About our speakers
Simon Kuestenmacher is a Director and Co-founder of The Demographics Group.
He presents on demographic and global trends that are shaping Australia today and into the future and his observations are enjoyed by corporate, government and industry audiences alike.
Simon is a columnist for The New Daily newspaper and a regular contributor to The Australian newspaper; and he is a media commentator on demographic and data matters.
In his spare time Simon has authored three books on maps and runs what is by now the world’s largest Twitter account dedicated to maps and data. His social media posts reach over 35 million people every month. Simon ranks as one of the world’s top 10 influencers in data.
Isabelle Whitington
Media and Social Media Communications Manager at the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Isabelle Whitington is a communicator with nine years of experience in strategic community engagement, campaigns, graphic design and data visualisation across the not-for-profit sector, migrant services, trade unions, and the public sector.
With a background in psychology, Isabelle understands the quirks of human behaviour and uses that insight to interpret and present data in a way that resonates with people.
It was a perfect fit to join the award-winning Australian Bureau of Statistics social media team in 2022, where she turns complex data into simple, engaging content for the ABS’s 500,000 followers – that’s 19 followers for every thousand Australians – the highest ratio for any stats agency in the world!
In 2022, Isabelle took on the challenge of creating an Instagram strategy to boost data literacy among younger audiences. Her tactical approach, featuring Instagram Stories, carousels, and Reels, skyrocketed engagement and followers. With a constant refinement of the strategy, the ABS Instagram follower base grew by a whopping 350% since March 2023, from 20k to 90k followers.
Isabelle’s passion for data communication ensures that complex information is not only accessible but also captivating, making data come alive for all audiences.
Bettina McMahon
Chief Executive Officer of Healthdirect Australia
Bettina McMahon is the Chief Executive Officer of Healthdirect Australia. She is on the Board of SNOMED International, and former Board Chair of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health.
Bettina has considerable experience in digital transformation in the health sector over the past 15 years, and across the public sector prior to that. Prior to joining Healthdirect, Bettina was the Interim Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Digital Health Agency, where she had also held executive roles since 2009. Bettina has postgraduate qualifications in public policy, applied finance, and business and technology.
Dr Zoran Bolevich
Chief Executive Officer of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Dr Zoran Bolevich was appointed AIHW Chief Executive Officer in June 2024.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the AIHW, Dr Bolevich was the Chief Executive of eHealth NSW and the Chief Information Officer for NSW Health and responsible for planning, implementing and supporting a digitally enabled, integrated and patient-centric health information environment. During his prior 25-year career, Dr Bolevich worked in a range of senior health management, information and communication technology (ICT) leadership roles in Australia and New Zealand.
Before joining eHealth NSW, Dr Bolevich worked at NSW Health as executive director for health system information and performance reporting and as acting deputy secretary for system purchasing and performance.
Dr Bolevich served as a member of the AIHW Board from 2016 till 2024. He is a Doctor of Medicine and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Distinction.
Kate Ebrill
Interoperability Lead, CSIRO
Kate works with the Australian e Health Research Centre of CSIRO as the Interoperability Lead. Kate has over 25 years of experience in leading delivery and implementation programs in health care with a key focus on initiatives that build community and drive the adoption of standards to enable an interoperable, digital health system. Kate is responsible for the global business development of Ontoserver and other associated terminology and FHIR based products, working with government, healthcare and industry organisations to enable the meaningful adoption of clinical terminologies and FHIR.
Kate is a Director of HL7 Australia and represents Australia on the Member Forum of SNOMED International. Kate is National Coordinator for Sparked- Australia’s FHIR Accelerator responsible for developing nationally agreed data models, FHIR Implementation Guides and SNOMED CT ValueSets.
