December 15, 2023

Get to know: Carolyn Baker

#WeAreNorthern

Meet Carolyn Baker, Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Northern Health.

Q: Carolyn, could I start with your coffee order please?

What a great, quintessentially Melbourne question. I will start with an espresso please then follow up with a flat white thank you.

Q: Tell us about your new role at Northern Health.

I’m the Chief Legal Officer here at Northern Health. The role is head of legal and accountable for managing legal risk for the health service. Practically speaking I don’t do this alone, my best work is done through our team of great lawyers. There are generally two parts to running a legal function, the reactive and the proactive. The first is 70-80 per cent of what we do – responding to requests or situations as they occur, whether they are contract matters, consumer related matters or FOI. In this space, having clear and effective operational protocols and processes is key, to ensure we are responsive and constructive and always prioritising the most critical legal risks. The second aspect is using our knowledge and experience to identify ways to proactively reduce legal risk through process change, education etc. In my first few months as Chief Legal Officer, my focus has been on listening to feedback and working with the team to design our operational protocols. These will be on the Legal page of the Intranet very soon.

Q: Briefly, can you tell us of your roles and career prior to Northern Health? Have you always wanted to work in healthcare?

I’m a lawyer by training and in the last 10 years my practice has broadened to a mix of General Counsel / CLO and Corporate Services (HR, risk, safety and sustainability). The Northern Health CLO role, being a single function, is a fun return to my GC roots, in a completely new industry. I joined Northern Health because I find complex environments interesting. Also, I have always been curious about healthcare as I have several relatives in clinical professions.

Q: Your first impressions of Northern Health?

It’s big! The size of the health service, in people terms, is hard to get my head around. People have been very welcoming and patient, which I really appreciate.

Q: How do you unwind from work?

Daily meditation is my thing, I swear by it. Also, I use my commute in the car to listen to podcasts and relaxing music. In the morning it’s usually business stuff, in the afternoon some classical music or running podcasts.

Q: What is something that most people would not know about you?

Most people I work with don’t know that my second job is as a musician. I am a classically trained mezzo-soprano and work freelance as a church singer.

Q: What is your favorite holiday destination?

There are so many! The destinations I have been to that I reflect on most often, are San Sebastian, Spain and Luang Prabang, Laos. Eating, exploring and relaxing.