Board Members

Dr Maria Harries AM

Chairperson of the Board

Maria Harries has worked for 35 years in practice, policy, research and management positions in mental health, acute health, family violence, education and child and family welfare. For the last 15 years she has been a teacher and researcher at the University of Western Australia. She chairs and/or sits on a number of Boards and Committees in Western Australia that are associated with health and welfare services and church ministry.

Tony Wheeler

Deputy Chairperson of the Board

Tony Wheeler worked for 41 years in Banking, rising to the position of State Manager Lending with Westpac in WA, prior to his retirement in January 2001. Since leaving permanent employment he has found the time to increase and diversify his involvement with church related activities in general and MercyCare in particular, the latter stemming from a close relationship which commenced when he joined the Advisory Board of Mercedes College in 1990. He chairs and sits on Boards and Committees related to the Perth Archdiocese, the Bunbury Diocese, Parish and Religious Congregations, is involved with Catholic Health at a national level and also works with the Church Tribunal Office, assisting in marriage cases.

Dennis Banks

Dennis Banks has been an RAC Councillor since November 1985, and was President during 2000 and 2001.  Dennis has served as Chairman of the Club Board, Chairman of RAC Travel Services Pty Ltd, Chair of RAC Finance Ltd, and is an alternate director of RAC Insurance Pty Ltd,  He is Chairman of RACWA Holdings Pty Ltd and the Chairman of the Investment Committee and Remuneration and Nomination Committee.  Mr Banks’ history is in the superannuation and financial services industry.  His focus during 1987 to 1997 was the creation and development of ASGARD, the first Superannuation Master Fund.  Following ASGARD, Dennis was a founding Director and Shareholder of Benchmark Debtor Finance Pty Ltd which was on sold in 2005.  Dennis has also been a director of several other boards in the finance and e-commerce sector, including iiNet Limited, Electrolley Pty Ltd and Versura Capital Pty Ltd.  Over the last 6 years he has been the Chair of the Board of Aquinas College.  He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dianne Bianchini

Dianne Bianchini has over twenty years of experience in the health and welfare sector as a social worker, manager and director in health reform. She has been involved in not-for-profit Boards and the Professional Standards Committee of the Catholic church. Her post graduate qualifications reflect her interest in health administration and collaborative practice across sectors. She has had a long association with the Catholic community in Perth.

Ricky Burges

Ricky currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer, Western Australian Local Government Association – a position she has held for eleven years. Prior to joining WALGA, Ricky was the Director General of the Department for Culture and the Arts, Chief Executive Officer of Perth Zoo and Director of Human Resources at the WA Tourism Commission. She has a Masters in Leadership and Management from Curtin University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Development, a Certificate in Psychotherapy and a Diploma in Coaching.

Ricky has a strong understanding of governance and its requirements. She has a long history of serving on committees and boards and is highly regarded by colleagues and peers across many agencies in Western Australia. She sits on the ROADS Foundation, The McCusker Foundation for Alzheimer's Disease Research, the Local Government Insurance Board, the Strategic Library Partnership Steering Committee and various Local Government committees and Boards.  She is a past President of the Australian Institute of Management and the Board of the Art Gallery of Western Australia.  She was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2007.

Maureen Colgan

Maureen Colgan has worked on a variety of Boards and Committees including the Inaugural Aquinas College Board, UNDA Board of Governors, UNDA Ethics Committee, Cathedral Restoration and Completion Appeal, and currently Chairs the MercyCare Ethics Committee. In 1997 she organized and accompanied 40 Former Child Migrants (now called the Forgotten Generation) on a “Sentimental Journey”, back to their land of birth to visit the orphanages in which they had lived prior to being sent to Australia.

Darren Cutri

Darren Cutri is the Chief Finance Officer and Acting University Secretary for the University of Notre Dame Australia. He was appointed to this position in July 2009. Darren has 14 years experience in the not-for-profit sector, in particular health care. 12 of those years were with the St John of God Health Care Inc Group. Darren holds a Bachelor of Business from Edith Cowan University and is a Certified Practicing Accountant. Darren is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Mark McKenna

Mark McKenna is a Medical Practitioner with specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Endocrinology. He has had a particular interest in Medical Education and has worked at the Universities of Melbourne, Western Australia and Notre Dame Australia.  He has an interest in Medical Quality and Safety and has worked on a number of Medical Quality committees.  He is a member of the Western Australian Medical Board and the national Medical Board of Australia. His family have a long association with MercyCare, his father having advised the group in the past, his mother having been educated by the Mercy sisters, his youngest sister having been cared for as an infant at the Catherine McCauley centre, and his grandparents having had aged care through Mercy organisations.

Michael Reutens

Michael Reutens has been in general management and technical positions over 25 years within the petrochemical and industrial services sector in Australia and overseas. For the last 10 years, before retiring in 2002, he was CEO of MercyCare Ltd and, previously, of Mercy Community Services Inc. He currently sits on a number of Boards and Committees associated with the Catholic Archdiocese and not-for-profit aged care and welfare organisations.

Maurice Spillane

Maurice Spillane graduated in Law in Ireland in 1978 and practised there for 10 years before coming to Perth with his family in 1988. Since then, Maurice has practised in the areas of medical law, professional indemnity, planning and local government law with commercial law firms in Perth until January 2005 when he was appointed a full-time member of the State Administrative Tribunal. Maurice has been the chair of the Ethics Committee at Princess Margaret Hospital and the Telethon Institute for Child Health since 1996 and served as the President of the Kids Cancer Support Group for a number of years. He is also a member of the Child Health Research and Education Advisory Council.