Advisory Board

Andrew Robinson

Emeritus Professor, Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania & Professor Dementia Training Australia, Director of Dementia Training Australia and Principal Research and Innovation, Gravitas Leadership Group.

Areas of expertise: Innovator in dementia care practice, aged care workforce development, health professional and on-line dementia education, and translational research in aged care.

Professor Robinson is Co-Founder of the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre at the University of Tasmania. He was Co-Director of the Centre and Professor of Aged Care Nursing until September 2017. He is recognised as a national and international leader and innovator in aged care and has led translational research and innovation projects involving a broad range of community and residential aged care services across Australia.

Andrew is an international leader in dementia education through the Wicking Teaching Aged Care Facility program and a key driver of strategic innovation in research and online delivery systems such as Massive Open On-line course (MOOC) learning platforms. He played a central role in developing the world leading Understanding Dementia MOOC and the highly innovative and successful on-line Bachelor of Dementia Care program run through the Wicking Centre. As Director of Dementia Training Australia he is leading programs to develop on-line dementia products for the aged care workforce.

Alastair Lynch

Alastair Lynch is a former professional AFL footballer with the triple premiership winning Brisbane Lions and currently a commentator for Foxsports AFL channel, Foxfooty, a Director of Health and Wellbeing Company, HBP Group and a Director of Gravitas Leadership Group.

Alastair has recently been appointed an Ambassador for St Lukes Health. In his mid 20’s and at the peak of his athletic career, Alastair’s quality of life and sporting career was impacted by a mystery illness, later diagnosed as Post Viral Syndrome, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

After missing all but one game in the next season Alastair returned to play for a further 9 years with the Lions team that went on to be one of the great AFL teams, winning 3 straight Premierships in 2001, 02 and 03.

Alastair is a member of the Fitzroy and Tasmanian Team of the Centuries, a member of both the Tasmanian and Queensland Sporting Hall of Fame and holds the status of Icon in the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame.

His business career has followed his passion for assisting others with maintaining or achieving a high level of health, leadership and AFL Football.

"I have had an association with the Wicking Centre as a Leadership Consultant for 3 years and have been fascinated with the high quality research and education platforms that have been developed. Spending most of my business life focusing on improving the health of ageing workforce’s with mainly Industrial Clients around Australia I’m excited to play a small role in assisting the growth and sustainability of both the Dementia research and education with The Wicking Centre and the University of Tasmania."

Robyn Charlwood

Robyn is an experienced not for profit leader and CEO, philanthropy strategy designer and relationship expert.

Her ability to transfer skills across sectors has seen Robyn traverse from leadership of a major Australian health charity to strategy and relationship development in the financial services industry, particularly in philanthropy.

Robyn is currently the co-founder and director of filantropia Re-thinking Philanthropy, a strategic advisory business. Robyn uses her business acumen, diverse career experience and strong interpersonal aptitude to skilfully connect people and communities of interest for mutual benefit.

Robyn is a Williamson Community Leadership alumnus, interim Chair of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Not for Profit Committee, and Member of the Advisory Committee for Ashton Nixon Bequest. Robyn holds a Bachelor of Science [Hons], Graduate Diploma of Nutrition and Dietetics and Bachelor of Arts [Fine Arts].

"Having been involved with the distribution of the JO and JR Wicking Trust grant that helped establish the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, I feel very connected to the Centre. I was inspired by the two co-founders audacious vision for the Centre, and I am incredibly impressed by what the Centre has achieved. To be able to combine my public health and philanthropy experience to help the Centre achieve its goals is an absolute pleasure and privilege."

Patricia Chew

Patricia Chew may be seen as a metaphor for Singapore where she originally came from. She grew up in the midst of the birth pangs of the nation and participated in its 2-generation transformation from colonial outpost to one of the world’s most advanced nations. For almost two decades she worked in premier global dealing rooms in the financial heart of Singapore, trading international bond markets and salestrading regional Asian equity markets, across different time zones. Born to discover new stories, she moved to Tasmania in 2002, another island home, only a hundred times larger. After a brief stint in aquaculture, she found herself back in the financial markets, spending eight years till 2014 as a financial advisor with Morgans Financial, Australia’s largest retail stockbroking firm. She often took a turn doing the market opening report on ABC Radio Hobart. She would weave together the financial information at hand, with personal stories and anecdotes, to expand the listener’s world to encompass an Asian view on education, youth unemployment, aged pension and philosophy. Today, she manages her husband’s Hobart-based psychology practice where she feels she contributes to helping people re-write their stories.

"Being able to tell the story of who you are and how you came to be is a fundamental part of being human. In dementia sufferers, the labyrinthine path from inside to outside and inside again may be frightening, dark, isolating and full of roadblocks. Dementia will touch all of us, either individually or as a community. In becoming part of Wicking, I hope to be part of its mission to understand, prevent and care for dementia sufferers. In particular, I hope to provide cultural perspective and insight in bringing Wicking’s mission to Asia."