George Golding Memorial Fund Scholarship
Western Victoria Primary Health Network (WVPHN) congratulates this year’s winner of the George Golding Memorial Trust Scholarship, Melanie Ward. Melanie, who lives in Horsham, is studying Medicine at Deakin University and is planning to become a GP after having worked for many years as a Registered Nurse and Midwife in a variety rural and regional Victorian settings.
The $5000 scholarship is named in honour of Dr George Golding, founder and CEO of the General Practitioners Association of Geelong (now WVPHN), who devoted his time and expertise to the education and mentoring of medical students, registrars and GPs. The Trust is dedicated to promoting education around medical practice and medical science by recognising academic excellence and providing financial assistance through the provision of scholarships, bursaries or prizes to students. The Trust also aims to support the development of stronger connections between students, general practitioners, specialists and the Deakin University Medical School. I would like to thank and acknowledge Dr John Howell for his ongoing support and leadership as Chair of the George Golding Scholarship Committee.
Melanie will be presented the Award at our GP Networking Dinner in Ballarat at the Goods Shed on 29 July 2025.
Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and our new National Cancer Screening Register Engagement Project
June is National Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, and I’m delighted to let you know about our new National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR) Engagement Project, which recently recruited 20 general practices and one Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation in the Wimmera Grampians region.
The NCSR is a critical tool for health professionals to assist their patients in gaining access to the National Cancer Screening Programs. The NCSR is a unified national record for participants in both the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) and the National Cervical Screening Program, and from July this year it will also be a key tool for the National Lung Cancer Screening Program.
The NCSR Engagement project is in partnership with Grampians Integrated Cancer Services (GICS) and branches from the GICS’s current Colonoscopy Access Project. When completed, the project will raise the percentage of general practices that are integrated and using the NCSR in the GICS catchment area to above the Australian average of 46 percent. Currently the percentage of practices in the Wimmera Grampians region integrated with the NCSR is at 28 percent.
You can learn more about this project and its aims on the webpage article about the project.
Aged Care Act delayed until 1 November 2025
On the 4 June, the Australian Government announced that implementation of the Aged Care Act will be delayed until 1 November 2025. The delay has been put in place due to feedback from the Aged Care sector and experts that more time will improve the delivery of these reforms and minimise disruption.
Read the Australian Government’s media release about the delay.
King’s Birthday Awards
Congratulations to the western Victorian health professionals who were recently recognised in the King’s Birthday honour list, including Emeritus Professor Warren Payne (AM), Dr Stephen Bolsin (OAM), Dr Charles Corke (AM) and Dr David Iser (OAM).
New Executive Director People, Culture and Business Operations
Finally, I’d like to offer a warm welcome to a new member of our Executive Leadership Team, Claire Tehan, who is our new Executive Director People, Culture and Business Operations. Claire comes to us from Hume City Council where she was the Manager of People and Culture, and has 18 years of experience spanning local government, not-for-profit, and corporate sectors. Claire brings deep expertise in organisational transformation, employee engagement, and aligning people strategies with business objectives to support inclusive, high-performing cultures. At WVPHN, Claire will oversee People and Culture, Governance, ICT, Quality and Risk, Marketing and Communications, Procurement, and Business Enablement, supporting our organisation to be focused on better health outcomes for the region.
Craig Wilding, WVPHN CEO
11 June 2025