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National Health Workforce Summit 2026

Solutions for a Sustainable Workforce

17 – 18 August 2026 | Crown Promenade Melbourne

BUY A PASS Register Your Interest Download Brochure

Early bird rate expires 7 July 2026

overview

The 5th Annual National Health Workforce Summit returns in 2026, bringing together leading voices and fresh ideas to solve one of the biggest issues facing Australia’s healthcare system — our workforce. This year for the first time, we will be co-locating a new event – the Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference.

The conference aims to explore innovative solutions and strategies to enhance the quality, accessibility, and sustainability of the healthcare workforce, ensuring that it meets the evolving needs of the workforce. The summit will provide a platform for attendees to engage in thought-provoking discussions, exchange ideas, and establish collaborative networks.

Why Attend?

  • Solution-focused panels and keynotes
  • Action-oriented case studies and challenge clinics
  • Peer learning through interactive roundtable workshops
  • Strategic insights from thought leaders, tech experts and frontline professionals

Co-located with:

🛡️ Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference
Expand your learning and collaboration opportunities by accessing sessions that focus on workforce wellbeing, occupational violence, psychosocial risk management, and creating mentally healthy workplaces.

2026 Speakers

Dr Manjit Sekhon

Chief Executive Officer & Chief Medical Officer, Gidgee Healing

Cazna Luke

Tumu Whakarae - Chief Executive Officer, Kia Ora Hauora, New Zealand

Luke Donnan

Course Director - Podiatric Medicine, Charles Sturt University

Sam Avitaia

Manager Regional Campuses, University of Wollongong

Chris King

Executive Director Allied Health, Central Adelaide Local Health Network

Emma Vo

Director Allied Health Workforce Reform, Central Adelaide Local Health Network

Dr Alice Hucker

Senior Clinical Psychologist & Educator, The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Isla Woidt

Strategic Lead Workplace Wellbeing Partnerships, Commission on Excellence & Innovation in Health, SA Health

Wai Kuen KAM

Deputy Director, Workplace Safety and Health, Operations Lead, Staff Protection Office, Co-Chairman, Staff Protection Council, Singapore General Hospital

Dr Christina Leonard

Associate Professor, FNP Program Director, Assistant Director Interprofessional Education and Care, Duke University School of Nursing

Dr Leah Wiseman

Chief Operating Officer, Kirinari Community Services

Dr Anna Moran

Physiotherapist, Researcher & Founder, Unplexi

Carly Nisner

Occupational Therapist, Founder & Director, Beyond Boundaries Rehab and Support Worker Association of Australia (SWAA)

Stacey Mansfield

Former Director of Allied Health, Occupational Therapist & Community Capacity Specialist

Dr. Nici Williams

Clinical Director of Primary Care, Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) South Eastern Section

Mark Muchiri

Manager Workforce and Development, Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) South Eastern Section

Adjunct A/Prof Dr Sue Fitzpatrick

Chief Allied Health Officer, Australian Capital Territory

Dr Neel Gobin

Regional Director of Medical Services, Hunter New England Local Health District (NSW)

Rita Cincotta

Founder, The Deliberate Leader

Dr Matthew Fisher

Chief Executive Officer, Australian Society of Anaesthetists

Jodie Long

Chief Executive Officer, Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges

Geri Sumpter

Chief Executive Officer, Australian College of Nurse Practitioners

Rebecca Sedgman

Senior Policy Advisor, Australian College of Nurse Practitioners

2026 Agenda

JOINT PLENARY KEYNOTE SESSION

8:15 am

Registration & Morning Coffee

9:00 am

Opening remarks from the Chair

Rita Cincotta, Founder, The Deliberate Leader

9:05 am

OPENING KEYNOTE | The State of the Nation: next steps for the National Medical Workforce Strategy

Department of Health, Disability and Ageing,

9:35 am

This panel will explore how Australia can transition from a crisis-management mindset to a sustainable growth model. The panel will address how to integrate AI to reduce clinician burden, the implementation of “Single Employer Models” for rural doctors, and the shift from temporary staffing back to a stable, permanent workforce.

10:20 am

INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE | Fleshing out the skeleton to manage abuse and harassment in healthcare

Wai Kuen KAM, Deputy Director, Workplace Safety and Health, Operations Lead, Staff Protection Office, Co-Chairman, Staff Protection Council, Singapore General Hospital

10:50 am

Healthcare teams now span multiple generations—each bringing different expectations, pressures, and priorities. This keynote moves beyond stereotypes to unpack how generational change influences work values and motivations, offering evidence‑based strategies for leading multigenerational teams and supporting wellbeing, engagement, and high‑quality care.

11:20 am

Hosted with Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference in the pre-function area

“From Crisis to Capability – Building a Sustainable, Safe, and Tech-Enabled Workforce”

11:50 am

  • Balancing professional judgement with data to improve how workload and staffing decisions are made
  • Moving beyond one‑size‑fits‑all approaches toward models that reflect real service demand, acuity and scope of practice
  • Strengthening system accountability for workload pressures through governance, capability and structured implementation

12:20 pm

Rural/Remote Workforce Retention: The FIFO Model in Health

Ashley Nind, Director of Health Programs, Royal Flying Doctor Service Victoria

12:50 pm

SESSION SPOTLIGHT | Upskilling staff in digital literacy and data interpretation

1:20 pm

Hosted with Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference in the pre-function area

2:20 pm

  • Why treating wellbeing as a program limits workforce sustainability
  • Reframing wellbeing as a governance and system responsibility shaped by work design, leadership, and accountability
  • How healthcare organisations can move from short‑term initiatives to sustained workforce outcomes
  • Sharing examples from South Australian public health sector

2:50 pm

The University of Wollongong and UOW College have been working with healthcare facilities in Regional South East NSW for the past four years trialling alternative training models in Regional Healthcare. This year UOW has received federal funding through the Dept of Health, Disability and Ageing to further expand a cross-sectoral pilot across the Bega Valley, Eurobodalla and Snowy Monaro in Ageing Support, Disability and Indigenous Healthcare.

Program coordinator Samantha Avitaia, Manager UOW Regional Campuses, will speak about the pilot components and regional learnings across the programs.

3:20 pm

Hosted with Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference in the pre-function area

3:50 pm

Join us for an engaging roundtable (RT) discussion featuring esteemed featured speakers. The discussions are meant to be very organic, interactive and aims to foster exchange of ideas, highlight best practices. Attendees also have the opportunity to participate in the conversation, ask questions, and contribute their perspectives.

Industry RT1: Reimagining the Rural Model: A Strategic Approach to Rural and Remote Workforce

Dr. Nici Williams, Clinical Director of Primary Care, Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) South Eastern Section

Mark Muchiri, Manager Workforce and Development, Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) South Eastern Section

Industry RT2: Operating at the Ceiling: Expanding Scopes of Practice and the Rise of Emerging Roles

Rebecca Sedgman, Senior Policy Advisor, Australian College of Nurse Practitioners

Industry RT3: The "Thin Market" Challenge: Sustainable business models for GP clinics in small populations and outer-metro "MM1" regions that lack rural funding despite high need.

4:35 pm

Someone from Industry RT sessions share the top 3-5 key takeaways that was discussed in their RT

4:50 pm

Closing Remarks from the Chair

5:00 pm

Hosted with Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference in the pre-function area

8:20 am

Registration & Morning Coffee

9:05 am

Opening remarks from the Chair

9:10 am

OPENING KEYNOTE | Workforce Retention in Remote Areas: Addressing the "hard to staff" nature of remote clinics

Dr Manjit Sekhon, Chief Executive Officer & Chief Medical Officer, Gidgee Healing

9:40 am

  • Kia Ora Hauora overview as a pioneering national Māori workforce development programme that provides practical solutions to pressing national health challenges, with proven impact.
  • The importance of building a workforce reflective of the communities we serve
  • Indigenous model of engagement and our impact on participation and retention
  • Data intelligence informing targeted pathways and programme pivots
  • Key learnings and challenges in strengthening equitable, whānau centred workforce outcomes

10:10 am

The Duke BLUE Interprofessional Scholars Program is a longitudinal IPE initiative that prepares health professions students from nursing, medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and physician assistant programs for collaborative, team‑based care through four core pillars, Building relationships, Learning across disciplines, Uniting through service, and Experiencing collaborative practice, using simulations, case conferences, community engagement, and student‑designed interprofessional projects.

10:40 am

Hosted with Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference in the pre-function area

11:10 am

Closing the Gap from Within: Sustainable Pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Professionals

11:40 am

Launched in December 2025, CALHN’s Allied Health Workforce Plan 2026-2031 and beyond strategically aligns building workforce capability and capacity with the changing and future needs of consumers and communities. It was developed through a large-scale workforce planning project, incorporating workforce data analysis and engagement with over 290 stakeholders. The project has defined our vision of building a sustainable allied health workforce, empowering excellence. Emerging themes informed CALHN’s key strategic workforce priorities for allied health over the next five years and beyond, designed to harness the full potential of the workforce and deliver safe and connected care at CALHN: We Plan. We Develop. We Excel.

12:10 pm

  • A declining growth rate of registered podiatrists is threatening the sustainability of Australia’s podiatry profession
  • Barriers such as relocation, family and work commitments are shown to restrict undergraduate podiatry enrolments
  • Introduction of a novel, hybrid approach to podiatry studies have increased accessibility and Charles Sturt Universities enrolments by 400%

12:40 pm

Hosted with Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference in the pre-function area

1:40 pm

PANEL | The Missing Middle: Building Capability and Giving Voice to Australia's Support Workforce

Dr Leah Wiseman, Chief Operating Officer, Kirinari Community Services

Dr Anna Moran, Physiotherapist, Researcher & Founder, Unplexi

Carly Nisner, Occupational Therapist, Founder & Director, Beyond Boundaries Rehab and Support Worker Association of Australia (SWAA)

Stacey Mansfield, Former Director of Allied Health, Occupational Therapist & Community Capacity Specialist

2:20 pm

  • How can international practitioners be culturally and professionally supported to stay for the long term?
  • What specific ‘domestic sustainability’ milestone would signal that we’ve finally balanced the scales?
  • How do we prevent the ‘bottleneck’ at the internship and registrar level?
  • What can Australia offer to remain an ethical and attractive leader in health workforce migration?

3:00 pm

Closing Remarks from the Chair

3:05 pm

End of Conference & Afternoon Tea

Pricing

Packages Price
National Health Workforce Summit$2195$1895+GST Early Bird Rate Early Bird Rate
Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference$2195$1895+GST Early Bird Rate Early Bird Rate
Extras Price
Workshop $495+GST
Packages Price
National Health Workforce Summit$1795$1495+GST Early Bird Rate Early Bird Rate
Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference$1795$1495+GST Early Bird Rate Early Bird Rate
Extras Price
Workshop $495+GST

Early bird rate expires 7 July 2026

*This event is co-located with the Healthcare Workplace Safety Conference. One pass gives delegates access to both events which are running concurrently.*

Sponsorship & Exhibition Opportunities

Reconnect and re-engage with your industry peers at the National Health Workforce Summit.

There are many opportunities for networking including social events such as the annual networking drinks, refreshment breaks and lunches, making this not just a conference… but an all encompassing industry “experience”.

Event sponsorship or exhibiting will allow your organisation to:

  • Build relationships with potential and existing clients
  • Generate leads from a high-level, targeted audience
  • Close sales in a more personal manner than via phone
  • Demonstrate your product in person
  • Network with the industry
  • Build brand awareness

To see what is on offer please contact:

David Espitia
Sponsorships and Exhibitions Consultant
+61 2 9080 4311
[email protected]

Video Highlight

Insights

What can we do to support the healthcare workforce in rural, regional and remote areas?
While a national shortage of healthcare workers is being felt across Australia, nowhere is doing it tougher than the country’s rural, regional and remote communities.
Read more >>

Simple fixes to the healthcare workforce crisis
Statistics around the future of Australia’s workforce have sent shock-waves through the already overburdened sector, but there may be some simple strategies to overcome them, according to Dr Joseph Occhino of Queensland Health.
Read more >>

How to channel more medical graduates into primary healthcare
Read more >>

How digital health can relieve our healthcare workforce crisis
Read more >>

Renewed focus on nurse and midwife safety needed during COVID-19, says ANMF President
Read more >>

The WHO’s COVID-19 Risk Communication Package for Healthcare Facilities
Click here to download >>

Providing a safe environment for hospital staff, patients and visitors
Read more >>

Safety And Security Risks in Hospitals
Read more >>

Dealing with agitated patients: Balancing staff safety and duty of care to the patient
Read more >>

Event Images

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Event Code Of Conduct

We want everyone who comes to our events to have a great experience. This code explains our expectations and rules, which includes general good practice behaviour, and how to report anything witnessed or experienced that goes against them. Read our Event Code of Conduct here.

Sustainability

Our Commitment to Sustainability

Our purposeful and informed content incorporates commitments for sustainability within our events. In Australia, we are committed to running our events in an environmentally and socially responsible way. We also want to go further and inspire sustainable development for the industries we serve. Bringing together diverse eco-systems providing a platform for decision makers, industry leaders and entrepreneurs to implement widespread change.

Moving Faster Forward with Informa Connect

Across Informa Connect we are focusing on the short and long-term sustainability impacts we have on customers and colleagues alongside the communities we work in.

We recognise that it’s not just about the way we produce our events and products but recognising that we have a role to play in providing a space to work in partnership together with our markets to inspire the sustainable development of the industries we serve. Explore our work, including our latest sustainability reports and Faster Forward initiatives with the link below.

LEARN MORE

when & where

17 - 18 Aug 2026

Crown Promenade Melbourne
8 Whiteman St
Southbank VIC 3006
+61 (03) 9292 8888

Get Directions
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contact

Still have a question?

General Information & Registration
Customer Service
02 9080 4307
[email protected]

Speaking Enquiries
Irene Amo
Senior Conference & New Product Manager
+61 2 9080 4321
[email protected]

Sponsorship & Exhibition Opportunities
David Espitia
Sponsorships and Exhibitions Consultant
+61 2 9080 4311
[email protected]

Marketing & Media Enquiries
Alys Pryde
Marketing Manager
[email protected]

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