I am pleased to share our 2023-24 Annual Report, which showcases the outstanding efforts of our team and the positive difference our organisation is making to the health and wellbeing of our community.

It was wonderful to celebrate the launches of a number of key services this year that were made possible through our advocacy and collaboration with other stakeholders. In particular, The Street University in Katoomba, committed to at the 2019 Federal Election, the Hawkesbury Head to Health (Medicare Mental Health) service, which evolved from a temporary Pop Up service that we championed to be made permanent and headspace Hawkesbury, which was the culmination of seven years of advocacy.

In suicide prevention, we have made progress with the implementation of our Joint Regional Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan together with Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District. We are proud to be the backbone organisation in the establishment of the Regional Suicide Prevention Collaborative, which is a key milestone in this work.

As Chair of the national PHN Co-operative Healthy Ageing CEO Working Group, I have been excited to see the work focusing on healthy ageing early intervention initiatives and the role of PHNs supporting residential aged care homes (RACH) to connect with the broader health system. At our own PHN, we continue to support RACH and deliver programs to keep older people healthier and at home longer. We encourage the Government to continue to invest in more of these important upstream initiatives.

As Chair of the NSW/ACT PHN CEO Group in 2023/24, it was encouraging to work at a state level with colleagues to address and advocate for common issues, particularly championing solutions to achieve more integrated care and a one-health system mindset. Health workforce shortages, particularly in Greater Western Sydney, are an ongoing challenge. We continue to advocate at national, state and local levels for short and long-term solutions to make primary care, and specifically general practice, more sustainable.

Our Annual Report features many more examples of our achievements and I encourage you to read about them in more detail.