SARRAH Leadership Course for Allied Health
The Hunter New England Central Coast Primary Health Network (HNECC PHN) is committed to supporting and building the capacity of all primary care providers to improve sustainability and viability of our region's primary care workforce. The PHN acknowledges Allied health Professionals are essential to patient-centred care, fostering healthy people and communities. It is crucial to provide allied health leaders in rural communities in our region with wellbeing and leadership opportunities.
We are pleased to announce our partnership with Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) to offer Allied Health Professionals access to 20x fully-subsidised flagship SAARAH Leadership Program (valued at $1000 + GST) — facilitated by Cath Maloney, CEO of SARRAH; and Gemma Tuxworth, Project Director of SARRAH.
SARRAH is a nationally recognised peak body representing rural and remote allied health professionals working in the public, private, and community sectors. Since 1995, it has supported equitable and sustainable health and well-being across regional, rural and remote Australia.
This program was developed in collaboration with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and is tailored specifically for busy rural and remote allied health professionals. The course comprises approximately 20 hours of online CPD learning and will be held over a 7-week period, combining live facilitated sessions and networking opportunities with self-paced learning.
Program Objectives
The focus of the program is to support allied health professionals in becoming successful leaders in the rural and remote health landscape of Australia. Participants will:
Engage with others and understand networks of influence that support and enable leadership.
Develop leadership skills and devise clear pathways forward
Develop the skills needed to advocate and contribute to broader conversations concerning health delivery and outcomes in rural and remote areas
Participants will identify a leadership challenge and develop a plan to address it, with resources and tools provided for future challenges on their leadership journey. Topics and content include:
Differences between Leadership and Management;
‘Being’ Leadership — What makes a great leader;
‘Doing’ Leadership — How to develop leadership capabilities;
Maintaining Leadership.
*To fully engage with course content, participants will be asked to identify their own leadership challenge specific to their context, and over the course of the program explore and develop a Leadership Action Plan to address it. Submission of this plan to the SARRAH course facilitators will remain confidential and feedback may be provided on request. Participants who submit a Leadership Action Plan will receive a certificate of completion.
Program Overview:
Onboarding (week 0) and access to the Learning Management Platform will begin on 16 June 2025. All sessions will be delivered virtually between 12:00 PM and 1:30 PM on Tuesdays or Thursdays.
All sessions will be recorded; however, participants are expected to attend at least 4 out of 6 live sessions to maximise the benefits of their learnings and application. The online networking sessions between facilitated sessions aim to provide peer-to-peer opportunities to discuss learnings and their application.
Selection Criteria:
To be considered for the leadership program, applicant must:
Allied Health Professionals who are managers, owners, senior clinicians and emerging leaders operating in the Hunter New England, or Central Coast region. Priority will be given to those in priority rural LGAs within the region (i.e. MM3 – MM7). See Health Workforce Locator for classification.
Be ready to implement and work through leadership challenges.
Commit to attend at least 4 sessions from week 1 – 7. (Session 1 attendance is compulsory)
Key Dates:
EOIs will open on Thursday 1 May at 9:00 AM and close on Monday 26 May at 9:00 AM. Outcomes of the EOI will be communicated within the week following the closing date on the 26th of May.
Terms and Conditions:
Two people per practice will be eligible to apply for the fully subsidised program. (Exceptions may be considered for larger practices)
By applying, you consent to the PHN sharing all identifiable information provided in this application with SARRAH.
You also consent to the PHN storing your and your practice’s information in the PHN database, and distribution list.
De-identified information may be shared publicly to demonstrate program outcomes.
Complete the following form to submit your Expression of Interest. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Carlicia Chang via alliedhealth@thephn.com.au