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 Business School), non-executive Chairman of ASX-listed Next Science Limited (since 2018) and non-executive Chairman of not-for-profit organisations St Luke’s Care and the Order of St John (St John Ambulance).

His previous experience includes non-executive Chairman of Icon Group, non-executive Director of Macquarie University Hospital, Chief Executive Officer of each of St Luke’s Care, Immune Systems Therapeutics Limited and the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. He was also Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the formerly ASX-listed companies SciGen Limited and Alpha Healthcare Limited. Prof. Compton has also held a number of non-executive director roles, including for formerly ASX-listed Independent Practitioner Network Limited (2004-2008), Chairman of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Chairman and Chancellor of St John Ambulance Australia (having served as a volunteer for more than 45 years). 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 by Her Majesty the Queen as a Knight in the Order of St John in 2004 and as 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. He is currently a non-executive Director of EMVision (since September 2020) and Field Orthopaedics (since February 2021).

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. Dr Dubois was a non-executive Director of Magnetica Limited (from December 2004 – January 2021).

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-and NASDAQ-listed Avita Therapeutics 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 (WHO) Regional Reference Laboratory for HIV Resistance Testing and as an HIV advisor to WHO for 25 years. She was appointed a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2015.

Neville Mitchell

Non-executive, independent Director, appointed September 2017

Mr Mitchell is a qualified Chartered Accountant with international healthcare and finance experience. He was Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of ASX-listed Cochlear Limited (until March 2017), a world–leading medical device developer, manufacturer and seller of hearing devices. 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 until his retirement in 2017.

Mr Mitchell currently holds non-executive director roles with ASX-listed healthcare companies Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited (since November 2018) and Osprey Medical Inc. (since July 2012). He is a non-executive Director of QBiotics (from November 2017), an unlisted public company, and a member of the Australian Board of Taxation and the NSW Government’s Medical Device Fund.

Mr Mitchell was previously a non-executive Director of ASX-listed Sirtex Medical Limited (from April 2017 to September 2018). He has also previously performed roles with a number of industry and government committees, including Chairman of 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 Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Risk Management Committee.

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- and NASDAQ -listed Avita Medical Limited (non-executive Chairman from July 2014) and ASX-listed Rhythm Biosciences Limited (non-executive Director from August 2017). He is also a non-executive Director of Unison Housing Limited, Azure Health Technology Limited (non-executive Chairman from December 2019), NeuralDx Limited (non-executive Chairman from March 2019) and Metro Pain Group. Mr Panaccio was the Chief Executive Officer and executive Director of Melbourne Pathology (acquired by Sonic in 1999) for ten years to 2001, the Chief Executive Officer of Monash IVF until 2009 and the executive Chairman of Health Networks Australia until 2017. He was also a non-executive Director of ASX-listed Genera Biosystems Limited from November 2010 until 28 June 2019 (Chairman from July 2011 until 28 June 2019). Mr Panaccio is a member of the Audit Committee, the Remuneration and Nomination Committee, and 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 20 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) and Sigma Healthcare Limited (non-executive Director from December 2015). She is also a non-executive Director of CoInvest Limited, the Future Fuels Cooperative Research Centre, and Geelong Football Club Limited. Ms Spargo was previously a non-executive Director of UGL Limited from October 2010 (non-executive Chairman from 2014) until January 2017, Fletcher Building Limited (from March 2012 to September 2017), and Xenith IP Group Limited (from April 2017 until 15 August 2019). 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. Dr Wilson is currently a non-executive Director of Rugby Australia, non-executive Director of ASX-listed companies Transurban Group (since January 2017) and Costa Group Holdings Limited (from April 2019). She is also Co-Chair of the Australian Government Advisory Board on Technology and Healthcare Competitiveness. Dr Wilson was a Guardian of the Future Fund, a non-executive Director of the General Sir John Monash Foundation and Deputy Chancellor of the University of Queensland and has previously served on boards of ASX-listed companies, Government-owned Corporations and not-for-profit companies.Dr Wilson was awarded the 2016 Australian Institute of Company Directors Queensland Gold Medal Award for contribution to business and the wider community. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine and an Honorary Doctor of Business from the University of Queensland and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. 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.