Tara Quirke RN

Tara Quirke is a Registered Nurse with over 40 years' nursing experience. She has held several senior management and educational positions, both in Australia and South Africa. For the past 20 years, she has specialized in aged /dementia care. She is particularly passionate about ensuring people living with dementia have their personal, civil and legal rights upheld. Tara is an aged care quality surveyor and is also the Queensland environmental design consultant for Dementia Training Australia. She is a member of the Advisory Panel for the Australian Journal of Dementia Care.

she is an active consumer advocate for many Dementia Australia and Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre research projects co-funded through the NHMRC. Tara has two master's degrees (clinical nursing – gerontology, and mental health), and she holds additional qualifications in education, management, midwifery, and community nursing. Tara was the primary carer for her dad who was diagnosed with dementia at 68 years old. More recently, Tara lost her beloved husband of 44 years to CJD (Creuzefeldt-Jakob disease) one of the most rapid forms of dementia. This has inspired her more than ever to search for ways to improve dementia care and education.