About Pace Health Management

PACE Health Management is a team of 70+ Allied Health Professionals working from 11 private clinics across Melbourne.

Our Programs have been developed and improved over the past 20+ years to meet the demands of organisations. Programs are reviewed biannually and updated to ensure the most up-to-date research and best practice guidelines are followed.

Our Programs

- Job Task Analysis creation
- Functional Capacity Evaluations
- Pre-Employment Screenings
- Fitness for Duties Assessments
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- Backfit (Manual Handling)
- Deskfit (Ergonomics)
- Drivefit (Ergonomics)
- Mindfit (Coming Soon)
- Individual Ergonomic Assessment & Reporting
- Specific Injury Prevention Programs
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- Health Checks
- Wellness Workshops
- Onsite Consultations
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Skip is a health and safety professional who worked for the Virgin Australia Airline Group for fifteen years serving in multiple safety roles and being responsible for the workplace health and safety for over ten thousand staff across Australia.
Transitioning to local government Skip implemented a strategic approach to workplace mental health and is implementing practical ways to improve the health and wellbeing of staff and educate and inform people leaders. Skip’s work lead Kingston City Council’s Health & Safety Team to being recognised as industry leaders.
Through a strategic partnership, Skip’s team and Pace Health Management were nominated for a WorkSafe Victoria award for their work on preventing workplace mental health injuries.
Skip has presented at international conferences on safety management and fatigue risk management. He has testified at Senate inquiries into aviation safety and travelled throughout Victoria to resent to the Local Government Executive teams.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Business, Bachelor of Technology
- Certificate IV in Occupational Health and Safety
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment

Michaela started her career as a registered Osteopath gaining three years of clinical experience in Melbourne’s north and eastern suburbs.
She then moved into the consultancy and rehabilitation space with recognised provider Nabenet and Counselling Appraisal Consultants before joining the Epworth Hospital Group as an Injury Management Advisor and Patient Handling Trainer.
Michaela’s experience in the clinical & OHS space also saw her serve as a Clinical Supervisor in Victoria Universities Osteopathy Program and appointed to the Osteopathy Program Industry Advisory Committee at RMIT University.
Michaela has shifted her focus from individual health to the broader determinants that shape our workplaces as the Wellbeing Advisor at Brimbank City Council. She is currently studying a Master of Public Health & Health Administration to support this work.
Qualifications
- Graduate Certificate in OHS and Environmental Management
- Bachelor of Health Science
- Bachelor Applied Science (Osteopathy)

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Our Advisory Board

Eliza is a registered psychologist who completed her Masters degree at Monash University. Combining the latest psychological knowledge with a practical, client-centred approach, Eliza has experience in conducting assessments, evidence-based interventions, and collaboration with relevant stakeholders in both schools and private practice.
Passionate about fostering growth and psychological wellbeing, Eliza is dedicated to both prevention and intervention across diverse contexts to deliver tailored strategies that support individuals in achieving their goals.

Megan is a Health and Safety Professional with over 20 years’ experience in the field of Health, Safety and Wellbeing.
As an experienced training facilitator and presenter, Megan is recognised in the industry for her subject matter expertise and ability to share information in practical meaningful manner.
Megan engages participants to consolidate learning and captivate audiences with her wealth of experience in the mental health field stretching over two decades. This experience was built at Deakin University, the Personal Injury Education Foundation and with WorkCover agent EML.
Megan is a Mental Health First Aid instructor for Mental Health First Aid Australia and is accredited with WorkSafe Victoria to deliver RTW Coordinator and HSR training.
Megan played a lead role in supporting the health and safety of for over 1500 staff, leaders, and managers at the City of Kingston.
As the Health and Safety Officer, Megan was responsible for the implementation of a three-year Workplace Health and Safety Strategic Plan and delivering an industry leading initiative using Job Task Analysis to identify inherent psychosocial job requirements.
Megan joined Yooralla in October as the Injury Management and Prevention Business Partner. This strategically created role aims to enhance our focus on injury prevention and improve safety outcomes.
With a particular passion for manual handling and psychosocial and mental health, Megan’s expertise will be instrumental in driving a proactive approach to both injury management and prevention.
Qualifications
- Undergraduate Certificate in Psychology
- Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety
- Diploma in Human Resources
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment

Lara Smith has an extensive WorkCover knowledge and experience in both private and public sectors, including working for an agent, providing injury prevention, early intervention, injury management and claims management expertise.
She has experience in both corporate and government roles as a leader, consulting with organisations to promote mentally healthy workplaces, high functioning teams, effective leadership, and client engagement.
Key Skills & Attributes:
- Workers Compensation VIC, NSW, QLD, Self-insurance, and Comcare
- Injury Management Advisor at City of Kingston Council 2018-2021.
- Experience in injury management, employer and agent based roles
- Consultancy experience
- Solid understanding of injury management including best practice of early intervention
- Expert in liaising with medical practitioners, case managers, employers, and workers from all backgrounds
- Experience in training, coaching, educating, leadership, and mentoring
- Experience in program lead and implementation
- Team recipient of the 2022 WorkSafe Award for Excellence in Return to Work-DXC claims Management Services Victoria
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Applied Science (Disability Studies & Psychology)
- Diploma Positive Psychology & Wellbeing
- Cert IV Occupational Safety and Health.

Erin’s experience spans the entire lifecycle of the pre-employment screening process. This includes not only conducting functional assessments herself but also undertaking comprehensive reviews of reports from across the organisation to ensure their quality and accuracy. Erin’s experience within local council also provided her with a unique understanding of actioning these reports, including making determinations on fitness for work and approving candidates for the next stage of the employment process.
Erin is also responsible for ensuring that the assessments and reports are up to date with research and best practice.

Colin is an organisational psychologist with over 20 years’ experience holding line and consulting roles with public and private sector organisations in diverse market segments including: health, professional services and manufacturing.

Driven by a desire to make a tangible difference to people and organisations, he has managed and delivered human capital projects across the employee lifecycle including: learning and development, group facilitation, change management, career transition services, exit interviews, psychometric assessment and organisational metrics.

Peter started his career working for the NAB whilst playing AFL football with Melbourne and eventually finished as a Commercial Bank Manager before moving into manufacturing at BHP working on production lines before becoming the Safety Coordinator.
Since moving to manufacturing I have over two decades of experience in managing Safety, Health and Wellbeing, Training, Security, and Environmental functions across FMCG, heavy industry, civil construction, and sport, along with working in Self Insured and ISO accredited International Companies.
My expertise lies in a systematic, logical, process and outcome driven approach backed by the creation of tools and systems to measure data, establish gap analysis that guide decision making.
Qualifications
- Diploma of WHS
- Diploma OHS
- Diploma of Quality Auditing

OUR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SPECIALISTS

Erin Mason
Occupational Health Specialist & Compliance Officer
Accredited Exercise Physiologist

Erin has been working with Pace Health since 2022 as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and also currently serves as the organisation's Occupational Health Specialist and Compliance Officer since 2025. This position builds upon her foundational experience as an Injury Management Advisor with Kingston City Council, where she gained significant insight into reviewing Pre-Employment and Fitness for Duties reports from a local council health and safety perspective.

Ben Southam
Managing Director, PACE Health Management
Principal Occupational Health Specialist

Ben commenced his career at Pace Health Management in 2009 whilst completing his studies of Masters of Clinical Exercise Physiology at Deakin University.

Ben has since been working in both the clinical and occupational health setting helping him experience both sides of the occupational health continuum. With a passion for employer and employee clarity, Ben strives to provide both sides with evidence-based theory and application to improve overall Health & Wellbeing and injury prevention.

Ben’s passion for Occupational Health stems from partnering with local government in 2017 advising on occupational health strategies. Since then, Ben and his team of accredited exercise physiologists have conducting over three thousand functional screening assessments for both local government and private company workers and through this work has an intimate knowledge of how functional assessments and health strategies need to be applied against the inherent requirements of a position.
More recently, Ben has directed the work of a project team in the development of a psychosocial framework within a Job Task Analysis which has been peer reviewed by Occupational and Clinical Psychologist and validated in multiple local government workplaces.

Occupational Health Specialists and Consultants

How does the PACE Health Management Approach differ?

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PACE Health Management consults with organisations around Australia to develop & deliver specific, measurable and practical health & wellbeing interventions to their employees.

By adopting internationally recognised testing protocols along with our clinical expertise, we believe our model can assist organisations appropriately identify and proactively manage the health & wellbeing of their employees.

Our Preventative Intervention Programs (BackFit, DeskFit & DriveFit) are designed to decrease injury risk & rates amongst your workforce, whilst Team Health Checks help to facilitate positive cultural change relating to employee health at both and individual and organisational level.

More information on our Capacity Profiling services, including; Job Task Analysis, Pre-Employment Functional Screening, Specific Functional Testing, Functional Capacity Evaluations & Ergonomic Assessments, can be found below.