KEEP IN TOUCH
(07) 3105 7800
Turrbal and Jagera Country
Level 4, 348 Edward Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
After 24 incredibly rewarding years as CEO, I have made the decision to retire. After reflection during my recent long service leave, I realised it is time to move onto the next phase of my life. My final day in the role will be Monday, 22 September 2025. It has been an immense privilege to lead this agency and work alongside such a talented and dedicated group of people. Over my time at HWQ, we have faced challenges, celebrated achievements, and grown our revenue streams, whilst building a resilient and values-driven agency. I remain incredibly proud of the legacy we have forged based on our values of integrity, commitment, equity and sustainable growth. I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together. Our Board Chair, Dr Ross Maxwell shared the message below.
Our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) was officially launched in late May. We recognise the importance of acknowledging the histories, cultures, and ongoing contributions of First Nations peoples and our RAP represents our determination to foster inclusivity, promote cultural responsiveness, and take concrete actions that contribute meaningfully to reconciliation in Australia. We celebrated the launch of our RAP with a special evening together with Board members, the Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group and Board Reconciliation Advisory Committee and agency staff (pictured below). We are very proud of our beautiful RAP creative design that is the unique work of ingeous studios and the young creatives at Indigenous Design Labs based in Cairns. I now look forward to the work undertaken as part of our RAP journey. You can read our RAP linked below.
The Board of Directors approved the annual budget and strategic plan for 2025-2026 at their meeting on 24 May 2025. The Board and Leadership will continue to pursue the vision and purpose of the agency to ensure optimal health workforce to enhance the health of Queensland communities. You can view the Strategic Plan 2024 - 2028 linked below.
We were pleased to release the 2025 Health Workforce Needs Assessment (HWNA) on 18 June, featuring several encouraging insights as well as highlighting areas that require further focus. The Minimum Data Set Report (MDS) was also released in June and offers a snapshot of the general practitioner workforce across remote, rural and regional Queensland as of 30 November 2024. Both reports are available in full below.
At this year's RDAQ Conference, the Rural Workforce Forum breakfast centred on the HWNA Issue in Focus topic of "the health and wellbeing of remote and rural workforce." Practitioners expressed a noticeable sense of optimism compared to two years ago. HWQ was proud to once again sponsor the breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed connecting with familiar faces and meeting new colleagues throughout the event. HWQ have had the privilege of successfully delivering the annual RDAQ Conference since 2006 and has valued the opportunity to contribute in this way, alongside our ongoing involvement as delegates, sponsors and exhibitors. This year marked the final year of coordinating the event as we realign our focus to better support our strategic priorities and the rural health workforce. While we step back from our organising role, we remain committed to supporting RDAQ through continued sponsorship and attendance, and we look forward to seeing you there again next year. You can see some of this year’s conference highlights in the article below.
