Executive Committee
Louise Walker - Queensland
AASTN President
Louise started nursing in 1987 as an enrolled nurse at the Concord Repatriation Hospital in New South Wales. There she met Heather Hill (life member AASTN) who inspired her to become a stomal therapist. After completing her degree, Louise commenced practice as a stoma nurse in 2008, working in several public and private hospitals in Brisbane. She has held many positions on the Queensland and National AASTN committees and counts the highlight of her career (so far) as visiting the Cleveland Clinic to work with a team of 25 stoma nurses. She is an avid bowel cancer fund raiser, having raised over $9000 for Bowel Cancer Australia.
(07) 3182 4563
Stomal Therapy/Wound Management Clinical Nurse Consultant
QE II Jubilee Hospital
Coopers Plains, Queensland
Margie Reid - South Australia
AASTN Vice President
Margie works within a dedicated team of Stomal Therapy Nurses, caring for patients with complex Stoma, Wound & Fistula needs, and has presented nationally and internationally at Stoma and Wound Conferences relating to Stomal Therapy practice and patient care. She has a passion for education and learning.
Margie recently held the role of Colorectal & UGI Cancer Nurse Consultant at NALHN, supporting patients living well during their cancer journey.
Tess Bonde - Tasmania
AASTN Treasurer
Tess completed the Stomal Therapy Graduate Certificate in 2014. She has practiced in both hospital and community-based positions in Hobart. Her interests include community outreach services and complex complication management.
(03) 6208 0500
The District Nurses
Moonah, Tasmania
Kelly Vickers - South Australia
AASTN Secretary
Kelly has worked as a Stomal Therapy Nurse for the last 16 years. She works within a dedicated team of Stomal Therapy Nurses providing direct care to patients with stoma, complex / non-healing wounds, fistulae + drains – in both inpatinet and outpatient settings.
Kelly is an active member of the Australian Association of Stomal Therapy Nurses, previously holding the roles of secretary and president of the South Australia Branch. She has attended and presented at several national and international Stomal Therapy Conferences and has published scientific articles.
Kelly has an active interest in promoting stomal therapy education, research and quality improvement, being currently involved in several research studies.
Vicki Patton New South Wales
Editor -The Journal of Stomal Therapy Australia
Vicki completed her Graduate Certificate of Stomal Therapy through the College of Nursing in 1999. Her interests include pelvic floor, anterior resection syndrome and fistula management.
Michelle Carr - Queensland
Chairperson AASTN E+PD Committee
AASTN Website coordinator
Michelle commenced practice as a stomal therapy nurse in 1998. She has worked in both hospital and community-based positions in Queensland and New Zealand. Her interests include high output stomas and optimising health literacy to improve health outcomes.
(07) 5202 8715
Wound Management/Stomal Therapy Nurse Practitioner
Sunshine Coast University Hospital
Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Lillian Veikkanen - Australian Capital Territory
AASTN Committee member
Lillian has been a Stomal Therapist Nurse for over 10 years, working in a Community Nursing position in Canberra. With her current nursing role of attending community SOS callouts, she has been more involved in the troubleshooting aspect of Stomal Therapy, particularly chronic leakages requiring the use of different appliances and additional equipment. She is also active in the ACT AASTN group, as a Secretary for the group for many years.
Tania Norman - Western Australia
AASTN Committee member
Tania qualified as a RN in 1991 and moved to Australia in 1998. She gained the Stomal Therapy Nurse (STN) certificate in 2000 and established the inaugural STN and Breast Care Nurse (BCN) roles at St John of God Hospital Murdoch, Western Australia in 2003.
In 2014, Tania assisted in setting up current STN role at the WA Ostomy Association which includes a rural outreach service while also working as a breast care nurse.
Tania has published several case studies/reports, contributed to a recent consensus working group and is currently enrolled in a Masters in Nursing Research with a focus on prevention of peristomal skin complications.
Robyn Simcock - Western Australia
Membership Coodinator
Robyn has been working alongside the AASTN Executive Committee since 2002 in an administrative role. She manages membership and answers queries. Her interests are anything that involves being outside, camping and seeing new places, playing Nan & hanging with her family.
0417 627 970
Jane Kulas - New South Wales
AASTN Public Officer
Jane completed the Stomal Therapy Course at St. Andrews Hospital Adelaide in 1995 and worked at Home Support Services as a stomal therapy nurse in the Hospital in the Home program until 2005. She made a sea change to Lennox’s head in northern New South Wales in 2006 working for NSW Health in Community. Recently she commenced in a new role as Clinical Nurse Specialist in Stoma and Complex Wound Management in the Clarence Valley encompassing Grafton Base and Maclean Hospitals. She is passionate about making a difference for patients with a stoma and supporting them post-discharge and educating nurses in complex wound management.
(02) 6640 2222 | 0459 943 062
Stomal therapy Clinical Nurse Specialist
Grafton Base Hospital
184 Arthur St
Grafton NSW 2460
Carolyn Atkin - Victoria
AASTN Representative for World Council of Enterostomal Therapists
Carolyn commenced practice as a stomal therapy nurse in 2005 and has worked across public and private hospitals, spending the last 14 years working in an oncology specific setting. Her interests include pelvic exenteration surgery, cancer survivorship and low anterior resection syndrome.
(03) 8559 7475
Stomal Therapy/Wound Management
Clinical Nurse Consultant
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Parkville, Victoria.