The Board
The ARONAH Board has been selected by an independent Selection Committee of eminent Australians in accordance with the process outlined by the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme.
Under this scheme the Board most compose of:
- One practitioner from each of the larger jurisdictions (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia), one of which must be from a regional area.
- One practitioner from one of the smaller jurisdicitions (Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory or Tasmania)
- Three community members (members who have not been practising naturopaths or herbalists)
The members of the Board of the Australian Register of Naturopaths are:
Practitioner members
- Ms Angela Doolan (New South Wales and Regional representative), Chair
- Dr Jason Hawrelak (Tasmania)
- Ms Nirala Jacobi (Queensland)
- Ms Debra Salleh (South Australia)
- Ms Liza Oates (Victoria)
- Ms Marion Volk (Western Australia)
Community members
PRACTITIONER MEMBERS
Angela is a practising naturopath at Women’s Natural Medicine in Alstonville, northern New South Wales and is a member of the National Herbalists Association of Australia.
Angela is also the national coordinator of Naturopaths for Registration, a single issue lobby group of over 300 naturopaths and western herbalists. Naturopaths for Registration support the position that national registration of naturopaths and western herbalists is in the best interest of public health and safety, consistent with the conclusion of the 2005 La Trobe report conducted by Lin et.al. Naturopaths for Registration is committed to achieving recognition of naturopaths and Western herbalists as skilled and valued health professionals, offering effective treatments and strategies in naturopathic, herbal and nutritional medicines, with a positive and proactive role to play in the health and wellbeing of the Australian people.
Angela graduated from Southern Cross University with the Bachelor of Naturopathy. She was the winner of the Southern Cross University ‘Spirit of the Clinic Award’ and the MediHerb prize winner for Academic Excellence in Herbal Medicine. She also holds degrees in education from the University of New England and arts from the University of Queensland and is the mother of four children. She holds two black belts in karate and is currently training with the TSKF in Lismore.
Dr Jason Hawrelak is a naturopath and Western herbalist with over 10-years clinical experience working in busy natural medicine dispensaries and clinics in northern NSW and Hobart. He is a graduate of Southern Cross University’s Bachelor of Naturopathy program and is currently one of the directors of Goulds Naturopathica, a 129-year old natural medicine dispensary located in central Hobart. Goulds integrates the traditional naturopathic clinic, with a busy over-the-counter environment, and biodynamic herb farm.
Jason did his Honours degree exploring the role the gastrointestinal tract microflora plays in maintaining optimal health and his PhD examined the role of natural medicine in the management of irritable bowel syndrome. He has written extensively in academic journals and textbooks both in Australia and internationally. Jason has also worked as a consultant to the natural medicine industry and has lectured for many years to undergraduate naturopathic students and health professionals.
Jason is both an academic and a grassroots herbalist, who still hand-harvests herbal medicines and manufactures many of the medicines used in his practice. Whilst he believes high educational standards and statutory registration to be the only ways for our profession to get the recognition it deserves from both government and other health professionals, he also believes it is vitally important that in the process of professionalisation, raising educational standards, and registration we do not sacrifice either the philosophy or practices that define who we are.
Nirala Jacobi graduated from Bastyr University in 1998 with a doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine. She received her Bachelors of Human Health Sciences from Bastyr University in 1995. From 1998 to 2005, Nirala was a licensed naturopathic physician at the Yellowstone Naturopathic Clinic in Billings, Montana.
Nirala has been a mentor for numerous naturopathic medical students that have precepted at her clinic and she was honored for her contributions to the Bastyr Preceptor Program. Her professional experience includes having served on the board of directors for the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP), and has been the president of the Montana Association of Naturopathic Physicians (MANP).
She has lectured extensively to professional audiences on such topics as women’s health, clinical detoxification, and nutraceutical interventions in mental disorders.From 2005 to early 2008, Nirala was employed by one of Australia’s leading nutraceutical companies where her work involved developing and delivering specific health seminars for health care professionals.She also authored numerous professional articles and was a member on the product development team.
Currently, Nirala is developing a naturopathic mentorship program, designed for students and recent naturopathic graduates. She is also in private practice in Brisbane
Debra lives and practises in Adelaide, has a nursing background and has also worked for several years in diplomatic public relations. She has always been interested in natural therapies which led her to become deeply involved in naturopathy, studying and graduating from the South Australia College of Natural Therapies & Traditional Chinese Medicine. Then going on to establish a busy naturopathic clinic where she has worked as a Naturopath for the past 20 years.
For over 12 years Debra lectured various natural therapies subjects in several colleges in Adelaide, where she was also responsible for curriculum development and student clinic supervision. Debra has also enjoyed being involved in various media programmes representing naturopathy and natural therapies associations. Working and speaking with numerous community groups about natural therapies, writing articles for their newsletters and participating in their activities.
Debra has also held positions on several committees including consultative committees and natural therapies committees, her last position was secretary and journal editor for the Australian Naturopathic Practitioners Association. Debra is very passionate about Natural Therapies and never tires of participating in the on-going and future development of the Naturopathic profession.
Marion has a background in sociology, education, naturopathy, herbal medicine and homeopathy. She is a naturopath and herbalist in clinical practice with over 16 years experience and fellow of the Australian Natural Therapists Association, and a practising member of the National Herbalists Association of Australia, the Australian Register of Homoeopaths and the Australian Homoeopathy Association.
She has a strong interest in supporting the Western herbal medicine and naturopathic professions to improve and maintain their high standards by working in academic and clinical training, and mentoring graduates in clinical practice. She is committed to working towards registration of the profession. Her goal is to contribute to make prudent use of complementary health more accessible to the whole community to promote public health and wellbeing.
She has been lecturing in herbal medicine, naturopathy and clinical practice since 2003 and is also working as academic state manager at Endeavour College in Perth.
She has completed a masters Health Science degree in complementary medicine and graduated from Bachelor degrees in each Sociology (Hon), Education, Naturopathy, and Bachelor Health Science HSc degrees Complementary Medicine and Western Herbal Medicine. She is currently studying a masters degree in Education.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
Dr Airdre Grant is an academic who has taught for over 25 years. She was former Director of Studies at Nature College of Natural Therapies in Sydney, a researcher at NatMed Research Centre at Southern Cross University and now works as an academic in Teaching and Learning at Southern Cross University.
She has a research interest in education in complementary medicine and has published about the importance of philosophy as a key signature of, and identifier for the complementary medicine professions. Her PhD thesis looked at the role of spirituality as a component of education in natural medicine.
Michelle is a registered pharmacist and currently the branch director of the Queensland branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, the peak national professional body for pharmacists and has held senior management roles across a variety of organisations.
A graduate of the University of Queensland, Michelle’s career has spanned hospital and community practice and the pharmaceutical industry. Her early career was in hospital pharmacy where she developed her interests in clinical pharmacy in the areas of infectious diseases, oncology and psychiatry.
She spent over 12 years in the pharmaceutical industry where she held a variety of roles in sales and marketing, most notably in the new product development of CNS pipeline products.
Michelle has a strong interest in competency based continuing professional development for all health professionals and in her role with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia is actively involved in the accreditation of continuing professional development for pharmacists. She is keen to seek more opportunities for inter-professional learning for health professionals.