The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) welcomes the announcement by Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, of funding for a Japan-Australia professional collaboration program under the Australia-Japan Foundation grants program.
Attributable to APNA President, Denise Lyons
"We welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs' announcement of funding for our professional collaboration work, with Associate Professor Mayumi Kako from Hiroshima University and the Japan Primary Care Association.
"In both Australia and Japan, primary care plays a central role in supporting population health. Nurses and midwives are key contributors, working in partnership with communities to promote and maintain local wellbeing
"This collaboration will support structured exchanges to connect primary care nurses and discuss shared priorities like workforce development, leadership, gender equity, and care for diverse and often vulnerable populations.
"As Australia's peak and professional body for primary health care nurses, APNA has a long history of collaboration and information sharing with nursing and other health organisations within Australia.
"Programs like APNA's federally funded Nursing in Primary Health Care program are at the forefront of supporting and developing the primary health care nursing workforce in Australia. This collaboration is an opportunity to share APNA's experience and expertise internationally, and strengthen people-to-people and institutional relationships.
"We look forward to working closely with Associate Professor Mayumi Kako from Hiroshima University, and the Japan Primary Care Association. This is an important opportunity to learn from international experience, and share our deep experience in an Australian context, in ways that contribute to constructive dialogue and information sharing.
About us:
About APNA
The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) is the peak body and professional membership association for all nurses working outside of a hospital setting in Australia. APNA champions the role of primary health care nurses; to advance professional recognition, ensure workforce sustainability, nurture leadership in health, and optimise the role of nurses in patient-centred care.
APNA is bold, vibrant and future-focused. We reflect the views of our membership and the broader profession by bringing together nurses from across Australia to represent, advocate, promote and celebrate the achievements of nurses in primary health care.
APNA represents a significant and rapidly expanding workforce; primary health care nurses account for around one in eight of the 640,000 registered health professionals in Australia.
APNA has received funding from the Australian Government Department of Disability, Health and Ageing to deliver the Nursing in Primary Health Care (NiPHC) Program 2023-26. This is the third wave of this highly successful program, which has previously run between 2015-2018 and 2019-2023.
