About us

Dr Brett Robinson

Chief Executive Officer

With over a decade of CEO and executive leadership experience, Brett has led a range of high profile organisations spanning the healthcare, insurance and sports sectors.

After completing a medical degree at the University of Queensland, Brett worked as a surgical trainee before completing a Doctorate of Philosophy in Clinical Orthopaedics at Oxford.

Brett’s rugby career saw him play 16 test matches for the Wallabies, and take on the role of the inaugural captain of the ACT Brumbies.  Off the field, Brett made a significant contribution to his sport as the General Manager of the Australian Rugby Union’s High Performance Unit.

Brett has since forged a successful career in the private sector, leading organisations where care and wellbeing is at the heart of all they do, including Mondial Assistance, Icon Cancer Care and Bank of Queensland Specialist.

Brett’s experience working in human services has nurtured a deep appreciation of community and the delivery of high quality care across a growing network.  As CEO of RetireAustralia, Brett is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of older Australians and their families by building beautiful home environments, delivering exceptional care and creating vibrant retirement communities.

Simon Fawssett

Chief Operating Officer

Simon is one of Australia’s leading executives in the health and human services sector.  With over 20 years experience working for major healthcare providers, Simon has held positions with Mater Health Services, Wesley Corporate Health and the Springfield Land Corporation, where he was instrumental in the design and development of the Springfield Private Hospital.  Simon is the former Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Aged Care, playing a significant role in growing the business to 15 villages before it was acquired by Aveo in 2016.

Simon is skilled in all aspects of healthcare and human services operations including strategic planning, healthcare information technology, project management, change management and quality assurance and compliance.  He is passionate about delivering exceptional outcomes to all people in need of care services, with a particular interest in making care options tailored to individual needs accessible for all.  Simon is a Director of Bethany Christian Care, a retirement village and aged care operator based in Brisbane.

Paulene Henderson

Chief Financial Officer

With over 25 years in senior executive roles within strategic finance, Paulene is a strategically and commercially-minded CFO. She is adept at developing and delivering capital management strategies, including equity raising, issue of listed debt instruments and restructuring of banking facilities. She brings a full suite of CFO skills and a wealth of corporate financial experience to RetireAustralia, most notably spending almost 10 years as the CFO and Company Secretary for the ASX 300 residential property company Villa World.

Paulene is passionate about optimising financial performance and driving continuous improvement, and describes her management style as leading through “generosity of spirit”. Her strong track record in business turnaround is testament to her ability to assess risks and financial impacts while driving impressive results in dynamic, high-risk sectors.

Paul McAlpine

General Manager - Sales & Marketing

Paul is a highly experienced business leader and sales strategist, with over two decades of experience managing the sales and marketing functions of leading Australian companies.

Paul has extensive experience growing sales teams across the retirement, property and FMCG sectors, having led large sales teams for Aveo, Stockland, Goodman Fielder and Lion Nathan.

Paul is skilled in all areas of business planning and development, sales strategy and key account management.  He has a deep understanding of sales process methodology and is experienced in facilitating strong collaboration between sales and marketing to achieve desired growth across key customer attraction and acquisition metrics.

Robert McDonald

General Manager - Development and Acquisitions

With over 25 years in the property industry, Robert has a deep understanding of the property development and corporate real estate sectors. Having commenced his career in property valuation and commercial leasing, Robert has spent the past 15 years performing key roles in the planning, development, delivery and management of some of the nation’s flagship real estate projects and leading the development business of two of Queensland’s premier publicly listed property development and investment companies before joining RetireAustralia.

Anthony Heald

General Manager - Culture, Strategy & Business Services

With more than 20 years’ experience in the retirement living, infrastructure and finance sectors, Anthony has built and guided high-performing teams across both large corporations and smaller firms. He is a skilled human resources practitioner with postgraduate qualifications in organisational leadership.

As RetireAustralia as General Manager for Culture, Strategy & Business Services Anthony has been instrumental in embedding a customer-first culture that puts residents at the centre of all decision-making. His warm leadership style and people skills complement his unwavering commitment to improving the quality of service in the retirement living sector.

Prior experiences in heavy industry has engrained a strong risk and safety focus in Anthony’s approach to business. He is dedicated to providing stability, driving innovation and using his deep industry knowledge and financial acumen to deliver positive outcomes for RetireAustralia in alignment with its long-term business development and growth strategies.

His vision for success in underpinned by a commitment to walking the talk’ and role modelling the company’s values of leadership, one team, integrity, respect and excellence each day.