Executive Team
Rebecca Smith
Interim CEO Cultura
Rebecca has recently returned to Cultura (Aug 2025) to commence in the position of Interim CEO. Her previous role was as the Deputy CEO and also the founding General Manager, Community Aged and Disability. This has allowed continuity within the leadership of Cultura whilst giving the Board time to conduct a new recruitment process.
Rebecca has extensive experience in leading service delivery across both community and residential aged care, health and disability, and also significant experience in leading quality and safety frameworks, including regulatory compliance, across multiprogram organisations. She also has a specific passion and deep understanding of care governance within these same areas. This aligns well with Cultura’s purpose, values and vision.
Rebecca is abreast of all the aged care sector reforms taking place and will work collaboratively with the Cultura teams and service participants to implement changes whilst providing the best care and services in line with regulatory compliance.
Rebecca has a number of qualifications, including Masters in Health Management, Graduate Diploma of Human Resource Development, and Bachelor Social Science (Human Services). She also maintains her nursing registration.
Sarah Felsovary
Deputy CEO
Sarah joined Cultura at the start of May 2022. She manages the finance, risk and compliance of the organisation, as well as the RTO department under Cultura Training and the community broadcasting station 94.7 The Pulse.
Sarah previously worked as Head of Finance at Harness Racing Victoria, a Victorian Statutory Body, as well as CFO at Think an SAAS Fin-tech start-up business, Acting CFO at Sustainability Victoria, Australian Finance Manager at HRG Corporate Travel. She also worked for over two years in London in the banking sector with Lehman Brothers.
She currently resides on the board for the not-for-profit RTO Racing Education Centre, as well as her local Church council and is a Fellow member of CPA Australia.
In her personal time, Sarah has travelled to all continents around the world except for Antarctica, with that next on the list. With her grandparents migrating from Hungary in the late 1940’s, Sarah has spent considerable time travelling through Europe and the middle east, but has also enjoyed travelling throughout Asia and South America.
Robert Fraser
General Manager - Infrastructure
Rob has worked in the health and aged care sector for over 26 years. With expertise in catering and procurement, Rob’s excellent connections and ability to problem solve have led to implementation of many improvements, both in the food services area of the organisation as well as to infrastructure.
Rob is constantly striving for sustainability throughout the organisation and implemented a preventative maintenance program which has seen a vast improvement in the unplanned downtime and maintenance of equipment within the organisation. He also implemented a food recycling system which has reduced wastage with the resultant fertilizer being used within the grounds of the organisation.
He has a collaborative approach working with service participants and staff to formulate menus on an ongoing basis ensuring that the menu meets and exceeds expectations.
Rob has responsibility for overseeing many infrastructures projects across the organisation including the development of a Sensory and Therapy Garden in residential, Mary Costa House refurbishment of 28 rooms with a change over from shared to single ensuite bathrooms. Other projects have included modernising the entrance and kitchen area at the RTO and Pulse Radio Station, reconfiguration and establishment of under utilised spaces on the Northern Community Hub site.
Luba Pryslak
General Manager - Residential
Luba joined MACS in 2004 as a Registered Nurse. She became the Unit Nurse Manager after several years then the Director of Care until 2021 while competing her Masters of Business Adminstration. She is now the General Manger – Residential with a wealth of experience in aged care. She was instrumental in the set up of the dementia unit at the facility and has used specialist knowledge to ensure that the unit provides best practice care for residents with dementia.
Luba continually strives to improve the services on offer and an example of this was the implementation of our mindful moves program and a physiotherapy program– providing exercise and wellbeing initiatives for residents. The program consists of seated daily exercises (pilates, yoga & relaxation, seated Tai Chi, Chiball gentle moves and easy moves for the active ageing) as well as fall prevention, mobility maintenance and strengthening.
Luba is constantly looking at progressive care models or innovations in care and is currently working with a group through Melbourne University on a project which will improve behavior management in our dementia unit.
Luba is also on a board of another aged care facility and as such has a good understanding of governance and what is required in relation to this.
She has a passion for ensuring that CALD residents are able to have high quality and culturally sensitive care to ensure that when they come into our facility that they are made to feel as at home as possible.’
Casey O'brien
General Manager - Settlement and Community Services
Casey is a member of the social work profession and holds a post graduate Diploma in Social Work from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
He is currently employed as the General Manager , Settlement and Community Support with this role having overall responsibility for sixty staff and the delivery of a diverse range of services to multicultural communities . Casey has significant experience as a Manager in statutory and not for profit settings in both Australia and New Zealand, his management career spanning 39 years and encompassing leadership roles in relation to Project and Program Management and staff training and development.
In addition to this Casey has expertise and experience focused on Practice Audits and the development of “ best practice “ within Child Protection agencies in New Zealand.
Geoff Barber
General Manager - Community Aged & Disability
Geoff has over 20 years of experience leading teams in aged care, disability, and community services delivery across not-for profit and local government settings. At Cultura, Geoff oversees Home Care Packages (HCP), the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP), Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC), and NDIS services, ensuring high-quality, inclusive, and culturally responsive services to clients across the region.
His experience spans service transformation, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and governance. He has played a pivotal role in developing policies, improving operational efficiencies, and leading organisational transitions. He has a tested understanding of the regulatory and funding environments that shape aged and disability services and is committed to ensuring Cultura remains financially sustainable, innovative, and aligned with best practices. A strong advocate for person-centred care, Geoff focuses on workforce development, service accessibility, and continuous quality improvement. He is passionate about fostering a collaborative, high-performing team culture that supports both staff and clients in achieving positive outcomes.
Geoff is also a competitive club chess player, enjoys camping, native gardening, emerging technologies and is extending his studies in education.
Peter Thomas
General Manager - People & Culture
Peter Thomas is an experienced Human Resources executive with over 20 years of international experience across government, not for profit, retail, telecommunications, and facilities management sectors. Prior to Cultura, he held senior leadership roles, where he led large-scale teams and drove people strategies aligned with organisational growth and change.
Peter is recognised for his deep expertise in industrial relations, occupational health and safety, and employee experience design. His leadership has been instrumental in building strong teams, guiding executive teams, and delivering high-impact engagement programs to achieve strategic impact.
With a collaborative and empowering coaching style, Peter is passionate about building high-performing teams and fostering positive and inclusive workplace cultures.
Peter holds a B.Soc.Sc (Human Resource Management) from RMIT University and brings a progressive, people-centred approach to Cultura, driving initiatives that enhance employee engagement, operational excellence, and long-term organisational success.
