OUR BOARD

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Pat Anderson AO is a Co-Patron of the First Nations Eye Health Alliance.
 

Aunty Pat is an Alyawarre woman known nationally and internationally as an advocate for the rights and health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including community development, policy formation and research ethics. 

Aunty Pat was Co-Chair of the Referendum Council, the Co-Chair of the Uluru Dialogue, and a key advocate for the YES vote for the Voice to Parliament 2023 Australian Referendum.

Trevor Buzzacott OAM is a Co-Patron of the First Nations Eye Health Alliance. 

Uncle Trevor is an Arabana man who worked closely with the late Professor Fred Hollows on the delivery of the National Trachoma program between 1976-1978. 

The program screened and treated over 100,000 people across Australia for eye disease including trachoma.

Lose is a Wiradjuri and South Pacific Islander woman and is the Chief Executive Officer for the First Nations Eye Health Alliance. 

Lose Fonua is an experienced public and population health leader with more than two decades of work across government, academic, and not-for-profit sectors. Her career has focused on driving culturally safe, equitable health system reform for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Medicine), formal Leadership qualifications, and is currently completing a Master of Public Health. Lose key passion is to see all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people healthy and thriving. 

Before establishing the First Nations Eye Health Alliance, Lose served as Associate Director at the Minum Barreng: Indigenous Eye Health Unit, where she helped implement the national Roadmap to Close the Gap for Vision. She is also a co-author of the nationally endorsed Vision 2030 Report, launched by the Minister for Indigenous Australians.

Lose is Chief Investigator of the Lowitja Institute–funded Ngaaminya Project, a First Nations–led study exploring community expectations of children’s eye health to inform improved care pathways and service models. Her academic contributions include peer-reviewed publications in the Medical Journal of Australia and BMC Primary Care, as well as leadership in developing national ear and hearing check guidelines for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Shaun Tatipata is a Ngarrindjeri and Wuthathi man, and the Chair of the First Nations Eye Health Alliance Board.

Shaun’s professional career has been devoted to advancing the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Having trained as an Aboriginal Health Practitioner (AHP), Shaun gained extensive experience delivering Primary Health Care and designing and implementing outreach programs in both the Aboriginal Community Controlled Sector and with state/territory Governments. It was through these roles that Shaun developed a passion for preserving and restoring sight and set out to specialise in delivering culturally safe eye care services, combining the unique skill set and cultural brokerage role of an AHP with the clinical expertise of Optometrists and Ophthalmologists. This passion led Shaun to lead the first consultation with Mob on eye care needs in our communities on Larrakia Country in 2022, and as a result, he co-authored the V2030 Report and helped to establish FNEHA. 

Throughout his career, Shaun has held various senior leadership roles, including overseeing The Fred Hollows Foundation’s programming efforts across Australia. He is now engaged with both the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia as an Academic Specialist and Senior Lecturer. He is a Board Director of IAHA NT Workforce Development Ltd. In 2020, Shaun established the Deadly Vision Centre in Darwin. As the first Aboriginal-owned and led Optical and Eye Care provider in Australia, the Deadly Vision Centre seeks to address the unmet eye care needs of Aboriginal communities across the Top End of the Northern Territory. 

Sara Carrison is a Ngarrindjeri woman who was born and raised on Barngarla Country in South Australia. She moved to Kaurna Yarta to study optometry and has since found her passion in supporting First Nations people who are studying, or aspiring to study, optometry. 

Sara believes that creating culturally safe learning and workplace environments is essential to the success and wellbeing of First Nations people in optometry, and will ultimately contribute to improved eye health outcomes.

Sara has the privilege of directly supporting students through her role as a Lecturer at Flinders University and involvement in the A Place for Mob in Optometry project. As a PhD candidate, she is working alongside optometry students and recent graduates to explore the best ways to support wellbeing and success throughout their university journey and transition into the profession. She also contributes to the profession through her work with the OCANZ Indigenous Strategy Taskforce and the Optometry Board of Australia's Policy and Education Committee, helping to influence policy and support culturally responsive education and workforce development. 

Alongside these roles, Sara is also an optometrist, with a strong commitment to improving eye health outcomes for First Nations peoples. 

Lauren Hutchinson is a Murrawarri woman and optometrist. Lauren was born and raised on Wiradjuri country in the central west of NSW. 

She graduated from her Bachelor of Vision Science/Master of Optometry from QUT in 2017, following which, she returned to the central west, now residing back on the beautiful lands of the Wiradjuri people once again. Lauren has worked as an optometrist both in private practice and within the community-controlled sector. Lauren’s passions are in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, rural and remote and paediatric health and is committed to advocating for improving outcomes for her people in these spaces. 

In her spare time you can find Lauren spending time with her beautiful nieces and nephews, on a hockey field or fishing on the Galari (Lachlan River).