Keeping decisions grounded in community

At a glance 

• 4 theme-based meetings of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) in 2025-2026  

• 15 members provided community perspectives from agriculture, disability, veterans, multicultural communities, mental health, caring, parenting and Local Health Advisory Committees  

•  Themes covered palliative care, equity of access, multi-morbidities and Health and Wellbeing of Young people 

Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network’s (MPHN) Community Advisory Committee (CAC) plays a vital role in ensuring community experiences and perspectives inform primary healthcare planning and service delivery in our region. 

In 2025–2026, MPHN introduced a new theme-based meeting approach, allowing committee members to focus on specific health priorities and provide more targeted feedback. This helped identify local challenges, highlight opportunities for improvement, and contribute practical solutions grounded in lived experience. 

Chair Caitlin Reid said the committee provides an important perspective alongside more traditional data and consultation. 

“We are giving feedback from what we’re seeing on the ground. MPHN is funding a lot of programs, and a lot of the people on the CAC are actually engaging with people who are using those programs on a day-to-day basis. This gives MPHN firsthand accounts of how services are going in the community, adding those coalface experiences to other data they’re gathering.”  

That local knowledge has practical influence. During the year, the CAC recommended that promotion of one program about RSV extend beyond online channels into places such as community and childcare centres, helping information reach people who may otherwise have missed it.  

For Ms Reid, the CAC’s value lies in that direct connection: “It shows that MPHN also value voices of the community and not just health professionals.”