Our plans
Hunter New England LHD works to several plans, which helps guide our service delivery.
Strategic plan
The Hunter New England Local Health District Strategic Plan 2021 - 2026 (PDF 6.95MB) sets out the overall direction and goals for our district.
It is reviewed every year and revised to meet our current and most important priorities.
As a roadmap, the plan helps us to:
- deliver high quality care to our communities.
- support our talented and dedicated staff.
- position the organisation for the future.
The plan reflects the priorities of the NSW State Health Plan and follows the Service Agreement between our district and NSW Ministry of Health.
Closing the Gap
The NSW Premier signed the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap on behalf of NSW in July 2020. In this National Agreement, governments agreed to do things differently.
This means working in partnership with Aboriginal organisations and communities to make decisions. The aim is to improve life outcomes for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, this includes:
- life expectancy
- child mortality
- access to early childhood education
- educational achievement
- employment outcomes.
It is a formal commitment developed in response, to achieve Aboriginal health equality within 25 years. Our current data clearly shows the inequality that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples experience.
All Australian governments are responsible for actively contributing to improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples face disadvantage and poorer outcomes across most physical, social and emotional aspects of life compared to the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples population.
These outcome differences are commonly referred to as the 'gap'. We have a responsibility to contribute to Closing the Gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Closing the Gap is everyone's business. Our District is standing by its strong commitment to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal Peoples and recognises the inequality between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal health outcomes.
Learn more about the NSW Closing the Gap 2022-2024 Implementation Plan.
To find out about the services and programs in your area, contact: HNELHD-AboriginalHealth@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
On the 3rd of July 2020, the Joint Council met to discuss the final draft of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
It is the first National Agreement of its kind; it has been developed in genuine partnership between the Coalition of Peaks and Australian Governments.
The National Agreement was informed by a comprehensive engagement process, led by the Coalition of Peaks, in late 2019 with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country on what should be included.
The National Agreement sets out a strategy to close the gap that is strongly based on, and underpinned by, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ priorities.
It is built around 4 new Priority Reforms about transforming the way governments work with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to improve outcomes.
The Priority Reforms were overwhelmingly supported during the engagements. Health is responsible for:
- Target 1: Close the Gap in life expectancy within a generation by 2031
- Target 2: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies with a healthy birthweight to 91%
- Target 4: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children assessed as developmentally on track in all five domains of the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) to 55%
- Target 14: Significant and sustained reduction in suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people towards zero.
Our reports and publications
NSW Health Performance framework
The NSW Health Performance Framework applies to the 15 geographical NSW local health districts (LHDs) and other NSW health services.
The Framework sets out the performance improvement approaches, responses to performance concerns and management processes that support the achievement of these outcomes in accordance with government policy.
For more information visit the NSW Health website.
NSW Health annual report
The NSW Health Annual Report outlines the functions and activities of NSW Health, the LHDs (Local Health Districts), and other controlled entities over a financial year.
NSW Aboriginal Health Plan 2023-2034
The NSW Aboriginal Health Plan 2024-2034 marks a significant step towards reforming health systems to provide culturally safe, holistic and high-quality care for all Aboriginal people in NSW.
Read the NSW Aboriginal Health Plan 2024-2034.