When Mater’s Chief Digital Officer Alastair Sharman attends the Dawn Service on Anzac Day, he will be honouring his grandfather, while reflecting on his own time in the Australian Army.

Service was instilled in Alastair from a young age through his father, an Anglican priest, who served several small Tasmanian communities.

His father also took Alastair to the Dawn Service every Anzac Day to honour his grandfather who had served in World War II.

“When I was growing up, my grandfather and other relatives shared many stories with me about World War II and everything they had been through to fight for our freedom,” Alastair said.

“It shaped the importance of the army for me and reinforced what I’d learned from my parents about service to the community.”

By 18, Alastair had embarked on his own path of service — leaving Tasmania behind after enrolling in the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, followed by a year of officer training at the Royal Military College.

Following graduation, Alastair’s initial roles saw him training the army’s newest soldiers, firstly with the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment at Enogerra in Brisbane and then with the 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Army Recruit Training Centre Kapooka, NSW.

“Both of these roles were really rewarding. The opportunity to learn is personally really important and to play a part in giving someone else the same opportunity meant a lot to me,” he said. 

“The trainees came from diverse backgrounds and for some who had troubled histories, it was almost their last hope.

“But after they had completed their training, I had many parents thank me for the difference they had seen in their son or daughter. 

“It was really rewarding, and quite humbling at times, to see the impact you can make on someone’s life and support them in finding their way.”

Moving into intelligence roles in 1997, Alastair honed his skills in areas such as counterintelligence as well as psychological operations and military information support. 

During this time Alastair served on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG) with the Truce Monitoring Group, which brought together defence and civilian personnel from New Zealand, Australia, Vanuatu and Fiji following a decade of civil war, to monitor and oversee the cease fire with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army.

On a day-to-day basis, Alastair’s team worked alongside the public relations team to communicate the peace process. 

"This involved producing a local magazine and newsletters, and even driving around with a loudspeaker,” Alastair recalled.

A peace agreement was signed in 2001 and the years of peace since then have reinforced why Alastair joined the army. 

“The people of Bougainville had been through so much; yet they were so welcoming, so giving and so thankful for our help. 

“The people have self-determination now. To have had a small level of impact on that and bringing peace to them is gratifying and humbling.” 

In 2000 Alastair was deployed to East Timor as part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force that was established following the referendum for East Timor’s independence from Indonesia, which sparked a violent reaction from pro-Indonesian militia in East Timor.

“My role in East Timor was more the traditional combat intelligence role, providing insights on managing threats to both the UN and the population of East Timor,” he said.

“I was there for six months and in that time the situation improved from the people being fearful and focused on their safety to being hopeful and focused on how to rebuild, provide education and generate jobs.”

Alongside the professional rewards, Alastair enjoyed the multi-national environment of the United Nations, and remains close with many former colleagues to this day. 

An interest in the growing concept of information security around the time of ‘Y2K’ in the lead up to the year 2000 took Alastair down a new career path, as he embarked on information technology studies toward the end of his 12-year army career. 

He has since held a range of consulting and executive positions, including Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer with Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, before joining Mater as Chief Digital Officer in 2020. 

He is now focussed on improving patient outcomes and experiences within the communities we serve — delivering digital transformation that supports the integration of Mater’s Health, Education and Research ministries. 

His former career greatly influences his approach to executive leadership, particularly the importance of teamwork. 

“It’s important to understand people’s strengths and the value of every role, at every level, in working together to enable the person at the frontline to be successful — whether it’s a frontline soldier or healthcare worker,” Alastair said. 

His experience in dynamic and complex environments that required both the highest level of mental agility and the ability to operate at the tactical, operational and strategic levels holds him in good stead today. 

“The threat from the enemy in the healthcare environment is a potential cyber attack. We’ve seen the impact this has had on other hospitals,” he said.

“A key focus of Mater’s Digital Technology and Information team is continually monitoring this threat and implementing security protection to prevent a breach of our systems and information that could impact not only our services but the integrity of patient information.”

It is Mater’s commitment to our patients and the wider community that drew Alastair to the organisation.

“Mater’s Values of dignity, compassion, integrity and excellence really resonated with me. They are not dissimilar from the Australian Army values,” he said.

This Anzac Day, we acknowledge and thank Alastair, alongside all Mater People and all Australians who have served and defended our nation during times of war and conflict.
 

Image: Alastair Sharman as an Australian Army intelligence officer serving on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea.