Six NSW regional and rural gap-bridging pilots get underway

In New South Wales, six pilot projects are commencing as part of a collaborative project backed by more than 20 partners — among them: aged care and hospital providers, state and federal health departments, academics, and peak bodies. Known as the Collaborative Health Care (CHC) Initiative, this provider-led, multi-sector partnership progressed from concept to implementation in less than 12 months and seeks to bridge longstanding regional and rural care gaps across aged care, hospital and government systems.

The initial vision for the collaboration was outlined by aged care provider Whiddon’s CEO Chris Mamarelis — who authored a 2024 white paper calling for reform and locally driven, place-based solutions for regional care. “Rural health systems are under strain, but they’re also full of opportunity,” Mamarelis said. “Through this initiative, we’re showing what’s possible when silos are removed, and care is designed with community needs at the centre — and we’re not asking for a cent to make this happen.”

Two workshops at the University of Sydney that ran in April and June this year helped shape the initiative. At these workshops, more than 40 sector leaders came together to co-design solutions and define shared priorities, the sessions laying the foundation for the six pilot programs that launched across key regional NSW locations in July. The pilots run for 12 weeks across multiple regional locations across the state, each designed to address a critical system challenge by testing collaborative, real-world solutions tailored to local contexts.

“To move from a white paper to boots-on-the-ground pilots in under a year is almost unheard of in our sector — and it speaks volumes about the will for change across the system,” Mamarelis said. “This progress has only been possible because providers, policymakers and partners came to the table not just with ideas, but with action, united by the belief that we can do better for older Australians in our regions.”

The pilots are:

• Agile Transitional Aged Care Beds — a fast-tracked hospital discharge pathway, to bypass administrative bottlenecks;
• Emergency and Disaster Response — a shared emergency planning agreement;
• Non-Clinical Services Sharing — models for shared transport, catering, maintenance and emergency preparedness, to improve service quality, reduce operational fragmentation and support local economies;
• Shared Transport — assistance by Community Aged Care Providers of hospital inpatients and Residential Aged Care Home residents with transport for health-related appointments;
• Shared Wellbeing Programs — long-stay hospital patients joining aged care-led wellbeing and lifestyle activities, to support cognitive health and social connection;
• Shared Workforce Models — flexible staffing arrangements across hospitals and residential aged care, to alleviate workforce shortages, reduce duplication and improve care continuity.
   

Led by Whiddon, the cross-sector coalition includes collaboration with the NSW Ministry of Health, the Department of Health and Aged Care, and peak bodies Ageing Australia and the National Rural Health Alliance. Aged care providers delivering the pilots include BaptistCare, Bupa, Catholic Healthcare, Estia Health, IRT, RFBI and Uniting.

The shared governance framework was developed by the Nous Group and evaluation design led by the University of Sydney’s Professor Lee-Fay Low. Progress will be tracked over the months of the program run, with pilot outcomes presented to state and federal ministers in early 2026.