Our Board
Our Leadership commitment
The NTMHC Board works collectively to advocate for the community mental health sector in the Northern Territory.
Rachael Bowker is the Chief Executive Officer of Darwin Community Legal Service. She is an experienced leader in the Northern Territory’s community sector, with a strong record in organisational management, rights advocacy and service improvement. Her work focuses on strengthening access to justice and improving outcomes for people facing hardship across the NT.
Rachael leads multidisciplinary teams across legal services, disability advocacy, tenancy support, financial counselling, seniors rights and older persons abuse outreach. She oversees strategic planning, governance, funding, and program delivery for a multi-million-dollar organisation, including services in urban, rural and remote communities.
Before joining DCLS, Rachael held senior roles across the community and volunteering sectors, including Executive Manager at Volunteering NT. She holds qualifications in leadership, governance, risk, community services and training. Rachael is committed to leading services that reflect the diverse cultures of the Northern Territory and respond to the practical needs of the communities she serves.
Rachael Bowker
Chairperson
Pam Marwood
Treasurer
BA, BSW, Grad Dip DSI
Pam Marwood is currently employed by Neami National as the Clinical Service manager at Darwin Head to Health and delivers several programs in the NT, the adult mental health centre in Casuarina, Psychological therapies program, an individual personal support program and Low intensity mental health groups.
Neami National is one the largest community mental health organisations in Australia. Pam has a career spanning over 30 years in management and community services across both government and nongovernment organisations.
Pam has an enduring commitment to social justice, equity, and reconciliation.
Dr Paul Royce
Secretary
Paul has over 30 years worth of experience in the community services sector holding a number of grass roots, senior management and voluntary positions in social, community and strategic planning, programme development and community service delivery. Paul’s extensive work history is across WA and the NT in local government, academia, family and domestic violence and remote Aboriginal communities. In 2021, Paul relocated back to the Northern Territory to take up the role of Regional Leader of NT Operations at Mission Australia and joined the Board of the NT Mental Health Coalition.
Julia Wormer
Ordinary Member
Julia is a strategic and purpose-led executive leader with a passion for strengthening service systems and supporting community wellbeing and mental health. With 20 years’ experience across clinical, operational, and senior management roles, Julia has worked across the NGO and government sectors in both urban and remote contexts—bringing a deep understanding of the complexities of delivering person-centered mental health care in the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland.
Her career spans a range of service areas, including early intervention, family support, child protection, youth, and adult mental health, where she has led multidisciplinary teams and driven programs that respond to the needs of individuals and families with compassion and integrity.
Julia is committed to recovery-oriented, evidence based, culturally safe, and trauma-informed practice and values the critical role of lived experience in service design and delivery. She is particularly skilled in navigating change, service establishment, and implementation, embedding strategic initiatives, and fostering strong partnerships that align with organisational goals and community priorities.
Julia’s leadership reflects her belief in building resilient teams, accountable systems, and mental health services that empower people to thrive.
Nicole Pietsch
Ordinary Member
Nicole Pietsch is the Chief Executive Officer and Suicide Prevention Lead at the Mental Health Association of Central Australia (MHACA). She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Communications Studies) and Certificate IV Community Services. She has more than 25 years’ experience in communications, community engagement, and health promotion plus an evolving interest in quality improvement in service delivery. She is currently the Chair of the Suicide Prevention Australia Northern Territory Committee and convenes the Central Australia Life Promotion Network.
Karen McGlashan
Ordinary Member
Karen McGlashan has been the CEO of the Top End Mental Health Consumer Organisation for just over 12 months. Based in Palmerston, Karen leads the only consumer-led mental health organisation in the local area. She and her team support members and participants with lived experience of mental health challenges across several programs, including the NT Peer Workforce Project and the Drop-In Support Service.
Karen’s career spans over 20 years in Community Services, including work in Aged Care (UK) and a long-standing career in Employment Services across North Queensland and the Northern Territory. She has worked across four employment services contracts, supporting jobseekers on their pathways into employment and education. Her work has included leading projects supporting First Nations to build skills and pathways into trade and transport industries, establishing remote service delivery in alcohol and other drug (AOD) rehabilitation centres, and working closely with Corrections to support pre-release prisoners to transition into paid employment opportunities. Karen brings a strong commitment to lived experience leadership, recovery-oriented practice, and improving social and economic inclusion for people experiencing mental health challenges.
Anthony Ah Kit
Co-Opted Member
Anthony Ah Kit (Snr) was born and raised in Garramilla/Darwin. Anthony’s mob are from Wurrumungu (Tennant Creek) and Waanyi (North West Queensland). For the past 30 years Anthony has worked in primary health care, alcohol and other drugs, community development, mental health and suicide prevention. Anthony utilises his own lived experience and that as a carer to inform his work. Anthony joined the board in 2024, having been on numerous boards throughout his career.
Nathalia Perez Alfonso is the Director of Practice Quality at Relationships Australia NT, where she leads clinical governance, organisational risk, policy development and quality improvement across all programs. A social work executive with a decade of experience in individual, children, family and community services, she has held senior leadership roles across diverse communities and organisational contexts.
Her career spans frontline practice, program leadership and executive governance. A defining strength of her work is the perspective she has gained through living, studying and working across multiple countries, cultures and social systems; experience that grounds her approach to complexity, diversity and servant leadership, ensuring that decisions elevate community voices and strengthen practice from the ground up.
Nathalia holds a Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) from Charles Darwin University and a master’s in social work with Families and Children completed through universities in Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Uganda. She is a member of the AASW and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
Nathalia Perez Alfonso
Ordinary Member