Pip Carew at the ANMF Health and Environmental Sustainability Conference, 2018. Photograph by Chris Hopkins
Former ANMF (Vic Branch) Assistant Secretary Pip Carew has been appointed to the panel of independent experts who will provide oversight and advice to the Victorian Government on future pandemic orders.
The Independent Pandemic Management Advisory Committee (IPMAC) comprises 12 members representing industries and specialisations including public health, infectious diseases, emergency services, critical care, primary care, human rights, law and business. Several members also represent the interests of traditional owners, as well as Victorians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. More than half of its inaugural members are women.
The IPMAC was one of the elements included as part of the new pandemic management framework established with the passing of the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021.
Upon formerly establishing the committee, Victorian Minister for Health Martin Foley said ‘We’re drawing upon these expert voices to help oversee our ongoing pandemic response, guiding us with their knowledge of areas like public health, law, human rights and business.’
ANMF (Vic Branch) Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the appointment of an experienced nurse and unionist to the committee meant nurses and midwives, and other health professional groups, had a strong voice at the table particularly when decisions had to balance the competing interests of community access, health service capacity, the nursing, midwifery and other workforces, community and business.
Meet the members of IPMAC
- Pip Carew – former ANMF (Vic Branch) Assistant Secretary
- Penny Armytage AM – former Chair of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health system and former Secretary of the Victorian Department of Justice
- Prof. Joseph Doyle – infectious diseases and public health physician
- Dr Amanda Rojek – emergency medicine registrar at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
- Michael Graham – CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service and Acting Chair of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
- Dr Helen Szoke AO – former Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner, and member of Advisory Boards for the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Australia and New Zealand Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Dr Peter Harcourt OAM – sport and exercise physician and Chair of International Cricket Council’s Medical Advisory Committee
- Paris Aristotle AO – CEO of Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture
- Rabea Khan – barrister, previously a lawyer with Office of Public Prosecutions, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
- Vivienne Nguyen AM – Chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission
- Belinda Duarte – education and training leader and CEO of Culture Is Life
- Mark Stone AM – former CEO of Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Pip Carew
Pip Carew served as ANMF (Vic Branch) Assistant Secretary for nearly two decades before retiring in December 2020. A registered nurse, Ms Carew became a Job Rep in 1999 and a branch councillor in 2000. A year later, she took on the role of Branch information officer and, soon after, organiser.
In 2010, she was elected Assistant Secretary, and went on to represent members in three public mental health and general public sector enterprise agreement negotiations. With a strong personal interest in environmental and social justice issues, Ms Carew was also instrumental in establishing the Branch’s now annual Health and Environmental Sustainability Conference and work in this space.
Pandemic management committees
As part of the pandemic management framework, any pandemic orders – which have replaced the state of emergency powers relied on throughout 2020 and 2021 – can be reviewed by a joint parliamentary Pandemic Declaration Accountability and Oversight Committee (PDAOC), which has the power to recommend a pandemic order be disallowed under certain circumstances.
This committee, which consists of members of parliament, must request and consider the advice of the IPMAC before it can recommend that a pandemic order be disallowed in whole or in part.
The Independent Pandemic Management Advisory Committee can also review, provide advice and make recommendations directly to the health minister. The minister must consider any IPMAC reviews, and may also request the committee’s advice. Their reports to the minister must be tabled in parliament within four sitting days.
