Alira Bayndrian
(Chair) Clinical Psychologist – Coffs Harbour
Alira was formerly the Deputy Chair and has taken on the role of Chair since the March 2025 Board meeting. She is a clinical psychologist who lives and practices in Coffs Harbour on the Mid North Coast. Alira works across several roles including school counselling, supervision and in private practice. Formerly she spent her early career managing a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. She has experience working with children, adolescents and families, and adults.
Alira believes allied health professionals have a significant role to play in health and wellbeing across all levels of care for people living on the North Coast. As health professionals working in smaller groups than GPs or nurses, she sees AHPs as being in a unique position to join together in advocacy for the provision of best practice services to their clients in the region. She maintains that allied health professionals should be represented at all levels of the stepped health care system in Australia, across private and public health care settings providing expert services to hose in most need.
Robyn Fitzroy
(Deputy Chair) – Ballina
Robyn was the Chair since 2022 and has taken on the role of Deputy Chair since the March 2025 Board meeting. She lives in Ballina on the NSW north coast. Robyn is the Executive Officer for the HEART Clinical Trial at Southern Cross University and before that, was the Director of Multidisciplinary Health at the University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney. She has had a focus on rural health workforce, aiming to increase the number of health professionals working in rural, remote and regional Australia, specifically AHPs. This work provides valuable knowledge of the health and social care sector, its potential and its challenges.
With a broad background in building design, urban and health planning, water engineering, sustainability and environmental and public health, Robyn understands and values the importance of social connections and of working together for better health and social outcomes. Her diverse experiences also include an intimate knowledge of the functioning and purpose of NCAHA, a passion for the North Coast and a vision of equitable healthcare for everyone. She is a cheerleader for Allied Health Professionals. Beyond this serious work, Robyn loves to play netball, go hiking in far flung places and go on long bike rides (ebike, that is) with family and friends.
Sarah Miles
(Company Secretary) Occupational Therapist – Lismore
Sarah has practiced as an occupational therapist since 2005 and lives and works at Lismore in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. As Team Leader for Clinical Education and a Clinical Educator of Occupational Therapy at the University Centre for Rural Health, Lismore, Sarah provides mentoring on leadership to the allied health student program. She also supervises occupational therapy students in service-learning placements across pre-schools/schools and aged care homes.
Sarah has a vision for residents of northern NSW to be able to access Allied Health services in a timely manner and to have awareness of how AHPs can help with preventative measures to address needs and improve health outcomes in the region. In particular, she wants to see development of graduate pathways for Allied Health students that both meet workforce needs in the region but also provide new graduates the supports they require as early career professionals. She is currently completing a PhD exploring how work-readiness is understood and designed for occupational therapy final year placements.
David Goodwin
Physiotherapist – Coffs Harbour
David resides at Coffs Harbour on the Mid North Coast where he works as a senior physiotherapist managing the physiotherapy department at a large multi-disciplinary allied health practice.
As a private practice physiotherapist of more than 30 years, David has a strong understanding of his profession, business and the health system. He encourages all allied health professionals to be the best they can be – for themselves, for their colleagues and for the community. As the region continues to grow, so too should the allied health workforce, not just in number but also in skill development and provision of services. To that end, David is passionate about improving education opportunities in the region – education for allied health professionals but also for all health professionals.
When David is not advocating for allied health or arranging education opportunities, you will generally find him out running or trying to build something.
Michael Woods
Exercise Physiologist – Lismore
Michael lives at Lismore on the North Coast where he has worked as an exercise physiologist in clinical practice for over 40 years, most of those at his clinic, the Lismore Health Hub. For 15 years he has been consulting in multidisciplinary physiotherapy clinics at Robina, and the Queensland Academy of Sport. He covers the spectrum of exercise physiology from chronic pain management to pre- and post-operative rehabilitation, and sports injury recovery.
With 40 years practice working with a range of the allied health professions, Michael has significant experience in collaborative health approaches across the multi-disciplinary team to produce positive outcomes for clients suffering a range of chronic conditions. He strives for a process that can adapt to the regular changes of the health and political landscape, whilst remaining true to the ideal of person-led care. As a consequence, he acknowledges the need to keep learning, to be part of the process that gives health control back to the individual and the community.
Nicole Turner
Nutritionist – Newcastle
Nicole Turner is a proud Kamilaroi woman, one of very few qualified Aboriginal Community Nutritionists in Australia. She is the current IAHA Chairperson and has been on the Board for nearly ten years.
Nicole has worked in the health sector for over 25 years and in Aboriginal health for over 15 years as an Aboriginal Health Worker and enrolled nurse before becoming a Nutritionist. She is an Adjunct Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Canberra and has published several research papers in international journals. Nicole has worked for a number of years with the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Doctors Network as the Aboriginal Workforce Engagement Manager. She has recently been appointed as CEO at the Aboriginal Health & Medical Council of NSW.
Nicole’s passion is nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle. She believes we need to educate and give knowledge to our people about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and prevention of chronic diseases. She enjoys empowering other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to join the allied health workforce and to encourage young people to finish school and follow their dreams.
Sarah Crook
Occupational Therapist – Alstonville
Sarah lives with her family on a macadamia farm in the Alstonville area. She is an occupational therapist with more than 20 years’ experience working across multiple sectors. She is also a clinical educator at the University Centre for Rural Health (UCRH) in Lismore. She brings awareness of the challenges many North Coast residents face in accessing relevant allied health services. She has extensive experience in management of complex health and social service organisations and has a strong track record in planning and delivering CPD events and conferences. She has also played health leadership roles at local and regional levels.
Sarah is passionate about educating the future generation of allied health professionals, motivating and inspiring them to provide innovative and collaborative person-focused care. Her vision for the North Coast is to achieve high quality integrated care that meets the needs of the diverse communities across the region, including greater utilisation of allied health assistants in care and access to culturally aware supports for people across the age-range. She is particularly interested in the health and wellbeing of children who are experiencing challenges within the education system and is also passionate about advocating for allied health within primary care settings with a focus on the prevention of chronic conditions and promoting healthy ageing.
Kerry Hardey
Physiotherapist – Ocean Shores
Kerry, a physiotherapist living in Ocean Shores on the Northern Rivers, has a background in acute care, occupational health and paediatrics, but has dedicated the past decade to rural aged care. Employed by Feros Care, Guide Healthcare, and Suremploy, Kerry focuses on delivering physiotherapy to older individuals at home, providing manual handling training, and conducting pre-employment assessments. She is pursuing a Masters in Ageing and Health as part of her commitment to enhancing clients’ quality of life and ensuring safe workplaces.
Kerry is motivated to improve allied health care in the northern rivers’ region. She identifies challenges for the North Coast allied health professionals, particularly workforce shortages and insufficient supervision for new graduates. She is keen to build the NCAHA network and membership numbersto be able to connect with more AHPs across all areas of work, to ensure a louder voice at the political level to bring about changes. She is also committed to growing connections with our colleagues in health care – including GPs, specialists, and nursing colleagues – to establish a resilient multidisciplinary health culture and collaborative models of integrated care on the North Coast.
Kerry, originally from the UK, has called Australia home for the past 18 years. When she’s not working, she’s a proud mum to two adventurous boys, and you’ll often find her camping, mountain biking, hiking, playing water polo, or enjoying the beach. Always keen for an adventure, Kerry loves hitting the road with her family to explore new places and make the most of the great outdoors.