Mr James Kelaher | Managing Director
Smartnet

James is a leading adviser on business and technology strategy, specialising in improving services to consumers and citizens. James has held senior public sector roles in defence,homeland security, health and human services. He has also worked in the private sector, running technology, manufacturing and outsourced services businesses. James has been one of the leading advocates for improvements to Australia’s health and social security systems and, as a senior civil servant, has advised governments and ministers on where these improvements can be made. James has been a deputy commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, the managing director of the Health Insurance Commission and a deputy secretary in the Department of Human Services. He chaired the Australian government’s PKI registration authority for ehealth, he has overseen the piloting of health smart cards for patients and health professionals and he chaired the Australian government’s ‘Access Card’ task force that developed the $1.3 billion plan to replace some 12 different citizen entitlement systems with a single e-services solution. He was also the founding chair of ‘ECLIPSE’, the Australian health insurance industry’s transaction exchange for public and private hospitals and health funds. James has spent considerable time looking at e-citizen and e-services projects around the world and is a highly regarded expert on issues such as governance, data protection, identity management, adoption, standards, regulatory arrangements and best practice. Since 2006 he has been a director of Smartnet, a solution advisory firm, which provides expert advice to government and private sector organisations in Australia and overseas. He is a member of the National Consultative Committee on Security and Risk, an adviser to the National eHealth Transition Authority, a member of the HealtheNation global advisory board and a judge of the annual iAwards. He is also a director of QEStel, a regional telecommunications provider and of the Capital Markets Collaborative Research Centre. James holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce, an MBA, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Risk Management Institution of Australasia and is a Fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants.