Advocacy

While great health outcomes for the NSW North Coast is our main aim, we are also passionate about advocating for regional commissioning across Australia.

Some of our advocacy includes:

  • a lunchtime leadership series in conjunction with the Centre for Healthcare Knowledge & Innovation in November 2020 – explored collective impact, taking targeted collective action, building a movement, transforming institutions, and changing the narrative
  • multiple presentations at PHN commissioning events
  • a showcase about the North Coast Collective for the Mental Health Commission of NSW mid-term review of their Living Well strategy
  • Building the Future Now presentations
  • University Centre for Rural Health ‘Local Integrated Care Award 2019’
  • responding to state and Australian Government consultations, such as the NSW Parliamentary Enquiry into Rural Health Outcomes, National Digital Mental Health Framework, and Senate Select Committee on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention terms of reference.
  • Find Your Voice with Zoe Daniel podcast – NCC was mentioned as an example of overcoming roadblocks through structural reform. Professor Ian Hickie discusses this and stipulates that we need to adopt regionality to overhaul Australia’s mental health system. He states that we need to use our commonwealth instruments – PHNs – to work in partnership with state government-funded LHDs to create the mechanism at the local level through common purchasing or common agreements that, together, they plan, fund, deliver and ultimately be jointly accountable for outcomes. Professor Hickie referenced the positive work on the North Coast of NSW, through the North Coast Collective as an example of how progress is being made. Professor Hickie calls for further action to remove the impediments by lack of agreement between Commonwealth and State to permit local services to grow and meet the needs of the local population.