Chris Mamarelis - Media Bio
Chief Executive Officer, Whiddon
1 April 2023
Chris Mamarelis is the Chief Executive Officer at Whiddon, an industry-leading, not-for-profit aged care organisation caring for close to 3,000 people through Residential Aged Care, Community Care and Retirement Living, leading an incredible team of over 2,500 employees.
Chris has more than twenty-five years of financial and managerial executive-level experience in the aged care, travel, hospitality, sports administration, and retail sectors. He has held significant appointments in both For Profit and Not for Profit organisations and currently sits on the NSW Member Advisory Committee for the peak aged care industry board, Ageing Australia (formerly Aged and Community Care Providers Association, ACCPA).
Passionately embracing a 'people first' approach to aged-care leadership, Chris is an advocate for innovation and is focused on building a motivated workforce who are empowered to create positive impact. With Whiddon’s services extending across rural, regional, and remote New South Wales and Queensland, Chris and his team are always looking at new and disruptive initiatives to create world-leading models of care for Australia’s increasingly aged population.
Since Chris' appointment as CEO in 2015, Whiddon has been continually recognised as an award-winning aged care provider including recently receiving the 2022 Future of Ageing Award for their point-of-care rapid testing solution and the 2022 InnovAgeing National Award for their innovative Exercise 4 Life program.
Under Chris’ leadership, Whiddon adopted their Relationship Based Care (RBC) approach, introduced the Whiddon Scholarship program, pioneered Rapid Antigen Testing in aged and community care, successfully operated the first trials of Rapid PCR testing in aged care, and designed and constructed their latest aged care home adopting RBC principals.
These industry-first innovations have seen Chris' expert commentary feature across an extensive array of Australian media outlets including The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, ABC Radio National, Australian Ageing Agenda, Australia Today, and Sunrise.
Chris’ presence and experience within the aged care sector have also seen him provide expert evidence at the Royal Commission into Aged Care on both Relationship Based Care (Perth) and Aged Care Funding (Sydney).
Chris Mamarelis is available for media commentary on the following topics:
- Aged Care Policy and Reform
- Aged Care Funding
- Aged Care Workforce
- Relationship-Based Care
- Best Practice Aged Care Management
For interview access or commentary requests for Chris please contact:
