Shell Piercy (Opening Keynote)
Shell Piercy serves as the Chief Paramedic Officer for the Northern Territory - only the second such position established in Australasia. She is also notably the second female to hold this prestigious role. With a distinguished career spanning paramedicine and nursing, Shell’s leadership is shaped by decades of hands-on clinical experience in pre-hospital, emergency, military, wilderness, remote, and urgent care settings across Australia, New Zealand and Internationally. Her expertise includes rural and remote healthcare, trauma, and resuscitation, developing nation ambulance and rescue, disaster medicine, complemented by significant roles as an executive, educator, clinical leader, research assistant and consultant.
Shell’s academic achievements include a Bachelor of Nursing from Massey University, a Bachelor of Health Science in Paramedicine from Auckland University of Technology, and postgraduate study in research, emergency nursing, paramedicine, and business. Her commitment to advancing the profession is evident in her strategic vision for integrating paramedics into multidisciplinary healthcare teams and expanding their scope beyond traditional ambulance services, particularly in remote communities.
Personally, Shell is the sole parent to two adult sons each following their passions in the world. Her passions include travel, outdoors pursuits and adventures to distant lands, often at the intersection of remote work, adventure and spending time with the kids. Family holidays often taking on volunteer work in developing nations.
Shell is driven by a passion to make meaningful change and improve patient outcomes, drawing on her dual backgrounds in nursing and paramedicine. She is recognized for her collaborative approach, dedication to professional development, and advocacy for qualitative, patient-centred care.
Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM (Closing Keynote)
Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland and the second person to graduate medical school with quadriplegia in Australia. Dinesh is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, and researcher.
Halfway through medical school, he was involved in a motor vehicle accident that caused a cervical spinal cord injury
As a result of his injury and experiences, Dinesh has been an advocate for inclusion. He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia.
Dinesh works in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital. He has completed an Advanced Clerkship in Radiology at the Harvard University and is a senior lecturer at the Griffith University and adjunct research fellow at the Menzies Health Institute of Queensland. He is a research fellow at the Jamieson Trauma Institute. Dinesh is a researcher in spinal cord injury. He is a doctor for the Gold Coast Titans physical disability rugby team. Dinesh is a senior advisor to the Disability Royal Commission. He is an ambassador to the Human Rights Commission’s Includeability program. He was a 2021 International Day of People with Disability ambassador.
Dinesh was the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service’s Junior Doctor of the Year in 2018. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019. He was the third Australian to be awarded a Henry Viscardi Achievement Award. He was the 2021 Griffith University Young Alumnus of the Year.
He is the author of Stronger, how losing everything set me free, published in 2022.
Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM is the 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year.
In 2023, Dinesh joined the advisory board of healthylife where he uses his experience and skills to provide expert health information and advocate for the health of Australians, and became a John Monash Scholar.
Michelle Crilly Yorta Yorta woman (Dinner Keynote)
Michelle (she/her) is a proud Yorta Yorta woman who is passionate about creating a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander staff & patients. Michelle started as an Aboriginal Cadet at Ambulance Victoria (AV) and went on to become an Advance Life Support (ALS) Paramedic. Michelle became the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program Lead at AV in the Diversity and Inclusion Team. She is committed to making the prehospital setting culturally safe for all Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander patients.
Cam Rota (Dinner Keynote)
Cameron is a dedicated healthcare professional with a diverse background in emergency ambulance services and aviation. He has held key leadership roles, including Group Operations Manager, National Māori Health and Equity Manager (acting), and currently serves as Volunteer Support Manager for Hato Hone St John alongside Chief Pilot - Training & Operations Manager at Skydive Tauranga. Cameron leads cultural advisory efforts across HHStJ, working closely with iwi and Māori communities to advance health equity. His commitment to culturally responsive care and relationship-building makes him a trusted advisor and respected voice in the sector, frequently speaking at national ambulance and health forums.
