Virginia Ryan—Board Chair

Virginia Ryan

Deputy Chair

Virginia was appointed to the Mater Board in September 2019 and to the position of Deputy Chair in August 2020. She was also appointed Board Chair of Mater Foundation in August 2020.

In 2017 Virginia was appointed Deputy President of the Mental Health Review Tribunal where she sees 62 Queensland Health and private hospital mental health sites throughout Queensland, interacting daily with those who face significant illness challenges, and those who support and treat them.

Virginia has degrees in Arts and Law from Sydney University and more than thirty years’ experience as a Brisbane lawyer. She has worked at Caxton Legal Centre, was the state convenor of the peak body for community legal centres, and a volunteer lawyer at other legal centres. She has been a Registrar in a federal court, and has extensive experience in administrative law, having been an administrative decision maker for more than 16 years. She has been a member of a number of tribunals, both federal and state, including the Social Security Appeals tribunal, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and for more than ten years, the Mental health review Tribunal Queensland. 

Virginia has been a member of a catholic school board, a Commissioner on the Legal Aid Commission of Queensland, and a Board member of an Australian Health Practitioner Agency board.  She has been an accredited mediator, and is committed to fair processes, collaborative decision making and transparency and accountability in governance.