Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation is celebrating 30 years of operations in 2025.  Maari Ma’s beginnings come out of the Murdi Paaki Regional Council (MPRC, which later became the Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly, MPRA).

In accordance with the Abortion Law Reform Act 2019, a medical practitioner who performs a termination of pregnancy must notify the NSW Health Secretary NSW within 28 days.

The URL to the NSW Health online notification system has been updated following a recent system outage that occurred between 31 January and 5 February 2025.

Dr Kelly Bradley is working with the Women’s Health Service for WNSWLHD in Dubbo offering public medical termination of pregnancy (MTOP) up to 63 days gestation of intrauterine pregnancy on a face to face basis at Manera Plaza rooms in Myall Street, Dubbo. This is initially a limited service as part of a trial for access to public MTOP provision for WNSWLHD patients located in the Dubbo referral region.

MyMedicare Program Guidelines published on 6 January 2025 contain detailed information and guidance for practices, general practitioners and patients who wish to voluntarily register with the MyMedicare Program.

We encourage general practices to familiarise themselves with these guidelines.

The Western NSW Primary Health Network (WNSW PHN) is proud to partner with the Benevolent Society, supporting the Rural Youth Mental Health (RYMH) program. This program provides positive support for vulnerable young people and their families and carers, through its early intervention mental health services.

Early intervention supports vulnerable people to manage issues before they reach a crisis point. The RYMH has shared a case study of a 15-year-old First Nations Young person who was referred into the program in 2023.

Western NSW Primary Health Network (WNSW PHN) is proud to announce the release of its 2023-24 Annual Report, now available on our website.

The Workforce Incentives Program (WIP) “ Rural Advanced Skills Stream, which commenced on 1 January 2024, provides payments to rural generalists and GPs offering advanced skills in rural and remote communities. This initiative offers vital financial support to doctors with advanced skills, recognising their critical role in delivering healthcare in these areas.

The Commonwealth Psychosocial Support Program (CPS) is a non-clinical, community-based support program for people living with severe mental illness.

The CPS Program connects clients with a non-clinical recovery coach who supports clients to identify and achieve their goals and reconnect to the things they love. The team provides one-on-one coaching and works in partnership with family members and carers (where possible).

For a limited time, the Department of Health and Aged Care is allowing practices who were registered for GPACI to backdate their MyMedicare-registered patients’ GPACI registration. This will allow re-assessment of eligible services delivered from July to December 2024.

In fantastic news for the community of Balranald, especially in the lead up to Christmas and the new year, General Practitioner Dr Vitalis Ihuarulam has opened his books, six months after the community’s long serving General Practitioner, Dr Zotov retired.  

Dr Ihuarulam’s commencement is the result of a tremendous collaborative effort between Rural Doctors Network (RDN) and Balranald Shire Council, the Far West Local Health District (FWLHD) and the Western NSW Primary Health Network (WNSW PHN