Penny Shakespeare brings a wealth of expertise and experience to a wide range of policy making across Australia’s health and aged care system. As Deputy Secretary of the department’s Health Resourcing Group, she oversees a broad spectrum of health policy. This includes Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme policies and integrity, ensuring Australia has a planned, highly trained and well distributed health workforce advancing digital health solutions and harnessing the potential of genomics. Penny joined the department in 2006. Since then, Penny has held a number of senior leadership positions, including First Assistant Secretary of the Technology Assessment and Access Division and Health Workforce Division. Penny has been a member of the Workplace Relations Ministers Advisory Council and the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission and represents the Commonwealth on the board of the National Blood Authority. Before joining Health, Penny was an industrial relations lawyer in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and worked in regulatory policy roles, including as head of the Australian Capital Territory’s Office of Industrial Relations. Penny has a Bachelor of Laws, a Master’s degree in International Law and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor.

Bruce Warner is an Honorary Professor of Pharmacy Policy and Practice at Nottingham University and a Visiting Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Huddersfield. He was formally Deputy Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at NHS England, where he worked on the strategic and operational development of medicines and pharmacy policy. He led nationally on primary and intermediate care pharmacy and medicines from a professional perspective, aimed at improving quality, outcomes and value for patients and the public from their medicines. He also focused on medicines shortages, pharmacist independent prescribing and wider aspects of medicines and pharmacy policy. Prior to this post Bruce worked as Deputy Director of Patient Safety at the NPSA and in NHS England, where he led on the strategy for patient safety improvement and headed up the patient safety advice and guidance function. Bruce has worked in most sectors of pharmacy including community, hospital, academia and government. Since retiring in 2023 Bruce has been involved in a number of pieces of work, including chairing a Royal Pharmaceutical Society Advisory Group on Medicines Shortages, undertaking research in Pharmacist Independent Prescribing and is Chair at a local hospice.