Healthy North Coast has announced the third round of successful recipients of its Primary Care Impact Grants – innovative, locally designed projects that will support high-quality care for people living with chronic and complex diseases across the region. This included $75,000 to Lismore Musical Therapy.

Following the successful first grant round announced in June 2025, and the second round announced in September 2025, 17 grants with a total value of $770,098 have been awarded in this third round, with funding going directly to general practices, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, allied health businesses and other local providers across the Mid North Coast and Northern NSW, to test and scale creative solutions to current health care challenges.

Healthy North Coast CEO Monika Wheeler said the calibre of applications coming through the grant program continues to demonstrate the passion and innovation of local health providers:

“We are consistently impressed by the quality of models of care emerging from our region. Every round of the Primary Care Impact Grants has shown how committed our providers are to tackling chronic disease and strengthening multidisciplinary care.

“Chronic diseases remain the leading cause of death and disability in Australia, yet we know that almost 40% of this burden is preventable with earlier support and targeted action. The outstanding applications we are receiving show what’s possible when local expertise is backed with the resources to test, refine and scale practical solutions that help people stay healthier for longer.”

The Primary Care Impact Grants are part of Healthy North Coast’s commitment to strengthening the region’s primary health care system through the Australian Government’s Primary Health Network program.

$3.4m in total funding has been made available until 30 June 2027. This includes $1.8m through the MyMedicare Multidisciplinary Teams initiative and $1.6m through Primary Health Network program funding to support the management of complex and chronic diseases in high-risk populations.

Over $2.3 million has been awarded through 48 successful grants to date, with future grant rounds still to come.

Chiron Weber, Director of Mullumbimby Comprehensive Health Centre, was thrilled to be among the successful recipients in the third grant round:

“We view Multi-Disciplinary Case Conferences as a continuous collaborative process. We aim to share knowledge and expertise to enhance communication, decision-making, and quality of care and outcomes for patients and providers. We strongly believe that case conferencing with this multi-disciplinary approach will result in a higher level of care for our patients and for the broader community, as all professionals involved learn and upskill as part of the process.

“We are open to extending this service to outside GPs, and aim eventually to offer this to rural or remote GPs who are not as fortunate as we are here in the Byron Shire with access to experienced allied health practitioners.”

The Primary Care Impact Grants are designed to support continuous quality improvement in primary care. The grant applications were reviewed using an evaluation rubric that assessed community need, health equity, efficiency and feasibility of each proposal, by a panel of health experts.

Successful proposals had a data-informed and evidence-based approach to meeting the needs of their communities, with a focus on reporting outcomes to drive continuous quality improvement.

“If you’re a local health provider with an innovative idea for chronic disease prevention and management in your community, I’d encourage you to register your interest for our future grant rounds,” added Ms Wheeler.

Each grant recipient will provide valuable data back to Healthy North Coast to assist with evaluation of the program.

More information on the Primary Care Impact Grants, including for local health professionals interested in applying for future rounds, is available on Healthy North Coast’s website.

List of Round Three Primary Care Impact Grant recipients

Multidisciplinary Team Care Grants:

• All Together Therapy, Port Macquarie – Improving the early identification and intervention of developmental, behavioural, and health concerns in children aged 0–5 years across the Hastings region – $75,000
• Lismore Music Therapy, Lismore – Multidisciplinary therapy and support within early childhood education settings for children with developmental delays, disabilities, and neurodiversity – $75,000
• The Grange Family Medical Centre, Port Macquarie – Structured cardiovascular risk screening, care planning, and ongoing allied health support, with exercise physiology, nutrition, and nurse-led monitoring working alongside GPs – $45,800
• WorkforceIQ Holdings – Improving management of chronic pain in general practice by delivering a structured, accessible, and evidence-based education and coaching program – $75,000

Total Multidisciplinary Team Care Grants awarded: $270,800

Chronic Disease Prevention Grants:

• Ballina Health Centre, Ballina – Comprehensive cardiovascular disease prevention and management model for adults aged 45–75 in Ballina – $30,000
• Coffs Coast GP Super Clinic, Coffs Harbour – Integrated, multidisciplinary model of care for patients with Type 2 Diabetes in the Coffs Harbour region by embedding specialist and allied health expertise into general practice – $49,850
• First Light Active, Ballina – Preventative and early intervention wellbeing model that uses a multi-disciplinary, team-based approach involving GPs, exercise physiologists, dietitians, and physiotherapists, integrating diagnostics and VALD technology to track progress – $35,000
• Fletcher Street Cottage, Byron Bay – Trauma-informed, nurse-led drop-in clinic embedded in Fletcher Street Cottage to increase healthcare access for women experiencing or at risk of homelessness – $50,000
• Help Prevent Falls, Coffs Harbour – Reducing the risk of falls among people aged 65+ in the Coffs Harbour region by addressing physical, educational, nutritional, and social factors – $43,148
• Lifestyle Medicine Learning, Tweed Heads – The Sarcopenia Early Detection program seeks to identify, engage, and support adults aged 60–80 at risk of sarcopenia through early screening, targeted interventions, and ongoing evaluation – $40,000
• Lisa Strauss Health, Ocean Shores – Group-based, dietitian-led education sessions with a focus on the prevention and management of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes – $24,300
• Medical on William, Port Macquarie – Increasing the number of patients receiving comprehensive cardiovascular risk assessments by 25% within 12 months and improve long-term heart health outcomes for at-risk individuals – $25,000
• Mullumbimby Comprehensive Health Centre, Mullumbimby – Development of a Multidisciplinary Case Conferencing service utilising staff from the Centre – $50,000
• Northern NSW LHD Health Promotion in collaboration with Bugalwena, Bullinah, and Rekindling the Spirit Aboriginal Medical Services – Supporting the delivery of smoking and vaping cessation activities in Aboriginal Medical Services – $32,000
• Pain Revolution – Delivering contemporary pain education and treatment by training health professionals to be Local Pain Educators – $50,000
• Parkinson’s NSW, Coffs Harbour – Improving the quality of life for people living with Parkinson’s disease in four Residential Aged Care Facilities on the Mid North Coast – $50,000
• Tweed Banora Medical Centre, Tweed Heads – Expanding nursing capacity to improve early detection, prevention, and management of chronic conditions – $20,000.

Total Chronic Disease Prevention Grants awarded: $499,298

More information about each of the round three grant recipients can be found on Healthy North Coast’s website.