Riverland Mallee Coorong engagement

Aboriginal Health Strategy 2025-2030 now available

Aboriginal readers are advised that the Strategy may contain images and names of deceased persons.

The Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network (RMCLHN) has launched its inaugural Aboriginal Health Strategy 2025-2030 (PDF 17MB).

The Strategy was developed in collaboration with local Aboriginal consumers, communities, organisations and stakeholders using a co-design process.

It captures what we have heard as being important to Aboriginal communities in the Riverland Mallee Coorong region, now and into the future, and outlines our commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Strategy includes four pathways to change:

  • Respect consumers and connect culture in care:
    • know the why
    • respect consumers as experts in their own care
    • recognise and respect cultural protocol
    • walk together to create shared learnings
    • share stories.
  • Grow relationships:
    • further develop partnerships with external agencies
    • improve linkages and collaborate across all services with our mob
    • create environments that are welcoming with staff who are understanding.
  • Acknowledge and respond to racism in RMCLHN:
    • stop all levels of racism
    • provide culturally responsive services
    • take away barriers to accessing services.
  • Attract, grow and retain our Aboriginal workforce:
    • ensure Aboriginal staff feel culturally safe
    • respect and value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, culture and wisdom
    • improve cultural entry points and career progression.

It also describes our priorities to:

  • improve organisational culture
  • build RMCLHN’s Aboriginal workforce
  • develop stronger partnerships and communication methods with community
  • support equitable early access to health care services that are culturally safe and respectful.

The Strategy puts us in a position to focus our energies and efforts on a clear path to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have the best possible quality of life by providing high quality, culturally appropriate care that promotes dignity, respect, choice, independence and social connection. 

It outlines how RMCLHN will create a respectful and culturally safe environment that supports equitable access to our health services, that strengthens our Aboriginal workforce and enables us to work more closely with our partners to support our communities holistically. 

It also builds on our commitment to close the health gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians in the RMCLHN region.

The Strategy includes our Vision for Aboriginal Health

We all leave footprints.

Our ancestors that walked before us left footprints.

Our footprints are a mark of our presence.

Just like our footprints, our actions, and the decisions we make leave an imprint on the people we meet and the systems we work in.

We commit to enhancing our footprints and leaving places better than how we found them.  

Adapted from an Aboriginal proverb.

The co-design process

Co-design is a form of consultation and engagement that brings consumers, community, stakeholders, and health services together to plan and design new services.

More than 90 community members attended Yarning Circles in Berri and Murray Bridge to share stories, experiences, and ideas for how RMCLHN can improve our health services to meet the needs of community. 

More than 60 staff and key partners attended workshops in Berri and Murray Bridge to share and discuss the Yarning Circle learnings and insights, and analyse population and service utilisation data to see what it could tell us about the community’s needs, and how people are accessing services.

Data and learnings from the Yarning Circles and workshops were shared with the RMCLHN Aboriginal Employee Network in Karoonda to spark innovative ideas about future opportunities and approaches that were considered important to include in the Aboriginal Health Strategy. 

More information  

Hard copy versions of the Strategy are available at our hospitals and health sites.

For more information, please contact the Aboriginal Health team at HealthRMCLHNAboriginalHealthEnquiries@sa.gov.au.

For more information about RMCLHN Aboriginal Health services and initiatives, visit the RMCLHN Aboriginal Health webpage.

Are you our next Consumer Representative?  

RMCLHN is looking for Consumer Representatives to join our committees, working groups and cabinets.

You can be a Consumer Representative if you are aged 18 or over, currently live within our catchment, and are a past or present user of our health services and/or a family member or carer of a past or present use of our health services.

Health services include our hospitals, health and community services.

As a Consumer Representative, you will participate in a committee, working group or cabinet, to ensure the voice of consumers is heard.

Consumer Representatives take part in decision making processes on behalf of consumers and carers, and advocate for consumers and carers. 

You can choose to represent consumers and carers on a committee or working group that aligns with your interest, knowledge, skills and experience, for example:

  • Clinical
  • Leadership
  • Partnering with consumers
  • Aboriginal health
  • Aged care and disability
  • Quality, risk and safety
  • Challenging behaviour
  • the Riverland Academy of Clinical Excellence (RACE).

RMCLHN values diverse voices and representation.

Community members from minority and vulnerable groups are encouraged to apply to be a Consumer Representative.

This includes, but is not limited to, people living with disability, people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, people who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, and people who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ communities.  

As a Consumer Representative on a committee, working group or cabinet, you will be required to:

  • bring a consumer perspective to the issues discussed at your committee, working group or cabinet meeting
  • provide advice on how to report information back to the community
  • provide advice on how to improve services, from a consumer perspective
  • advocate on behalf of consumers, carers and the community
  • listen to, and value, others’ opinions
  • participate constructively and articulately in complex discussions
  • apply and embrace ‘big picture’ thinking.

How to apply

Download the Consumer Representative Information Guide (PDF 2MB) and complete an expression of interest (EOI) Application Form (PDF 877 KB) either online or download the hard copy and return it to us by Friday 4 July 2025.

It is essential to read the Consumer Representative Information Guide prior to completing the EOI. 

For more information or further assistance, please contact healthrmclhnconsumers@sa.gov.au phone 0478 282 743.

Clinical Service Plan

The Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network (RMCLHN) is developing a Clinical Service Plan.

A Clinical Service Plan is a document that outlines the current and future health needs of our communities, the health services required to meet those needs, and a plan to make it happen.

We are developing the Plan in collaboration with staff, stakeholders, consumers, and communities.

We recently asked our communities to complete a survey to provide valuable feedback about local health services and tell us about their healthcare experiences.

The survey was available online and in hard copy, and open in February and March 2024.

We have collated the responses and developed a two-page summary which includes demographic information about the respondents and feedback about our services.

We were also able to group the survey responses into three main themes – workforce, access and services, and methods of delivery.

Clinical Service Plan Community Survey Summary (PDF 1MB)

About the Clinical Service Plan

RMCLHN’s Clinical Service Plan aims to:

  • improve the health and wellbeing of our communities by providing the range of safe, quality services required to meet our population’s current and emerging needs
  • advance the valued health services we currently provide
  • define our future commitment to designing, implementing and sustaining services in accordance with community expectations and organisational priorities.

The Clinical Service Plan will create a range of opportunities for RMCLHN and our communities, including:

  • More services in our region, and more services delivered in people’s homes – reducing the need for consumers to travel for care
  • A healthier population with equitable access to integrated health care services that are easy to navigate
  • Increased trust among our health care services, consumers and communities, leading to improved outcomes
  • Greater community awareness about the range of services available locally
  • Organisational learning, including a shared sense of purpose
  • Provision of excellence in clinical care, and high-quality, culturally safe services
  • We develop as a provider and employer of choice.

For more information, contact the Clinical Service Plan team on Health.RMCLHNClinicalServicePlanning@sa.gov.au

Mental Health Service Plan 2023-2028

The Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network (RMCLHN) has launched its inaugural Mental Health Services Plan.

The Plan provides a new direction to improve mental health services in RMCLHN over the next five years from 2023 through to 2028.

It is focussed on the provision of high-quality specialist mental health services in our region that promote dignity, respect, choice, independence, and social connections.

It outlines how we will support consumers to navigate mental health services with greater ease, to ensure they can access the help and supports they need, when they need them. 

It also outlines how we will address service tensions, work together with our partners, strengthen our services, and build our workforce. 

The Plan aims to meet current and evolving needs as identified by our consumers, communities and key stakeholders.

It was developed using a co-design approach in consultation with consumers, community members, staff, clinicians, and other key stakeholders, before being made available for broad public consultation in May 2023.

The Mental Health Service Plan:

  • clearly outlines our mental health service improvement priorities across Riverland Mallee Coorong communities over the next five years
  • enables our consumers and community to access compassionate human-centred care that is integrated across our sectors and considers those who are in most need
  • develops and grows our committed, competent and passionate mental health staff and clinicians as a means to strengthen and expand our workforce capacity.
  • enhances mutually beneficial collaboration across sectors to support prevention and early access to help
  • understands and addresses the service tensions that impact on our ability to provide excellence in mental health care.

The Plan also outlines how RMCLHN will:

Address service tensions by

  • Developing a collective mindset that mental health is everyone’s responsibility
  • Seeking equitable funding.

Work together with our partners by

  • Creating opportunities to collaborate across sectors (e.g.  SAAS, SAPOL, NGOs, PHNs etc)
  • Supporting prevention and early access to help.

Strengthen our workforce by

  • Building stronger recruitment and retention practices
  • Designing and delivering increased training and education
  • Developing our workforce to meet community needs.

Build our services by

  • Strengthening social and emotional wellbeing services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
  • Integrating our care
  • Providing human-centred care
  • Facilitating clear access and pathways to care.

Hard copy versions of the Plan are also available at our hospitals and health sites.

Mannum District Hospital Service Planning

The Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network (RMCLHN) is embarking on a service planning process for the Mannum District Hospital. This will enable us to develop a service plan that meets the needs of the Mannum community over the next five years and beyond.

The service plan will align delivery of local health services with the SA Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the RMCLHN Strategic Plan 2021-2026.

During February and March 2023 we invited the Mannum community to have input into the process and provide information about their experiences with health services across the spectrum. This took place via a variety of methods including, surveys, drop-in sessions, 1:1 interviews, focus groups and phone conversations to name a few.

All responses have been themed and are informing the development of future service plan recommendations for Mannum District Hospital. A snapshot of what we have heard is captured in this poster:

This work is being undertaken by a local advisory group with representation from key stakeholders. We will explore local data, knowledge, consumer experience and align the plan with best practice clinical standards.

It’s very important that as part of this process we hear from our local consumers and community members.

For more information email Health.RSSPlanningTeam@sa.gov.au or contact Day Parkhurst, Executive Officer – Director of Nursing, Mannum District Hospital.

RMCLHN Strategic Plan 2021-2026

Our Vision

The inaugural Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network (RMCLHN) Strategic Plan 2021-2026 is now available.

The aim of the Plan is to define the focus of our organisation over the next five years by identifying our goals and priorities across four strategic themes:

  • Caring for our Communities
  • Excellence in Clinical Care
  • Local Accountability
  • Investing in our People.

Our Purpose

The Strategic Plan sets out our purpose as a network – Our people caring for our communities. This means we will work together to care for local communities and develop our region as a centre of excellence in rural health care, research and teaching. We will support people in the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network to have the best possible quality of life, by providing timely, high quality care as close to home as possible, that promotes dignity, respect, choice, independence and social connection.

The Strategic Plan also includes our Vision for our communities, including aged care, mental health, community health, Aboriginal health and acute care – you can read these in full in the Strategic Plan.

Our Values

Our Values are represented by the phrase RMC CARES. RMC CARES is a statement in itself and represents our values as an organisation:

  • Respectful
  • Motivated
  • Compassionate
  • Consumer Focussed
  • Accountable
  • Resourceful
  • Excellence
  • Service.

In the Strategic Plan, you can read what these values mean and what they look like in action, including our practices and personal behaviours that embody and promote these values.

Who is it for?

The Strategic Plan is for our workforce, consumers and communities. Our workforce includes clinicians, non-clinicians, visiting medical specialists, Rural Support Service (RSS) staff, contractors, volunteers and partners.

You’re a consumer if you use our health services, or are affected by the delivery of our healthcare services – for example, if you’re a family member, carer, friend or support person to someone who uses our services.

How was it developed?

RMCLHN is committed to strong consumer and community engagement and values the contribution consumers can make to improve health services, including through service planning, designing care, and measuring and evaluating services.

The Plan was developed through consultation with consumers, carers, community members, volunteers, staff and partner organisations.

We consulted with key staff and the Governing Board members at a Strategic Planning Day in August 2020, and with Health Advisory Council members at the HAC Regional Conference in September 2020.  We also consulted with Aboriginal consumers, partners and stakeholders at the Aboriginal Health Community forums in October 2020.

The final Plan was developed following broad internal and external consultation on the draft Plan, and has been endorsed by Shane Mohor, our Aboriginal Health representative on the RMCLHN Governing Board, and RMCLHN’s Director of Aboriginal Health, Sharon Perkins.

How will it be implemented and evaluated?

A rolling three-year Operational Plan will be developed to implement the RMCLHN Strategic Plan.

Overall progress and key performance indicators will be reported on at the RMCLHN Annual Public Meeting and in the Annual Report.

The Strategic Plan will sit alongside our Consumer and Community Engagement Strategy and Clinician and Workforce Engagement Strategy which are available below.

Get your copy

Disability Access and Inclusion Plan

The Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network (RMCLHN) has launched its inaugural Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2022-2025 (PDF 875KB) – called DAIP for short.

The DAIP is an internal and external facing plan that builds on RMCLHN’s continued commitment to sustaining the rights of people living with disability to access quality healthcare.

It encompasses what RMCLHN will do to ensure people living with disability have the same opportunities as others to access and be included in quality services, events, information, buildings and facilities, consultation, complaints processes and employment.

It outlines a number of actions RMCLHN will take over the next three years to promote and achieve disability access and inclusion.

Each of the actions include measurable targets, a timeframe for implementation or review, and the individual, team, business unit or site that is responsible.

The DAIP has been developed in support of the State Disability Inclusion Plan 2019 - 2023, which sets out specific actions for South Australian government agencies and local councils to achieve in order to reduce the barriers faced by people living with disability.

It also complements the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as it aims to address access and inclusion for all South Australians living with disability, including people who are not NDIS participants, and aligns with The Disability Inclusion Act 2018, which provides a legal framework to support equal access and inclusion for people living with disability in community activities and services including recreation, education, health, and public transport.

Engagement strategies

The Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network (RMCLHN) has updated its Consumer and Community Engagement Strategy (CCES) and Clinician and Workforce Engagement Strategy (CAWES).

The strategies were reviewed and updated following consultation with staff and stakeholders.

The purpose of the review was to track and evaluate how we are engaging with our consumers, communities, clinicians and our workforce, look at what we are doing well and what we could do better.

We consulted on the CCES in 2021 through the RMCLHN Planning Workshop and discussion with the Health Advisory Councils (HACs).

The feedback provided through consultation centred on the implementation and meaningfulness of the Strategy, and its accessibility. Consequently, RMCLHN has agreed to develop and share a work plan with the HACs that demonstrates how we are implementing the Strategy and develop a one-page summary of the Strategy that will be available at sites and via this webpage.

We consulted on the CAWES in 2021 through the RMCLHN Planning Workshop, Senior Staff Forum and via an online survey.  The feedback provided through consultation informed minor amendments to the CAWES, including the incorporation of wording from the Strategic Plan and monitoring of the Strategy through the RMCLHN Operational Plan. The key elements of the Strategy were not changed.

Consumer and Community Engagement Strategy

The Consumer and Community Engagement Strategy, or CCE Strategy for short, guides how we engage with consumers and the community.

The aim of the CCE Strategy is to integrate, strengthen and promote meaningful engagement with consumers, and the broader community, and provides direction for how we will work with consumers and the community to provide the best possible care and services for our region now and into the future.

Engagement is about how we talk with you, listen to you and collaborate with you on important issues.

A consumer is anyone who uses our health services, or is affected by the delivery of our healthcare services – that is, if you’re a family member, carer, friend or support person of someone who uses our services. For example:

  • If you’ve ever taken your sick child to the Riverland General Hospital emergency department, you’re a consumer of our healthcare services.
  • If your Dad lives in one of our Aged Care facilities, both you and your Dad are consumers of our healthcare services.
  • If you see a physiotherapist at the Lameroo Hospital, you’re a consumer of our healthcare services.
  • If you have a community health nurse visiting your home in Meningie, you’re a consumer of our healthcare services.

Download a digital copy of the Consumer and Community Engagement Strategy.

For further information, or to request the strategy in a different format, please contact:

Consumer Engagement Officer
Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network
Telephone: (08) 8580 2400 (Berri Office) (08) 8535 6777 (Murray Bridge Office)
Email: Health.RMCConsumers@sa.gov.au

Clinician and Workforce Engagement Strategy

RMCLHN has developed a Clinician and Workforce Engagement Strategy following widespread consultation with clinicians and our general workforce.

While the Act stipulates the Governing Board is required to develop a clinician engagement strategy, we sought endorsement to broaden the scope of our strategy to incorporate all RMCLHN workforce. This has allowed us to develop a more comprehensive strategy that encapsulates the unique needs and composition of our regional workforce.

The aim of the strategy is to promote consultation, collaboration and genuine engagement with health, and other, professionals working within RMCLHN. It applies to all RMCLHN staff and stakeholders who provide, or contribute to, the provision of services to our communities. This includes clinicians, non-clinicians, visiting medical specialists, Rural Support Service (RSS) staff, contractors, volunteers and partners (e.g. our partners include General Practitioners (GPs) and Statewide Clinical Support Services employees who partner with RMCLHN).

Download a digital copy of the Clinician and Workforce Engagement Strategy.

For further information, or to request the strategy in a different format, please contact:

Manager Secretariat
Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network
Telephone: (08) 8535 6707
Email: Health.RMCConsumers@sa.gov.au

Our *Governing Board is required to develop and publish these strategies under Section 33A of the Health Care (Governance) Amendment Act 2018 (the Act).

Both strategies sit alongside the RMCLHN Strategic Plan.