Investor Centre

Professor Mark Compton, AM

Non-executive, Independent Director, appointed October 2014 (Chairman from 19 November 2015)

Prof. Compton has extensive senior executive experience in healthcare services. He is currently Adjunct Professor in Management (Healthcare Leadership) at Macquarie University (Macquarie Graduate School of Management), non-executive director of Macquarie University Hospital and Macquarie University Clinical Associates Ltd, Chairman and Chancellor of St John Ambulance Australia (having served as a volunteer for over 40 years) and a non-executive director of St Luke's Care. His previous experience includes Chief Executive Officer of St Luke's Care, Immune Systems Therapeutics Limited, The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the formerly ASX listed companies SciGen Limited and Alpha Healthcare Limited. He has also held a number of non-executive director roles including for formerly ASX-listed Independent Practitioner Network Limited (2004 to 2008), and as Chairman of The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. In recognition of his work in the healthcare sector and his service to the community, he was awarded the Centenary Medal of the Commonwealth of Australia, appointed a Knight in the Order of St John in 2004 and Bailiff Grand Cross in 2017 and was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in January 2010. He is a member of the Audit Committee and the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.

Dr Colin Goldschmidt

CEO and Managing Director
Executive Director, appointed January 1993

Dr Goldschmidt is the CEO and Managing Director of Sonic Healthcare. He is a qualified medical doctor who then undertook specialist pathology training in Sydney, before gaining his qualification as a specialist pathologist in 1986. Dr Goldschmidt became CEO of Sonic in 1993 and has led Sonic's global expansion by committing the Company to a model of Medical Leadership, which incorporates unique operational and cultural attributes. He is a member of Sonic’s Risk Management Committee and holds memberships with numerous industry, medical and laboratory associations.

Christopher Wilks

Finance Director
Executive Director, appointed December 1989

Mr Wilks became Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer of Sonic Healthcare in 1993.  He has a background in chartered accounting and investment banking and was previously a partner in a private investment bank.  Mr Wilks has held directorships in a number of public companies and is currently a non-executive Director of Silex Systems Limited (since 1988), a listed company divested by Sonic in 1996.

Dr Philip Dubois

Non-executive Director, from July 2020

Dr Dubois was appointed as an executive director of Sonic in July 2001 and retired from his executive position as CEO of Sonic’s Imaging Division in June 2020. He remains on the Sonic Board as a non-executive director. A neuroradiologist and nuclear imaging specialist, he is currently an Associate Professor of Radiology at the University of Queensland Medical School. He has served on numerous government and craft group bodies, including the councils of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists and the Australian Medical Association, and as Vice-President of the Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association.

Professor Suzanne Crowe, AO

Non-executive, Independent Director, appointed April 2020

Professor Crowe is a qualified medical specialist and physician-scientist, holding medical and MD degrees from Monash University, and an internal medicine specialist qualification in Infectious Diseases from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds a Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Professor Crowe’s current positions include non-executive Director of ASX-listed Avita Medical Ltd (from January 2016), non-executive Director of St Vincent’s Health Australia Ltd (from January 2013), and Emeritus Professor of Medicine at Monash University, Melbourne (from 2020). She retired from Burnet Institute as Associate Director in 2018 following a 30-year research career, having played an integral role in Burnet’s development as a global research organisation. Professor Crowe retired as Principal Specialist in Infectious Diseases at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne in 2019 after 35 years of service. She has served as a Member of the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council (India/China Working Group), as Head of the World Health Organization Regional Reference Laboratory for HIV Resistance and as an HIV advisor to WHO for 25 years. She was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2011 in recognition of her services to medical research and infectious diseases. She is further recognised with her appointment as Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2015. Professor Crowe was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2020, in recognition of her distinguished service to health and aged care administration, to clinical governance, biomedical research, and to education.

Neville Mitchell

Non-executive, Independent Director appointed September 2017

Mr Mitchell is a qualified Chartered Accountant with 27 years of experience (until March 2017) as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of ASX-listed Cochlear Limited, a world leading medical device developer, manufacturer and seller, with annual revenue of A$1.24 billion. Cochlear has direct operations in more than 20 countries, with over 3,000 employees. Mr Mitchell was a key member of Cochlear’s executive team responsible for the setting and execution of the company’s growth strategy from its listing in 1995, when annual revenue was ~A$70 million. He brings a wealth of international healthcare and finance experience to Sonic’s Board.

Mr Mitchell currently holds non-executive director roles with ASX-listed healthcare companies Sirtex Medical Limited (from April 2017) and Osprey Medical Inc. (from July 2012). He is also a member of the Australian Board of Taxation and the NSW Government’s Medical Device Fund. He has previously performed roles with a number of industry and government committees, including the Group of 100 (Australia’s peak body for senior finance executives), and Chairman, Standing Committee (Accounting and Auditing), for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Mitchell is a member of both the Audit Committee and the Risk Management Committee of the Sonic Board.

Lou Panaccio

Non-executive, Independent Director, appointed June 2005

Mr Panaccio is a Chartered Accountant with extensive executive management experience in business and healthcare services. Mr Panaccio is currently on the boards of ASX listed companies Genera Biosystems Limited (non-executive Chairman from July 2011, non-executive Director from November 2010) and Avita Medical Limited (non-executive Chairman from July 2014). He is also non-executive Director of Unison Housing Limited and Rhythm Biosciences Limited.  Mr Panaccio was executive Chairman of Health Networks Australia and was the Chief Executive Officer and executive Director of Melbourne Pathology (acquired by Sonic in 1999) for ten years to 2001. Mr Panaccio is Chair of the Audit Committee, a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee, and a member of the Risk Management Committee.

Kate Spargo

Non-executive, Independent Director, appointed July 2010

Ms Spargo has gained broad business experience as both a legal advisor, having worked in private practice and government, and as a Director. Ms Spargo has been a non-executive Director of both listed and unlisted companies over the last twenty years and her current directorships include the ASX listed companies CIMIC Group Limited (non-executive Director from September 2017), Adairs Limited (non-executive Director from May 2015), Sigma Healthcare Limited (non-executive Director from December 2015) and Xenith IP Group Limited (non-executive Director from April 2017). She is also a non-executive Director of CoInvest Limited and Geelong Football Club Limited. Ms Spargo was a non-executive Director of UGL Limited from October 2010 (non-executive Chairman from 2014) until January 2017 and of Fletcher Building Limited from March 2012 to September 2017.  Ms Spargo is Chair of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee.

Dr Jane Wilson

Non-executive, Independent Director, appointed July 2010

Dr Wilson is an independent non-executive Director with a background in finance, banking and medicine. She is a registered General Medical Practitioner and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) with over twenty years experience as a director of public companies, government-owned corporations and not-for-profit organisations.

Dr Wilson is currently a Guardian of the Future Fund and a non-executive Director of ASX listed Transurban Group (since January 2017). She was previously Deputy Chancellor of the University of Queensland, inaugural Chairman of Horticulture Australia, Chairman of IBMcom Ltd, a non-executive Director of the General Sir John Monash Foundation, Universal Biosensors Ltd, Energex Ltd, WorkCover Qld, and other smaller biotechnology companies. She served on the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Council, the Premier's Smart State Council and Biotechnology Task Force in Queensland. Dr Wilson has also served on the boards of a number of cultural and charitable institutions. She was named in the inaugural 2012 AFR/Westpac Top 100 Women Awards in the Board/Management category and was awarded the 2016 Australian Institute of Company Directors Queensland Gold Medal for contribution to business and the wider community. She has a Masters degree in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School and a medical degree from the University of Queensland. Dr Wilson is Chair of the Risk Management Committee and is a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.

Paul Alexander

Company Secretary

Mr Alexander has been the Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Sonic Healthcare Limited since 1997 and Sonic’s Company Secretary since 2001. Prior to joining Sonic, Mr Alexander gained 10 years experience in professional accounting practice, mainly with Price Waterhouse, and was also Financial Controller and Company Secretary of a subsidiary of a UK headquartered multinational company for two years.