Ms Kay Dunkley
Ms Kay Dunkley is passionate about the health and well-being of health professionals and is currently the Executive Officer for the Pharmacists’ Support Service (PSS).
After graduating from the former Victorian College of Pharmacy (now the Monash University Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences) in 1983, Ms Dunkley forged a career based in hospital pharmacy. In 1989 she then graduated with a Graduate Diploma in Hospital Pharmacy from Monash University. Pursuing a career as a hospital pharmacy manager, Ms Dunkley then undertook a Graduate Diploma in Health Administration through La Trobe University, graduating in 1993, and identified a particular interest in human resources and the well-being of employees, especially those working as health professionals.
Over the years, Ms Dunkley expanded her career with roles providing services which support pharmacists and other health professionals, including membership organisations for pharmacists and for doctors and advisory committees. Her current role with the PSS commenced in 2005 and over the last 20 years Ms Dunkley has been instrumental in developing this service from a small Victorian based initiative, to become a not-for-profit charitable organisation, providing a national program offering support for well-being to all pharmacists, pharmacy interns and pharmacy students in Australia.
Ms Dunkley also worked at the same time for the Australian Medical Association in Victoria, from 2007 to 2024, and established the AMA Victoria Peer Support Program, the AMA Victoria Peer Visitor Program and a mentoring program for doctors in training.
Ms Dunkley continued clinical work both in hospital pharmacy and as an accredited consultant pharmacist undertaking medication reviews until recent years. Ms Dunkley is also actively involved in research projects investigating factors that influence the health and wellbeing of pharmacists, including supervision of a PhD project researching the wellbeing of early career pharmacists.
Currently in addition to her PSS work, Ms Dunkley volunteers for Hand-n-Hand Services Ltd, a not-for-profit organisation which coordinates a peer support program for healthcare workers.
In 2020 Ms Dunkley was awarded the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Symbion Pharmacist of the Year and in 2023 she was awarded the Fred J Boyd Award by the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (now Advanced Pharmacists Australia). Ms Dunkley is a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and a Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand College of Advanced Pharmacy (Leadership and Management).