ODOB > About The Board > Meet The Board

    Meet The Board

    Current Board members

    The following members of the Board have been appointed by the Minister of Health by Notice in the New Zealand Gazette. Membership of a Responsible Authority under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act) must include:

    • a majority of members who are health practitioners; and
    • two laypersons if the authority has at any time eight or fewer members; and
    • three laypersons if the authority has at any time nine or more members.

    Members are appointed for a term of three years or any shorter term that is specified by the Minister. They can be reappointed at the end of their term, but are not eligible to be a member for more than nine consecutive years.

    Practitioner members appointed to the Board are not appointed as representatives of their profession. Their role is to use the clinical knowledge they have as health practitioners to ensure the ongoing safety and protection of members of the public.

    The role of laypersons appointed to the Board is to ensure the consumer perspective is taken into account in any decision-making, public safety is held paramount, and implicit conflicts of interest held by practitioner members are managed appropriately.

    Jayesh Chouhan - Optometrist & Chair

    Board member since 2015

    Jayesh Chouhan is a 1996 graduate from the University of Auckland and completed his post-graduate therapeutics qualification in 2013. He is currently working at Clear Vision Optometrists in Wellington which is an independent practice that he has owned for the last 10 years. Previous to that, he worked in various roles and organisations across New Zealand, Australia and the UK, as well as voluntary work in the pacific Islands. He is a current member of the NZAO, CCLSNZ, ACBO and EyePro, as well as a Paralympics NZ VI Classifier.

    Kristine Hammond - Dispensing Optician & Deputy Chair

    Board member since 2015

    Kristine is a dispensing optician at the University of Auckland (UOA) School of Optometry and Vision Science working in the UOA clinics supervising and teaching Part IV and Part V optometry students in optical dispensing.  Prior to this, Kristine spent 5 years working for the Ministry of Social Development primarily as a programme co-ordinator and work broker. During that time, she completed the National Certificate in Public Sector Services Level 4.

    Kristine was employed by OPSM from 1993 – 2004, working as a Dispensing Optician, Store Manager and Area Manager. While working for OPSM she gained her Dispensing Opticians qualification from OTEN, Sydney (with distinction), the NZ Institute of Management – Train the Trainer certificate, and the Retail ITO National Certificate.

    In 2014, Kristine completed the Association of British Dispensing Opticians fellowship diploma – FBDO O/S.

    Ross Tayler - Optometrist

    Board member since 2014

    Ross graduated from the University of Auckland in 1994, obtained his therapeutic qualification in 2008, and became a glaucoma approved prescriber in 2015.  Ross has worked in various practices in the lower North Island, in both independent, group and corporate practices.  In 2015, he took the opportunity to purchase one of the practices he had previously worked in, becoming Vision Experience Optometrist, Marton.

    Annette Morgan - Optometrist

    Board member since 2016

    Annette Morgan qualified with a Bachelor of Optometry in 1985, and was in the first therapeutics class at the University of Auckland, receiving the TAPIOT in 2004. She was employed in Wellington from graduation until buying her own practice in Paraparaumu in 1990. She now works for Grylls, Keleher and Matthews in Paraparaumu. Annette was a councillor of the New Zealand Association of Optometrists (NZAO) from 1992 until her appointment to the Board, but has been a member of the Council of Optometry Regulatory Authorities (CORA) and its successor the Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand (OCANZ) for the past 10 or so years so has seen how legislation works to govern patient safety. Annette is looking forward to shifting gear and serving on the Board, balancing the application of her knowledge as an optometrist with the consumer perspective and ensuring protection of the public.

    Ravi Dass - Optometrist

    Appointed on the 21st of May 2020

    Further information will be available shortly

    Zoe Ross - Dispensing Optician

    Appointed on the 21st of May 2020

    After graduating from the University of Auckland in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science, Zoe completed her Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing through OTEN/TAFE, Australia while working in Wellington. Now living in Auckland, she works for Mortimer Hirst Eyecare and Eyewear.
    In the last two years she has also helped at workshops for dispensing students completing their Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing through ACOD. Zoe is a current member of the ADONZ.

    Irene Durham - Lay Member

    Board member since 2014

    Irene is a 6th generation Northlander and lives in Northland in Tutukaka. For 15+ years she has actively been involved in governance and consulting in the private and public sectors. Her background is in the legal field, financial planning, investments, business coaching and business capability assessment. Irene has completed Post-Graduate studies in Health Systems Law, Consumer, Practitioner and Ethics through Otago University, and has a Management Degree and Post-Graduate Diploma in Finance. Irene was awarded NZ Business Woman of the Year in 1998/99, and enjoys sports, reading, travel and time with family.

    Sean McKinley - Lay Member

    Board member since 2018

    Sean has been involved in statutory regulation, both nationally and internationally, for a number of years.  Prior to entering the regulatory field he completed postgraduate studies in industrial and organisational psychology at Canterbury University and was employed in a number of positions within the New Zealand justice sector and international education.  Following this he has held the positions of Executive Director of the professional body for psychologists, the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Social Workers Registration Board and until recently Chief Executive of the Veterinary Council of New Zealand. Sean is a member of the Council for Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) and in 2016 was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of CLEAR for a two year term. In August 2018 Sean was appointed as General Manager for the New Zealand Playcentre Federation.