Who We Are

Carrie Akhurst

Community Care Operations Specialist

The breadth of Carrie’s expertise has come from working with more than 30 organisations in the aged care and NDIS sector, from small independent aged care services to large regional councils.

As a consultant, Carrie understands that most organisations know what challenges they face and that a one-size-fits-all solution is not ideal.  That is why she creates tailored operational solutions to help identify ways to overcome the challenges for each workplace and to support each organisation through the challenge of change.

Carrie’s passion for delivering optimal care extends to collaborating with TAFE, universities and private Registered Training Organisations to develop and deliver appropriate training for aged care workers and coordinators.

Donna Cross

Governance, Business Systems & Compliance Specialist

Donna is a highly experienced Governance, Business Systems and Compliance Specialist passionate about rural, regional and remote communities.

Originally from Alice Springs and now residing in northeast Victoria, she has over 25 years of experience working with health and aged care services, Indigenous, and culturally and linguistically diverse providers. She uniquely understands what makes an organisation successful, what constitutes good policy, and what works in operational contexts.

Donna has served on various government panels, including the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and the Australian Department of Health’s Sector Reference Group (SRG). In addition, she provides valuable input as an advocate and industry expert for the rural, regional, and remote sectors. Her contributions have been instrumental in shaping aged care reform and revised aged care standards.

She excels in finding practical and sustainable solutions for organisations to deliver long-term results underpinned by quality, continuous improvement, and the ability to maintain compliance with industry requirements.

Craig Cross

Community Care Logistics & Management

Craig has extensive management experience in the aged care and disability sectors. Managing a rural community care service for the last ten years, he has a current understanding of the processes and requirements of operating an aged care service on a day-to-day basis.

Craig also previously worked in the Central Australian Office of the Department of Health and Ageing for five years, holding senior positions including Regional Manager. He has worked with remote services regarding program planning and delivery and provided consultation, coordination and policy advice to services, departments and other agencies.

Christabelle Baranay

Dementia & LifeStory Consultant

Christabelle has a passion for supporting individuals living with dementia.

As well as her work with CDCS, Christabelle has her own consulting and training business that focuses on helping family carers and paid staff to understand the individual person (Know Me Well) and respond appropriately to their needs.

As a creative, Christabelle helps carers to learn communication techniques and engagement strategies that help to minimise frustration for all.

Sue Miller

Administration Manager

Sue has more than 20 years of administration and office management experience. She is the person who keeps our team and projects running to schedule and manages logistics.

She is also instrumental in ensuring the quality of our resources through her coordination of our specialist graphics team.

Maggie Duncan

Website & Technical Systems Consultant

Maggie has first-hand experience living and working in the remote indigenous communities of Australia, having spent most of her childhood growing up “out bush,” before working for a brief time in an indigenous school.

With a passion for online systems and technology, she is the person who maintains our websites, publishes our blog posts, sends out our monthly newsletter, and supports our Total Quality Package members and course students.

Carole Stone

Finance & Governance Specialist

Carole is a qualified chartered accountant experienced in organisation management and financial administration.

Carole specialises in Aged Care financial management and has advised both residential and community-based aged care and disability service providers. Her aim is to improve financial practices, compliance and viability.

Jane Gosche

Jane is a Registered Nurse and her experience in aged care spans more than 30 years. It is her unwavering opinion that aged care is the best nursing specialty to work in! She has continuously strived to make a genuine difference in aged care nursing for the clients, their families, and the staff caring for them.

Jane is passionate about providing quality care for our elders, and upholding their dignity and independence is very important to her. She is humbled by the families who entrust them to our care and does her utmost to give their elderly loved ones the level of care their own family would give.

Michelle Kitchin

Michelle is a Senior Health Care Professional and Educator with extensive knowledge in delivering quality care in aged and health care settings. As a registered nurse for over 20 years, Michelle has worked as a Home and Community Care Coordinator and a Home Support Assessor as part of a Regional Assessment Service (RAS).

Michelle has current experience in completing assessments for a broad aged and disability client base with varying complexities and requirements, assessing functional capacity, health needs, and daily living requirements.

As an experienced trainer and mentor, Michelle can help your team develop confidence in assessment, care planning and delivery.