Category: HCCWA Blog

World Patient Safety Day 2026: Patients are partners in safe care

Posted on September 17, 2026

Patients live with their conditions every day, safe care should value what they experience.

World Patient Safety Day is held on 17 September each year. In 2026, the global theme is “Safe care for noncommunicable diseases”, with the slogan “Safe care for life!”

Noncommunicable diseases are long-term conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease.

While healthcare consumers may see healthcare professionals for appointments, tests or treatment, it is the consumer who lives with their condition 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That experience gives patients and families intimate knowledge that healthcare services need to listen to.

Patients bring essential knowledge to safe care

People living with long-term conditions often become experts in their own condition and experience. It’s not surprising, they know what is normal for them, they know how their condition affects their daily life, they know what treatments they have tried, what has worked, and what has not.

They may also notice subtle changes before those changes are visible during an appointment.

Families and carers can hold important knowledge too. They may help someone manage care, notice changes, communicate their needs or understand information.

This knowledge does not replace clinical expertise, it adds dimension to it.

Health professionals bring clinical knowledge and experience. Patients and families bring lived knowledge developed through managing a condition every day. Safe care needs both.

Partnership makes care safer

The World Health Organisation says people living with noncommunicable diseases must be partners in safe care. This means involving people meaningfully in decisions, learning from lived experience and providing information they can understand.

Partnership with healthcare professionals and services should look like:

  • Listening and curiosity when a person says something has changed.
  • Respect that people know about their own bodies and conditions.
  • Explain diagnoses, medicines, risks and treatment options simply and clearly.
  • Inclusion of support people to ask questions and participate in decisions.
  • Inclusion families and carers when the patient wants them involved.
  • Action on concerns rather than dismissal.
  • Involve people with lived experience in designing and reviewing services.

Partnership means recognising that patients and families hold information that can help those systems work safely.

Part of a global patient movement

World Patient Safety Day connects patients, families, health professionals, healthcare organisations and patient groups around the world.

This year’s theme reflects something patient, carer and health consumer organisations have long understood: safe care cannot be effectively designed without the people who receive it as partners in the design process.

HCCWA stands alongside patients and patient organisations globally in calling for healthcare that recognises lived experience, supports shared decisions, and treats patients and families as partners.

Safe care for life should apply wherever someone lives, whatever services they use and however long they need care. It should include people who face barriers like cost, distance, disability, language, culture, discrimination or difficulty navigating the healthcare system.

Your right to be involved

The Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights includes the rights to partnership, information, access, safety, respect, privacy and giving feedback.

Partnership means being included in decisions about your health care to the extent that you choose. It also means having your questions, experiences and concerns taken seriously.

If you are struggling to understand your options, raise a concern or resolve a healthcare problem in Western Australia, Health Consumers’ Council WA may be able to help.

Our Individual Health Advocacy Service is free, confidential and independent.

This World Patient Safety Day, our message is clear.

Patients and families are not passive recipients of care, we hold knowledge that matters.

Safe care means listening to that knowledge.

Safe care means valuing lived experience.

Safe care means patients and families are considered partners in care.

Learn more:

Paid WA Health Consumer Advisory Panel | WAPHA

Posted on September 16, 2026

Paid opportunity: Join WAPHA’s Consumer Advisory Panel

Help shape primary healthcare services across Western Australia by sharing your lived experience.

WA Primary Health Alliance, supported by Health Consumers’ Council WA, is inviting health consumers from across WA to express their interest in joining its Consumer Advisory Panel.

Panel members will provide advice and perspectives to help inform WA Primary Health Alliance projects, policies and primary healthcare services. Opportunities may include advising on services WAPHA commissions and joining tender evaluation panels.

You do not need previous advisory panel experience. Induction, support and payment will be provided.

Expressions of Interest close at COB on Wednesday 7 October 2026.

Apply to join the WAPHA Consumer Advisory Panel

Who can apply?

WAPHA welcomes Expressions of Interest from health consumers across Western Australia.

A health consumer may be someone with lived experience of a health issue as:

  • a patient or client
  • a current or former health service user
  • a carer
  • a family member
  • a friend supporting someone through a health issue

Your experience with healthcare can provide valuable insight into what works, what creates barriers and what services could do better.

Previous experience on an advisory panel is not required.

What will Consumer Advisory Panel members do?

Consumer Advisory Panel members may be invited to contribute to WAPHA projects on an ad hoc basis.

This may include:

  • sharing perspectives on primary healthcare needs and barriers
  • advising on projects, policies and commissioned services
  • contributing to the planning and evaluation of services
  • joining tender evaluation panels
  • helping WAPHA understand how decisions may affect health consumers, families and carers

Is this a paid opportunity?

Yes. Panel members will receive payment in line with WAPHA’s Paid Participation Policy.

WAPHA will also provide induction and support.

Why lived experience matters

People who use health services understand how healthcare decisions work in practice.

Consumers, carers, families and community members can identify barriers, gaps and priorities that may not be visible from within the health system. Their knowledge can help organisations plan primary healthcare services that respond more closely to community needs.

WAPHA values lived-experience expertise and aims to include it throughout the commissioning of primary healthcare services in WA.

About WA Primary Health Alliance

WA Primary Health Alliance operates Western Australia’s three Primary Health Networks.

WAPHA works to improve access to primary healthcare, particularly for communities and people at greater risk of poor health. Primary healthcare includes care delivered outside hospitals, such as general practice and locally commissioned health services.

WAPHA’s work includes:

  • supporting general practices to provide high-quality patient care
  • funding local primary healthcare services based on community needs
  • connecting services to make the healthcare system easier to navigate
  • working with health professionals, hospitals, service providers, governments and communities

How to apply

Complete the online Expression of Interest form by COB Wednesday 7 October 2026.

Submit your Expression of Interest

Know someone whose experience should be represented? Please share this opportunity with them.

Questions?

For questions about the Consumer Advisory Panel, contact communications@wapha.org.au.

What WA Consumer Representatives Told Us | HCCWA

Posted on September 15, 2026

Consumer Representative Networking Event

Written by
Paula Collins
Engagement Lead – Consumers and Stakeholders

In early September, we hosted our Consumer Representative Networking Event, bringing consumer representatives together both in person and online to share their experiences, stories and perspectives.

It was a great opportunity to hear about the current experiences of health consumer representatives across WA, and the room was full of conversation, energy and positivity. There was a real sense of enthusiasm for the opportunities ahead and to continue learning from one another, sharing ideas and finding new ways to strengthen consumer engagement.

Interestingly, several key themes emerged throughout the discussions, highlighting areas where we can continue to support and work alongside our consumer representatives.

Key themes we heard

A number of common themes and areas of interest emerged, including:

  • Consistency in consumer engagement — the current approach varies between providers, and there is an opportunity to explore greater consistency in how consumers are engaged.
  • Closing the feedback loop — consumers want to know how their feedback has been considered and whether it has contributed to changes or improvements in services.
  • Greater transparency and collaboration — there was interest in strengthening collaboration between service providers and exploring whether agendas and key discussion points could be shared with HCC.
  • Culturally safe healthcare — culturally safe healthcare remains a key priority, with consumers sharing concerns and experiences that highlight the need for continued focus in this area.
  • Communication and training — there was discussion about how consumer voices and lived experiences could be better incorporated into staff training and education.
  • Preventative health — participants highlighted the importance of preventative health and the broader impact it can have across the health system.

Looking ahead

Following these discussions, we’re keen to keep the conversation going and build on the ideas and insights shared at the event.

Some of the areas we’ll be exploring include:

  • Connecting with key consumer group committees to better understand upcoming meetings, agendas and opportunities for consumer participation.
  • Exploring how consumer voices and lived experiences could be incorporated into staff training and education.
  • Creating more opportunities for consumer representatives to connect, network and engage with HCC.
  • Sharing upcoming Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for new projects and opportunities to contribute.
  • Connecting with the Health Engagement Network (HEN) and encouraging consumer representatives to sign up for the WA Consumer Collaborative.
  • Sharing information about upcoming consumer training opportunities — click HERE to find out more.

We’ll be hosting another Consumer Representative Networking Event later this year, and we’d love to see both new and returning consumer representatives there.

There’s lots to keep the conversation going, so stay tuned to our newsletter for details about the next event. We look forward to connecting with you again soon!

Ready to get involved?

You do not need previous committee experience to become a health consumer representative. Your experiences of healthcare, as a patient, carer, family member or community member, can help improve how health services are designed and delivered.

Build your skills through HCCWA’s upcoming consumer representative training.

Connect with other consumers and find opportunities through the Health Engagement Network.

Join the movement for fairer healthcare in WA.

Explore consumer training

Join the Health Engagement Network

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You can make a difference: help us Un-junk WA

Posted on September 14, 2026

How much of what we eat is really about individual choice?

Every day, the places around us influence what we see, what feels normal and what is easiest to buy. Fast-food outlets near schools, unhealthy food advertising on public transport, promotions at supermarket checkouts and food and drink sponsorship in sport all form part of that environment.

A new WA community movement called Un-junk wants to change it.

Led by Cancer Council WA and supported by a coalition of health and community organisations, including Health Consumers’ Council WA, Un-junk is building community support for healthier food environments across Western Australia.

For HCCWA, this issue connects closely with how we think about fairness in healthcare.

Good health should not depend only on whether an individual has enough information, time, money or willpower to make a particular choice. The environments in which we live, learn, work, travel and spend time also shape our health.

WA Health itself recognises this. Its evidence on food environments notes that unhealthy diets, overweight and obesity are major contributors to disease and disability in Western Australia, and that food marketing, pricing, availability and the built environment all influence health. WA Health also says there is a need to move away from blaming individuals and recognise the wider environmental and social factors involved.

That is one reason HCCWA was pleased to support Cancer Council WA to hear directly from community members with a range of lived experiences while the Un-junk campaign materials were being developed.

Consumer voices matter here because policies about advertising, planning, supermarkets and sponsorship affect the environments all of us use.

What is Un-junk asking for?

The campaign is focusing on four areas: neighbourhoods, advertising, supermarkets and sport.

It is calling for stronger rules around fast-food development near schools and homes, unhealthy food advertising, supermarket promotions and unhealthy food sponsorship in sport.

Advertising is one particularly visible example.

Cancer Council WA reports that Perth school children can encounter between nine and 70 outdoor unhealthy food advertisements on their journey to school. It also reports that 77% of food and drink advertising on Perth school buses promotes unhealthy products.

The issue is not new.

WA’s Sustainable Health Review recommended that the State Government use its role as an employer, regulator, purchaser and landlord to create healthier environments, including by removing unhealthy food and drink promotions and sales from State assets.

Un-junk gives community members practical ways to keep that conversation moving.

You can join the movement, contact your MP, photograph unhealthy food advertising you see in your community, share supermarket promotions that concern you, take part in the campaign’s sport sponsorship poll or connect with other people taking action locally.

That community evidence matters.

If people repeatedly see unhealthy food advertising at bus stops, near schools, at sporting grounds or throughout their local neighbourhood, documenting those experiences helps show what our food environment actually looks like from the community’s perspective.

That is very much an HCCWA principle.

People who live with the consequences of systems, services and policies often see things that decision-makers do not. Creating ways for those experiences to be heard can lead to better decisions.

Preventing illness is also part of building a fairer health system. If we want fewer people developing preventable illness and needing hospital care later, we need to think about the conditions that shape health long before somebody becomes a patient.

Un-junk is one opportunity for Western Australians to be part of that conversation.

If unhealthy food advertising, fast-food development, supermarket promotions or sponsorship in sport concern you, you can add your voice.

Join the campaign and help shape healthier food environments across WA.

What should every patient be able to expect from a safe health service?

Posted on September 13, 2026

When you walk into a hospital or health service, what should you be able to expect?

That you will be listened to. That staff will communicate clearly with you. That your care will be safe and coordinated. That your culture, circumstances and individual needs will be respected. That the people important to you can be involved where appropriate. And that if something goes wrong, you will be treated openly, honestly and with respect.

Australia is currently reviewing the national standards that help set those expectations.

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has released the initial draft of the third edition of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, known as the NSQHS Standards, and is asking consumers, carers, families, health workers and organisations to have their say. Consultation closes Friday 25 September 2026.

Why do these standards matter?

The NSQHS Standards provide a nationally consistent statement about the level of care consumers can expect from health services. They also provide a way of assessing whether health services have the systems they need to deliver safe, high-quality care.

That means they are much more than a document sitting on a shelf.

They influence how health services approach safety, communication, clinical governance, infection prevention, medication safety, comprehensive care and partnering with consumers.

The existing eight standards are being redesigned into three more integrated standards:

Clinical Governance, covering how health service leaders and organisations take responsibility for safe, high-quality care.

Person-Centred Practice, covering the systems that support care that is safe, effective, accessible, integrated and centred around the patient.

Safe Clinical Systems, covering the systems and processes designed to prevent avoidable harm and support safe care.

There is also a stronger proposed emphasis on how patients actually experience care, rather than focusing only on whether particular clinical processes have been followed.

That makes consumer input particularly important.

Safety looks different from the patient side

A health service may have policies, procedures and reporting systems in place, but consumers experience safety in much more immediate ways.

Did someone explain what was happening?

Were you able to ask questions?

Did staff listen when you said something did not feel right?

Could you understand the information you were given?

Were your family, carer, kin or support people included appropriately?

Were your cultural needs understood and respected?

Did information follow you when you moved between services?

Did you know who was responsible for your care?

Were you treated as a partner in decisions about your own health?

These are themes HCCWA hears repeatedly from consumers. Recent conversations with hundreds of consumers have highlighted the importance of whole-person care, recognising the role of families and significant others, compassionate transitions between services, and ensuring consumers are involved in decisions about how healthcare is designed, delivered and evaluated.

Those experiences need to be reflected in the standards health services are expected to meet.

What should we expect?

The consultation gives consumers an opportunity to consider some fundamental questions.

Do the proposed standards reflect what safe, high-quality healthcare looks like from your perspective?

Do they put enough emphasis on communication, respect and partnership?

Do they adequately address accessibility, equity and cultural safety?

Will they help prevent consumers from falling through gaps when they move between hospitals, specialists, primary care and other services?

Do they make it clear enough that consumers, carers and families should have a meaningful role in their own care?

And importantly, would you be able to recognise the standards being put into practice when you actually use a health service?

The Commission says it wants consumer feedback specifically to help ensure the Standards focus on patient experience and outcomes. Feedback from this consultation will be used to refine the next draft, which is expected to be piloted in health services in 2027 before the third edition is finalised and implemented in later years.

Your experience is evidence

You do not need to be a healthcare professional to contribute.

If you have been a patient, supported someone receiving care, navigated a hospital or health service, experienced excellent care or seen where the system could have worked better, you have knowledge that matters.

Consumers can provide feedback through the Commission’s consumer survey, provide written feedback or contact the Safety and Quality Advice Centre to share feedback verbally.

National standards shape expectations across Australian healthcare. Consumer voices should help shape those expectations too.

Have your say by 25 September.

Tell us about accessing specialist healthcare in WA

Posted on September 7, 2026

Long waits, high fees, travel, referral problems and difficulty finding a specialist can all affect whether you get the care you need.

HCCWA is gathering experiences from Western Australians to help inform our submission to a Federal Parliamentary inquiry into access to and affordability of medical specialists.

Who should respond?
Anyone in WA who has tried to access a medical specialist in the past five years.

What do we want to hear about?
Costs, waiting times, availability, referrals, travel and what happened when you could not access care.

How long does it take?
About 3 to 5 minutes.

Share your experience in our survey and you’ll be helping to improve specialist care access across Western Australia.

Share your experience

Mt Lawley Hospital is now public, what does that mean for patients?

Posted on September 4, 2026

From 1 September 2026, Mount Lawley Hospital is officially part of Western Australia’s public health system.

The former St John of God Mount Lawley Hospital is now operated by East Metropolitan Health Service and will be known as Mount Lawley Hospital. The transition brings the 196-bed hospital into the public system. This is a real increase of 118 beds as some beds at Mount Lawley were already being used for public patients before the transition.

If you are already receiving care at the hospital, the most important message is that you do not need to do anything differently right now.

The advice from East Metropolitan Health Service is that patients can continue attending existing appointments and receiving treatment as planned.

What happens to existing appointments?

Existing appointments should continue as planned. If you are due to have a follow-up outpatient appointment after 1 September, East Metropolitan Health Service will coordinate your care as a public patient at Mount Lawley Hospital. You should receive an appointment letter confirming the date, time and location. Your referring GP will also be notified where relevant.

If you have a private specialist appointment scheduled, please contact the specialist’s rooms directly to confirm the consulting location before your next appointment.

What services will Mount Lawley Hospital provide?

The hospital will provide public services including:

  • general medicine
  • rehabilitation and geriatric care
  • older adult mental health services
  • outpatient care.

The hospital also has operating theatres and other surgical capacity that will become part of the public system.

Will I have to pay?

If you are being treated as a public patient, the usual arrangements for treatment in a WA public hospital apply.

If you are unsure about possible costs, your patient status or whether your existing treatment arrangements have changed, ask Mount Lawley Hospital or East Metropolitan Health Service before your appointment.

It is OK for you to ask, or double check:

  • Am I being treated as a public patient?
  • Will I have any out-of-pocket costs?
  • Has anything changed about my existing appointment?
  • Do I need a new referral?
  • Who should I contact about follow-up care?

What if I already have a referral?

East Metropolitan Health Service says follow-up outpatient care after 1 September will be coordinated through the public system, with patients receiving updated appointment information where required.

If you have an existing referral and have not heard anything, do not assume your appointment has been cancelled.

Check with the hospital or the clinician that referred you (which could be your GP) if you are unsure.

Why has the hospital become public?

The Government says bringing the hospital into the public system will increase public hospital capacity, particularly for people living in Perth’s eastern suburbs. Buying an existing hospital facility means a reduction in the amount of time required to have the beds and the services available for public patients.

Around 450 existing healthcare workers are also transitioning to East Metropolitan Health Service.

What should patients watch for during the transition?

Over the coming weeks, if you have appointments in an East Metropolitan Health Service (which includes Royal Perth Hospital, Midland Public Hospital, Armadale Hospital, Bentley Hospital, Kalamunda Hospital and now Mount Lawley Hospital) you may want to pay particular attention to:

  • appointment letters and changes to appointment details
  • referrals and whether they have transferred correctly
  • whether you are registered as a public or private patient
  • unexpected bills or fees
  • changes to where they receive follow-up care
  • communication between the hospital and their GP
  • delays or cancellations related to the transition.

If something does not look right, ask.

You have the right to receive clear information about your healthcare, including what services you are receiving, what they may cost and what happens next.

What if something goes wrong?

If you experience a problem with an appointment, referral, bill or your transition of care, contact Mount Lawley Hospital or East Metropolitan Health Service first and ask for clarification.

Keep copies of appointment letters, referrals, bills and other information you receive.

If you are having difficulty resolving a healthcare problem [refer people to the HCCWA website in the first instance] and would like independent support, Health Consumers’ Council WA provides a free individual advocacy service for health consumers in Western Australia.

Digital Health Consumer Panel: Australia-wide EOI

Posted on August 26, 2026

Paid national digital health consumer opportunity: Join the National Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel

Expressions of interest close 26 September 2026. Click here to apply.

Consumers and carers from across Australia are invited to apply for a paid opportunity to help shape national work on digital health.

Health Consumers’ Council WA is convening the National Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel on behalf of Sparked.

Sparked is a national collaboration working to improve how health information is recorded and exchanged across Australia. It is led by CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre and delivered in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the Australian Digital Health Agency and HL7 Australia.

The Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel will bring together consumers and carers from states and territories across Australia to give consumers and carers an opportunity to be at the table and contribute directly to national digital health initiatives.

Expressions of interest close 26 September 2026.

What is the National Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel?

The National Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel will bring consumer and carer perspectives into national conversations about the future of digital health in Australia.

Panel members will elevate the consumer voice in national digital health initiatives.

The panel is being convened by Health Consumers’ Council WA on behalf of Sparked.

Sparked brings together consumers, clinicians, health services, governments, researchers and technology organisations to develop and support nationally consistent digital health standards.

CSIRO describes Sparked as Australia’s Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, or FHIR, accelerator. Its work aims to help health information move more safely, seamlessly and meaningfully across Australia’s healthcare system.

Why does digital health matter for consumers and carers?

Your health information can move through many different parts of the healthcare system.

You might see a GP, have pathology or imaging, attend a specialist appointment and receive treatment through a hospital or another health service.

For those services to work together effectively, the digital systems behind them need to be able to exchange and understand health information.

National digital health standards help make this possible.

CSIRO says these standards can support better sharing of information between healthcare systems and make it easier for information to move with a person between different points of care.

But digital health should also reflect what consumers and carers need from the healthcare system.

That is where the National Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel comes in.

Who should apply?

Expressions of interest are being sought from consumers and carers across Australia who have an interest in digital health and experience of digital health projects in their state or territory.

You may have been involved in a project such as the implementation of an electronic medical record system in a hospital or health service.

The focus is on bringing consumer and carer experience into the work.

Applicants are being sought from states and territories across Australia.

What will panel members do?

Panel members will participate in five half-day workshops between November 2026 and June 2027.

The workshops will provide an opportunity for consumers and carers to share their experiences, perspectives and priorities in their interactions with digital health, and contribute directly to national digital health initiatives.

Most workshops will be held online.

There is also the possibility of one in-person session.

How much will panel members be paid?

Panel members will receive $418 for each workshop.

There will be five half-day workshops in total.

What is Sparked?

Sparked is a national collaboration working to improve how health information is recorded and exchanged across Australia.

As noted above, it is a collaborative partnership between CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre, the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the Australian Digital Health Agency and the non profit data standards organisation HL7 Australia.

Its community includes consumers, clinicians, researchers, governments, health services and software vendors.

More than 1,500 people had contributed to Sparked by June 2026, according to CSIRO.

The National Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel provides a dedicated way for consumer and carer perspectives to contribute to this broader work.

Opportunity at a glance

Opportunity: National Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel

Who: Consumers and carers from across Australia with relevant digital health experience

What: This panel gives consumers and carers an opportunity to be at the table and contribute directly to national digital health initiatives

Commitment: Five half-day workshops

Dates: November 2026 to June 2027. First meeting to be held on 5 November 2026

Format: Mainly online, with the possibility of one in-person session

Payment: $418 per workshop

Expressions of interest close: 26 September 2026

How to apply

If you are a consumer or carer with experience of digital health projects and would like to contribute to national digital health work, complete the Expression of Interest form.

Expressions of interest close 26 September 2026.

Apply for the National Consumer and Carer Digital Health Panel through the online Expression of Interest form.

Vale Nadeen Laljee-Curran

Posted on July 28, 2026

We are very sad to share the news that our colleague Nadeen Laljee-Curran passed away after being diagnosed with cancer in 2024 on Friday 17 July 2026.

Pictured L-R: Rachel Seeley, Nadeen Laljee-Curran

Nadeen has been involved in some way or other with Health Consumers’ Council since she joined the team as a Master of Public Health student in 2017. She was a stand-out, dedicated intern and after doing a couple of short-term roles in the team she took on the role of Cultural Diversity Engagement Lead in January 2020. Little did we know what the year had in store.

Her work at HCC enabled Nadeen to combine the lessons learned from her own personal experience with the health system, her unwavering determination to become a mother, her passion for social justice, and her academic learning, to play her part in improving health services to be more inclusive, more fair, and more person centred.

Nadeen’s talents and qualities were called on in unprecedented ways when COVID arrived in March 2020. Despite navigating her own health challenges and her need to socially distance – she switched quickly to doing her work from home championing the voices and rights of people from multicultural backgrounds.

As we all learned about Zoom, and how to stay connected with loved ones and essential services, Nadeen pored over the papers being published by public health experts, monitored social media chatter, and had many in-depth discussions with other consumers who were deeply engaged. It was clear there was a thirst for information in the community.

So Nadeen set up a community of interest and worked with others to run a series of presentations for people and organisations in the community to help them get informed about the virus, the public health measures, and provide feedback to government. She delivered sessions online and in person – socially distanced and masked. We heard lots of feedback that both the content of these presentations – that Nadeen took so much care over – and how they were presented – in Nadeen’s warm and credible way – “genuinely eased panic” for many people in the community.

This is just one of the many projects Nadeen led at HCC that played a part in making healthcare fairer for everyone in WA. She also played a role in gathering community feedback on people’s attitudes to organ and tissue donation, people’s experiences of ambulance services, and gathering feedback from people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities about their information needs about cancer treatment, resulting in a series of targeted resources being developed.

Nadeen was a strong and capable advocate for consumer rights – and we were all infected by her jubilation when the new Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Act was passed in December last year. This is something Nadeen had consistently and passionately championed for years.

As a team mate, colleague and friend, Nadeen brought fun, kindness and rigour to our work and everyone in the HCC family misses her enormously. Nadeen’s legacy will live on through HCC as we honour her passion for social justice, and her commitment to elevating voices that often go unheard.

Nadeen is survived by her husband Jason, and daughter Maya. The HCCWA team will organise an opportunity for people in the HCCWA community to gather and celebrate Nadeen’s life in the coming weeks.

Meeting with WA’s incoming Chief Health Officer: Why consumer voices matter in public health

Posted on July 27, 2026

Health Consumers’ Council WA (HCCWA) meets with WA’s incoming Chief Health Officer to strengthen consumer partnership in public health

Public health decisions affect every person in Western Australia. They influence disease prevention, environmental health, food safety, health equity, emergency preparedness and the policies that shape healthier communities. That is why we welcomed the opportunity to meet with Western Australia’s incoming Chief Health Officer, Dr Clare Huppatz.

HCCWA Executive Director, Clare Mullen spoke with Dr Huppatz’s on her vision for public health in WA, including ideas for involving health consumers, carers, families and communities across the broad range of portfolios under Dr Huppatz’s responsibility.

The recent consumer consultation on the WA Preventative Health Strategy is one of the pieces of work that Dr Huppatz is responsible for – but her responsibilities are much wider than that. The CHO responsibilities include

  • reducing the inequalities in public health of disadvantaged communities
  • promoting and improving public health and wellbeing and to prevent disease, injury, disability and premature death
  • facilitating the provision of information to decision-making authorities about public health risks and benefits to public health
  • monitoring trends in the health status of the WA community and representing Western Australia on national committees, including Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.
  • Food hygiene and environmental health

Dr Huppatz is a senior public health doctor with extensive regional, national and international experience. She has worked across regional Australia, including the Kimberley and Goldfields, where she played a part in bringing the “Squeaky Clean Soap Aid” program to the Kimberley, Pilbara, Midwest and Goldfields – to tackle the barrier of affordable soap which has now seen over 1.4m bars of soap provided to the WA community. This is a major contributor to good hygiene, which in turn can help to reduce a range of diseases that are impacted by environmental health.

Dr Huppatz is keen to partner with consumers and the ‘two Clares’ discussed a range of options. As the independent peak body representing health consumers in Western Australia, HCCWA believes better health outcomes are achieved when the people most affected by decisions are involved in shaping them.

Dr Huppatz has a long list of stakeholders to talk with in coming weeks and months – as well as a huge amount of reform to oversee. From the WA Preventative Health Strategy to tackling health inequities and improving community wellbeing, the Chief Health Officer’s role touches many aspects of everyday life. Building strong partnerships between government, communities and health consumers is essential to creating a healthier, fairer Western Australia.

It was a productive discussion, especially so early in her tenure. We look forward to supporting Dr Huppatz, the Chief Health Officer, and her team to ensure the public are at the heart of public health.