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Our Team

The ARIIA team is made up of highly-skilled, aged care specialists, with practical experience, knowledge, and expertise in translational research, good practice, and evidence-based innovation. We also have access to extensive resources and networks across industry, government, business, and academia.

photo of ariia team

 

Dr Rebecca Bilton
Program and Research Director
Dr Rebecca Bilton
Program and Research Director

PhD

Dr Rebecca Bilton, is the Director, Workforce Capacity and Capability in ARIIA.  She is passionate about improving the lives of older Australians through supporting the sector to embed research into practice, innovate and adopt new technologies. The national translational research projects she has delivered in previous roles have involved understanding care quality and costs in dementia care; measuring aged care that is delivered nationally and assessing it against best practice; and improving care delivery through implementation of innovative new care models.  Applying her skills and experience in research translation, aged care and research methodologies, Rebecca and her team within ARIIA deliver national capability building programs and evidence-based resources to support workforce in the aged care sector to access, learn and apply skills to implement innovative, evidence-based changes into their workplace. They also support technology and service providers to codesign solutions fit for purpose. These activities improve care and services and support the sector to develop useful transferrable skills in adaption, adoption and application of evidence, tech and innovation.

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Reuben Jacob
Chief Executive Officer
Reuben Jacob
Chief Executive Officer

Reuben works closely with the ARIIA staff, Board, partners and stakeholders to deliver on our mission to grow the capability of the aged care sector in order to improve care through innovation. He brings expertise and experience in strategy, executive management, business development, stakeholder engagement, commercialisation, operations and research working in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

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Layla Plummer
Office Manager and Company Secretary
Layla Plummer
Office Manager and Company Secretary

Layla Plummer is the Office Manager and Company Secretary. She brings extensive administration experience from working in a range of industries, with a particular interest in project management and business improvement. As the Company Secretary she manages and supports the business of the ARIIA Board.

ARIIA Team

Dr Nicky Baker
Research Fellow
Dr Nicky Baker
Research Fellow

PhD

Nicky is a Research Fellow in ARIIA’s Workforce Capability and Capacity team. Her role links research to practice for innovative projects, implementation and evaluation frameworks. With over 20 years’ clinical and management experience in Health and Aged Care, Nicky’s research interests are evidence-informed service delivery, inter-agency collaboration and co-design. Nicky is passionate about person centredness for living and ageing well.

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Dr Clare Bradley
Senior Research Fellow
Dr Clare Bradley
Senior Research Fellow

PhD

Dr Clare Bradley is a Senior Research Fellow in the Workforce Capability and Capacity team, contributing to ARIIA’s Innovator Training Program and Innovator Network. With over 20 years’ expertise in health and aged care services research, Clare’s role is focused on developing collaborative research partnerships and highly practical research translation projects in the aged care sector to improve care.

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Dr Victoria Cornell
Research Fellow, Workforce Capability and Capacity
Dr Victoria Cornell
Research Fellow, Workforce Capability and Capacity

Victoria is a Research Fellow in ARIIA’s Workforce capability and Capacity team.  A social gerontologist, Victoria has undertaken research on areas including housing, in-home care provision for older people, the aged care workforce, community wellbeing for older people, and end of life care, seeking to optimise outcomes for older people in the context of choice, independence, housing security, participation in community life and wellbeing. Victoria has also worked in the government and not for profit sectors and combines her experiences to support the aged care sector to grow and to adapt, adopt and apply evidence to their context through regularly facilitating co-design workshops that develop translational research projects. 

Liana Donleavy
Program Manager, Aged Care Incubator
Liana Donleavy
Program Manager, Aged Care Incubator

Liana is the Program Manager, Aged Care Incubator with over 16 years’ experience across home care, community and residential services as a manager and Physiotherapist, leading teams within not for profit, government and private organisations across a range of government-funded and private services. Her aim is to improve the lives of older people and ensure the sustainability of the sector.

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Julie Goodburn
Content Developer and Workshop Facilitator
Julie Goodburn
Content Developer and Workshop Facilitator

GCertEd., GDipSocSc, Dip TAE, Dip Pos Psych, BN

Julie is a Content Developer and Workshop Facilitator at ARIIA. Her role involves designing, developing and the delivery of learning programs to meet the capacity building and learning needs of the aged care workforce. Julie has extensive experience as an educator in Aged and Disability support, and has designed & developed learning resources for the vocational sector and aged care industry. She is passionate about developing capacity in all aged care staff to work innovatively to ensure high quality evidence-based care is delivered and evaluated.

Olivia Parobiec
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Olivia Parobiec
Manager, Marketing & Communications

BA(WritCreatComm), AdvDip(GrDes)

As the Manager, Marketing & Communications, Olivia is responsible for managing communication of ARIIA’s exciting projects, activities, partnerships, events and success stories. With a decade of marketing experience and a background in graphic design and communications, Olivia works with ARIIA team members to collect, create and share ARIIA stories while building an engaged online community.

Paul Ross
Librarian
Paul Ross
Librarian

Paul is an Information Specialist within the Knowledge and Implementation Hub (KIH) and has professional skills in research, information and aged care, both in Australian and the UK. He is driven by the desire to enable individuals a voice in service delivery and has co-designed numerous programmes with older people. 

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Jane Rymell
Administration Officer
Jane Rymell
Administration Officer

As the Administration Officer in Workforce Capability and Capacity, Jane brings over 10 years’ experience in administration within an Aged Care Home supported by experience in Home & Community Care and a Diploma of Community Services. Jane supports the Workforce Capability and Capacity team to deliver projects including the Innovator Training Program.

Holly Sparrow
Manager, Strategic Projects
Holly Sparrow
Manager, Strategic Projects

In her role as Manager, Strategic Projects, Holly supports the Workforce Capability and Capacity workstream to deliver ARIIA’s Innovator Training Program and Innovator Network. Holly brings to her role extensive experience in administration, operations and human resource management, with a particular interest in optimising efficiencies, organisational engagement, and inclusivity.

Jo Tan
Innovation Manager, Aged Care Incubator
Jo Tan
Innovation Manager, Aged Care Incubator

GradCertHlth Admin, BAppSci (Physio)

Jo has extensive experience in aged care, having worked 25+ years in acute and primary care, veterans care, community, home, and residential aged care in both metropolitan and rural areas. Jo is an APA titled Gerontological Physiotherapist, holds a Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management, and has worked with aged care stakeholders to improve aged care as part of the National Aged Care Alliance. Jo has experience in research co-design, consulting and has been the Chair of the National Australian Physiotherapy Association Gerontology group, coordinating and presenting professional development programs.

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Eric Yang
IT Manager
Eric Yang
IT Manager

BSCS, MSIT

As the IT Manager, Eric oversees activities related to the ongoing operation and development of ARIIA’s platforms and applications. With over 25 years of IT experience in the education, finance, and health sectors, Eric collaborates with stakeholders, external providers, and internal workstreams to support ARIIA’s initiatives across digital ecosystems.

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