Executive General Manager's foreword

The 2026 Close the Gap Report, ‘Community Voices: The Pathway to Justice, Equality and Healing’, reminds us that closing the gap is not just about meeting targets. It is a rights‑based reform agenda grounded in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, requiring sustained, system‑wide action.

For primary health care, the message is clear. The health inequities experienced by Aboriginal people are highly visible and largely preventable. Early intervention, continuity of care and culturally safe services are where primary care can have the greatest impact.

As a PHN, WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) has a critical responsibility to plan, influence and direct investment so Aboriginal people can access high‑quality, culturally safe primary care. Guided by our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2025–2027 and Aboriginal Cultural Competency and Capability Framework, we are embedding cultural safety into how we work, including through our commissioning approaches and partnerships with service providers. Culturally safe services are those people feel safe to use because they are developed in genuine partnership with community. This is reinforced through stronger cultural safety expectations in commissioning, alongside quality improvement initiatives and tailored resources that support better care, experience and outcomes.

Together, this work supports WAPHA and our commissioned providers to translate the National Agreement priority reforms into practical, place‑based action that advances health equity across Western Australia.

Ongoing fuel supply challenges and recent cyclone impacts have placed additional strain on services across Western Australia, particularly in regional and remote areas, highlighting how quickly access to care can be disrupted. In times of uncertainty and disruption, the role of health care providers is critical, and I want to acknowledge the tangible difference your work makes to individuals, families and communities.

If your service is experiencing ongoing impacts, we encourage you to contact your WAPHA contract manager.

Kind Regards

Mark Cockayne

Executive General Manager Commissioned Services

General information

Contract Package Update - Service Provider Panel March 2026

WAPHA has introduced an updated contract package for commissioned service providers, featuring a standard three-part contract structure designed to deliver clearer, more consistent, and more transparent expectations around performance, reporting, data security, payments and ethical obligations.

The refreshed documentation framework was a key focus at the first Service Provider Panel meeting of 2026 and will apply to all newly commissioned services, with existing agreements transitioning progressively as needed.

Contract managers will provide further detail to providers about how these changes apply to their service.

Read more

Provider Profiles: National Health Services Directory

To ensure service information is clear and accessible for communities and referrers, WAPHA is progressively strengthening how commissioned services are listed in key directories. Our refreshed contract package includes a requirement for service providers to maintain an accurate and up‑to‑date profile in relevant platforms, including the National Health Services Directory (NHSD).

Service providers who have not yet received an updated contract package are strongly encouraged to register and/or update their services in the NHSD now, so that referrers can easily find and refer as needed.

Providers can register or manage their organisation on the NHSD here. 

Updated Performance Management Framework

WAPHA has updated the Performance Management Framework to reflect our evolving role as a commissioner of health services. 

The framework is designed to support clearer performance expectations, more consistent conversations and a stronger focus on shared learning and continuous improvement.

The updated framework, in addition to an overview of key changes are available here.

WAPHA has recently updated our funding acknowledgement statement. This should be applied to all direct commissioned service provider activity and materials such as web pages, brochures, media releases etc.  

This [service/activity] is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the PHN Program and commissioned by WA Primary Health Alliance.

WAPHA is taking a proactive, coordinated approach to the current fuel supply situation as part of our system stewardship role. We are working within formal response frameworks, alongside Commonwealth and State partners and primary care stakeholders, to support a coordinated response and advocate for primary care as an essential part of the health system. This includes WAPHA representation on the WA Health System Fuel Supply Monitoring Group.

Our focus is on sharing timely information, aligning messages across the system, and supporting general practices and commissioned service providers to maintain continuity of care where possible. We are encouraging services to plan for potential disruption and are collating feedback from the sector to help inform system-level responses and advocacy.

Learn more

The WA Collaborative Commissioning Partnership is an agreement we have brokered between the Australian Government Department of Health Disability and Ageing, WA Department of Health and the Aboriginal Health Council of WA.

Together, we have developed the WA Joint Statement - our shared commitment to a unified, whole of system approach to improve health outcomes for all Western Australians, particularly those experiencing greater barriers to care. The collaborative intent aims to deliver multiple benefits to the WA health system by aligning current and emerging health policy context with the Quintuple Aim of successful health care reform.

At the WA Collaborative Commissioning Partnership Forum, WAPHA’s Executive General Manager Strategy, Governance and Partnerships, Chris Kane, spoke with the Grattan Institute’s Health Program Director, Peter Breadon, who urges for a radical shift in how primary care is funded to address the nation’s rising rates of chronic disease.

Read more and watch the full interview in our latest Better Health, Together video

New Medicare Urgent Care Clinics have officially opened their doors in Booragoon, Ellenbrook, Mundaring, Nollamara, Yanchep and, most recently, Geraldton, giving local residents more options for timely treatment of urgent care.

The clinics join a growing network across Western Australia, including those already operating in Beeliar, Broome, Bunbury, Clarkson, Gosnells, Midland, Perth City (Morley) and Rockingham.

These services are funded by the Australian Government DHDA under the PHN Program and commissioned by WAPHA.

Learn more

Medicare Mental Health Check In is a digital service, providing free low-intensity mental health support for people with mild-mental health challenges.

Guided low-intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (LiCBT) provides people experiencing mild mental health challenges with access to evidence‑based digital support with a trained practitioner via telehealth. Practitioners support individuals to work through structured LiCBT tools and modules, tailored to their goals and needs.

Self-guided LiCBT will be available from 30 May 2026, providing an option for people who prefer to work through online tools independently. 

The service is available for free to people living in Australia, aged 16 and over – no referral or diagnosis is required.

Read more and view the Health Professional fact sheet, Health Professional FAQs and Consumer fact sheet.

There is an ongoing outbreak of infectious syphilis in Western Australia, with significant concern about the risk of congenital syphilis. Between 2019 and 2025, WA recorded 21 confirmed cases of congenital syphilis, seven of which resulted in stillbirth. Infants who survive may experience serious long term complications, including hearing loss, facial and dental abnormalities, and neurodevelopmental delay.

It is vital that ALL pregnant people are offered syphilis testing (serology) as per the below table so syphilis can be detected and treated early to prevent congenital syphilis related stillbirths and life-long disability.

The national antenatal testing guidelines recommend:

Standard testing for every pregnant person
- first antenatal visit
- 26-28 weeks
- 36 weeks (or at time of any preterm birth)

Additional risk-based testing based on clinical indication/local guidelines
- As above AND:
- birth
- 6 weeks post-partum

Syphilis is often asymptomatic or presents with non specific symptoms. Opportunistic testing for all populations is therefore essential, but particularly for pregnant people with poor antenatal attendance or no documented antenatal blood tests.

Pregnant people who do report symptoms or have clinical signs consistent with syphilis require urgent testing and empirical treatment.

Anyone who tests positive for syphilis requires prompt treatment and contact tracing. The first line treatment is long-acting penicillin (benzathine penicillin, bicillin L-A), see the WA STI and BBV guidelines for specific clinical advice regarding treatment.

Learn more

Procurement and contracting

Current tenders

Health service providers and other organisations interested in hearing about and responding to tender opportunities are encouraged to register to receive tender notifications.

Training and events

Refugee health in primary care - Cultural and language considerations and trauma-informed care

22 April | 6-7pm - Online

Join WAPHA for the second webinar in a six-part series about refugee health in primary care, presented in conjunction with WA Health. This webinar will provide information about cultural and language considerations and the provision of trauma-informed care.

Register now

Resources