International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in New Zealand

Compliance Panel for the Code in New Zealand

Chair - Prue Kapua (Auckland)
Prue Kapua has been appointed as Chair of the Compliance Panel and has Te Arawa and Ngati Whakaue affiliations. She is the principal in her Tamatekapua Law firm. Her professional memberships include the New Zealand Law Society; Auckland District Law Society; Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa; Resource Management Law Association; Auckland Women Lawyers Association and the Māori Women’s Welfare League. Prue is an experienced barrister/solicitor having practised in the areas of Employment Law; General Litigation; Medico Legal; Race Relations and Human Rights; Resource Management; Treaty of Waitangi and Waitangi Tribunal proceedings. She is active in many governance roles including director of Te Wai Māori Trust; member of the National Kaitiaki Group; and past co-Deputy Chair of the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. Prue is looking forward to the challenge of a new subject area in her role as Chair of the Compliance Panel.

Adjudicator – Dr Fiona McCrimmon (Dunedin)
Dr McCrimmon has been appointed as Adjudicator of the Compliance Panel. Fiona is a graduate in both medicine and law and has specialised in healthcare law for over a decade in her own practice. She also lectures in health law courses at both the University of Otago and University of Auckland. Fiona is a member of the New Zealand Law Society and an honorary member of Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand. Some of the governance roles Fiona has been involved in are as Deputy Chair of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (2004-07); the legal representative on the Multi-Region Ethics Committee (2004-06); has acted as a member of the Pharmaceutical Society’s Disciplinary Committee (2000-04) and is a current member of the Ministry of Health’s National Screening Unit Newborn Metabolic Screening Advisory Group. Fiona is very familiar with self-regulatory processes and is looking forward to her Adjudicator role.

Current Health Practitioner – Helen Little (Christchurch)

Helen Little has been appointed as the health practitioner on the Compliance Panel replacing Hiki Pihema who resigned on 18 January 2009 for personal reasons. Helen is registered dietitian who works as a Professional Advisor Nutrition Services, and leads the Dietetic team, at Christchurch Women’s Hospital. Helen has almost 20 years experience in a range of clinical settings particularly relating to neo-natal and enteral feeding, and maternal nutrition, including management of women with diabetes and hyperemesis. Through her work Helen has strong links with rural communities including Lincoln, Rangiora, and Ashburton residents, and the wider Canterbury region.

Helen’s professional memberships include the New Zealand Dietetic Association (NZDA), current executive member, the NZDA’s Paediatric Special Interest Group and the New Zealand Perinatal Society. She has a special interest in Human Milk Banking.

Consumer Representative – Sharron Cole (Lower Hutt)
Sharron Cole has been appointed as the consumer representative on the Compliance Panel. She is the Director of the Wellington Catholic Education Centre, following a five year appointment as Deputy Chief Commissioner for the Families Commission; a member of the Hutt Valley District Health Board; a member of Pharmac’s Consumer Advisory Committee; a member of the Midwifery Council (and the current Chair of their Professional Conduct Committee); and is the Co-Chair of the ACC Research Ethics Committee. Sharron also has a broad range of involvement in the community including her current role as Chair of Parents Centres New Zealand and is a board member for Natural Fertility New Zealand. She has been involved in issues relating to infant feeding for almost 30 years.

Academic – Nimisha Waller (Auckland)
Nimisha Waller has been appointed as the academic member on the Compliance Panel. She is a senior lecturer in the School of Midwifery at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and, as a self-employed midwife, continues to manage a small caseload. Nimisha trained as a general and obstetric nurse, and then as a midwife in the UK before immigrating to New Zealand in 1996. Recently Nimisha completed her Masters in Midwifery from Victoria University, Wellington. Her current professional memberships include New Zealand Perintal Society of New Zealand; and the New Zealand College of Midwives (NZCOM) where she acts as a Midwifery Standards Reviewer and a Midwifery First Year of Practice Reviewer. Nimisha is looking forward to her role on the Compliance Panel.

Industry Representative - Jan Carey (Canberra)
Jan Carey has been appointed as the industry representative for the Compliance Panel. She is the current executive director of both the Infant Nutrition Council (INC) and the Infant Formula Manufacturers Association of Australia (IFMAA) and is relatively new to both positions (January 2007). Prior to these roles, Jan was Chair of SIDS and Kids Scientific Advisory Committee, a member of the Global Strategy Task Force for education and SIDS and Kids’ representative on SIDS International. Jan is a co-founder of the Australian and New Zealand Stillbirth Alliance and until recently a member of the Executive Board of the International Stillbirth Alliance. Jan is looking forward to joining the new Compliance Panel and contrasting her New Zealand role with her Australian one.

Page last updated: 23 July 2009