Dental Board Members

Dr Simon Shanahan

Appointed as Chair and practitioner member (dentist) from Western Australia

Simon graduated as a dentist from the University of WA in 1984 and continues to work in private practice as a full-time general dentist in South Perth since 1993.

Simon has had a long history of regulatory involvement with the Dental Board of Australia at many levels since 2010. He has served in many roles and organisations throughout his career, both in Australia and overseas.

Simon has a continuing special interest in philanthropic dental initiatives both overseas and within Australia.

Ms Gulnara Abbasova

Appointed as a community member from the Australian Capital Territory

Gulnara brings over 20 years of leadership and contribution in public policy and strategy, governance and regulation across civil society, government and intergovernmental organisations.
Now leading domestic, family and sexual violence prevention and response programs in the community sector, Gulnara previously led the national multicultural peak body, and established and led Australia’s first national peak body on migrant and refugee health and the national multicultural women’s alliance. Gulnara’s role in government was in public health services where she led work on policy, strategy and governance. Prior to moving to Australia, Gulnara’s experience was in the intergovernmental context with a focus on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and issues.

Gulnara has been a trusted advisor to government on policy development, implementation and reform. She brings extensive experience in health professional regulation through her service on the ACT Boards and national committees of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2017-2024) and the Medical Board of Australia (since 2019, currently as Chair). She was appointed to the Dental Board of Australia in December 2024.

Ms Ariane Anderson

Appointed as a practitioner member (oral health therapist) from Queensland

Ariane joined the Board in November 2025 as a Practitioner member. She is an oral health therapist with 10 years’ experience in the profession working in the public, private, specialist sectors and in Indigenous communities. She is also a member of the Bachelor of Oral Health Therapy Reference Committee at Central Queensland University and identifies as an Aboriginal woman.

Dr Penelope Burns

Appointed as a practitioner member (dentist) from New South Wales

Penny has a degree in Dentistry from the University of Sydney and is the principal of a Sydney-based private practice, where she has practised for 30 years.

Penny is in her second term with the Dental Board.

Prior to joining the Board, she had 20 years of experience in health professional regulation. This was mostly in various roles with the Dental Council of NSW including several years as deputy chair.

Penny also has experience on the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Dr Rhonda Cumberland

Appointed as a community member from Victoria

Rhonda is an experienced leader in community services, presently supporting executive coaching and development programs in the family and sexual violence sectors.
Previously, Rhonda was CEO of South East Community Links, the inaugural CEO of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand and CEO of Safe Steps.

As Director of the Office of Women's Policy in the Victorian Government, Rhonda co-chaired the Statewide Committee to Reduce Family Violence, developing the concept of multiagency system reform.

Rhonda was a sessional panel member of the Victorian Institute of Teaching for nine years and Councillor of the City of Melbourne. She is a current sessional panel member of the Police Services Review Board.

Rhonda holds a Masters of Social Policy and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Melbourne.

Dr Ioan Jones

Appointed as a practitioner member (dentist) from Tasmania

Ioan is the Clinical Director of Oral Health Services Tasmania. He has almost 30 years’ experience in academia, public and private health sectors and strong expertise in clinical and regulatory governance, safety and quality.

Ioan is the Chair of the Board’s Registration and Compliance Committee and a Chair of the Dental Notifications Committee Assessment. He has also served as a member of the Board’s former Victorian and Tasmanian Registration & Notification Committees and Immediate Action Committees.

Professor Richard Logan

Appointed as a practitioner member (dental specialist) from South Australia

During his career Richard has worked in general dental practice in both the private and public dental sectors as well as specialist practice. Richard is currently the Dean and Head of the Adelaide Dental School at the University of Adelaide. In addition to his academic role, he maintains his specialist practice as an Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologist at Clinpath Pathology, Adelaide.

Richard has been reappointed for a third term with the Dental Board of Australia. He is past Chair of the South Australian Registration and Notification and Immediate Action Committees. He currently chairs the Board’s Equivalence Assessment Panels for internationally qualified dental specialists. He is past president of the International Society of Oral Oncology, previous Chair and Chief Examiner of the Faculty of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. He has also served as an examiner for the Australian Dental Council Examinations and Final Fellowship Examination for the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons.

Mr Tan Nguyen

Appointed as a practitioner member (oral health therapist) from Victoria

Tan is an oral health therapist in health economist with special interests in dental public health, community engagement, policy, advocacy and effective governance.

Tan was appointed to the Dental Board of Australia in 2018 and is in his third term.

He is currently carrying out his PhD studies at Monash University in oral health economics, which was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship in 2020. Tan has postgraduate qualifications in public health and clinical education.

His clinical practice experience is diverse in both the public and private sector, including holding a clinical educator role at the Melbourne Dental School. Tan's breadth of research spans across research and policy at Deakin Health Economics and Dental Health Services Victoria, with a health equity lens.

Dr Kerrie O'Rourke

Appointed as a practitioner member (dentist) from the Australian Capital Territory

Kerrie is a general dentist with over 25 years’ clinical experience working in private, public, and military settings.

Kerrie has been part of the National Scheme since 2017 and has Chaired multiple committees.

Kerrie holds a PhD in ethics and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Craig Zimitat

Appointed as a community member from Tasmania

Qualifications:

• BSc(Hons) MHEd PhD. PFHEA FAcadMedEd GAICD

Dr Craig Zimitat originally trained as a biochemist, completing his BSc(Hons) and PhD in medical biochemistry at The University of Queensland. He taught science and health professionals for 15 years, including supervising research students in education and health. Over the last 20 years, across four universities, he has provided school, faculty and institutional leadership primarily in health professional education. He has conducted/participated in external reviews of Australian and international health professional courses.

He retired from his last position of Professor and Director Course & Teaching Quality at Curtin University in 2021. The quality and impact of his work has been recognised nationally through awards, and internationally via Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators (UK) and Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (UK).

He was editor of the local newspaper, serves on the boards of several local Tasmanian not-for-profit organisations, including Aged Care Deloraine and several Tasmanian Department of Health committees. He has been involved in health professional regulation in Australia for more than a decade.