On behalf of the WA Primary Health Alliance Board and our team, we are pleased to present our Year in Review 2025-2026.
This has been a year of important progress in strengthening primary health care, with a focus on improving equity and access, and delivering better health outcomes for Western Australians. Our work has been guided by our role in delivering Australian Government primary care reform priorities across WA and by our commitment to ensuring primary health care is accessible, connected and responsive to the needs of our communities.
We operate in a complex environment, shaped by diverse stakeholder priorities, places experiencing enduring workforce shortages where delivery of our work requires collaborative and innovative system-wide solutions, and a rapidly changing policy environment that requires strong leadership and a lens to cultural change and sustainability. These factors make strong local stewardship essential. As the operator of WA’s three Primary Health Networks (PHNs), WAPHA helps connect national policy with local delivery, working alongside our partners, member organisations, primary health care professionals and commissioned service providers to improve health outcomes for Western Australians – particularly those people most at risk of poor health.
During the year, WAPHA supported the local implementation of major Australian Government reforms, including MyMedicare, the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive, bulk-billing reforms and multidisciplinary models of care in general practice and enabling the intent of the National Health reform Agreement (NHRA). These initiatives are strengthening continuity of care, improving access and supporting a more sustainable primary care system.
One of the significant opportunities to emerge from the national reform agenda is collaborative commissioning. The NHRA Mid-Term Review reinforced the role of PHNs in planning and commissioning services alongside state governments and health service providers. The WA Collaborative Commissioning Partnership is a strong example of this approach, bringing together the Australian Government, WA Department of Health, Aboriginal Health Council of WA and WAPHA to strengthen joint planning, shared governance, data sharing and collaborative commissioning. This supports shared stewardship, improved integration and a more connected and coordinated health system.
Equity has remained a central focus in enacting our role in commissioning accessible and evidence based primary health care services, coordinating care across the WA health system and building capacity within the WA primary care workforce. In developing our latest Needs Assessments, we used local health and population data, community insights and consumer representation to better understand where the greatest need exists and to target investment accordingly. This place-based approach is critical in a state as diverse as WA, where health needs and experiences of people in metropolitan, rural and remote communities can be very different.
As we look ahead, the reform agenda provides an important opportunity to continue shifting the health system towards prevention, early intervention, accessible primary care and better integration of services. WAPHA is committed to playing our part in that transformation and to ensuring that equity remains at the heart of how we plan, commission and connect care.
The achievements captured in our Year in Review reflect the commitment of many people and organisations working together with shared purpose. We acknowledge and thank the Australian Government as the funder of the Primary Health Network Program, partners, member organisations, general practices, health professionals, commissioned service providers, community organisations and the WAPHA team for their continued contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of Western Australians.
Read more in our Year in Review 2025-2026.
Read about progress towards our health priorities in our Activity Snapshot 2025-2026.
Dr Richard Choong, Board Chair
Bernadette Kenny, Chief Executive Officer