New chair at Juniper

Grant Robinson has been announced as the new chair of not-for-profit Western Australian aged care provider Juniper.

Mr Robinson brings extensive aged care and not-for-profit sector experience to the role as well as a familiarity of the provider’s operations. He’s been an independent board member since 2018 and served as chair of Juniper’s audit and risk committee chair.

“As the incoming independent board chair I am humbled to accept this role and would like to continue with measured leadership, identifying key issues, remaining focused on the big picture and delivering our strategy,” said Mr Robinson.

Mr Robinson is the assistant auditor general financial audit at the Office of the Auditor General in WA and a former partner with KPMG in the audit, assurance and risk consulting division with a focus in the health, ageing and human services sector. He is also a board director of Bethesda Health Care – a private, independent palliative care organisation.

Mr Robinson replaces Maree Arnason who retires as independent board chair at the end of February. A seasoned executive, Ms Arnason joined Juniper’s board in 2014 and was appointed chair in 2019.

During her tenure as chair, Ms Arnason oversaw significant challenges including the Covid pandemic, government funding uncertainty, two CEO transitions, and sector-wide reform.

“It has been an absolute honour to be part of this organisation and its success today is a reflection on all our staff and volunteers who continue to care about positive outcomes for older Western Australians,” said Ms Arnason.

Under Ms Arnason’s leadership, Juniper has grown to become one of WA’s largest not-for-profit specialist aged care providers with 24 residential aged care homes throughout the state, 2,200 employees and more than 4,200 customers.

Juniper CEO Russell Bricknell said Ms Arnason had been central in transforming the organisation into a mission-focused, commercially astute, contemporary aged care provider.

“She has led the board clearly, consistently and in a manner that the board and executive worked together with a strong purpose. At the heart of Maree’s time as chair in a challenging environment has been a strong focus on pragmatic governance to achieve the wellbeing and provision of good quality care to our customers.”

Main image: Incoming Juniper board chair Grant Robinson

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