Tara is an experienced corporate executive, having worked in global top tier airline, financial services and management consulting organisations in addition to senior and executive roles in the Victorian public sector.

Tara specialises in strategy, transformation and digital, and is currently the owner and Principal Consultant for TSquared Advisory which provides coaching and consulting services to executives and boards on transformation, digital and innovation.

Tara’s qualifications include a Masters of Business Information Technology, RMIT; a Graduate Diploma in Applied Information Systems, RMIT; completion of the Company Director’s Course, the Australian Institute of Company Directors; Driving Performance for Professional Service firms, Australian Graduate School of Management; and Leadership for Senior Executives Residential Program from Harvard Business School in Boston.

Alison joined Mercy Health in September 2020 and is appointed as Company Secretary to each of the companies governed by the Mercy Health Boards. Alison attends all Board meetings and meetings of the Corporate Governance, Remuneration and Nominations Committee, and provides governance advice and support to the Mercy Health Board Chair, the Board as a whole and the Group Chief Executive Officer. Alison is an experienced corporate governance professional and lawyer, having enjoyed a long career at major commercial law firm, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, in both client-facing, commercial law roles and internal legal and governance roles, including as the firm’s General Counsel. Prior to joining Mercy Health, Alison was Company Secretary of Cabrini Health, a leading private Catholic healthcare service in Melbourne. Alison holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne, a Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is also a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.

“I feel privileged to work with such a talented Board committed to furthering the work of Catherine McAuley, and draw inspiration from the values of compassion and stewardship in particular in making my own contribution to Mercy Health’s good governance.”