Health Consumers NSW was established in late 2010 due to the tireless work of health consumer advocates in NSW. With that, we joined other Australian States who, for a long time, have had independent health consumer representation peak bodies.

During the last decade, we have had a significant impact in spreading health consumer participation in service delivery, policy, research and evaluation. Some of our successes include:

• the development and running of health consumer representative and health organisation and researcher training in health consumer engagement
• research publications and papers, including a healthcare visiting guide and navigating telehealth report during Covid lockdowns and an ageism in healthcare report
• development of a Consumer and Community Engagement Model
• workshops, community forums and webinars on health consumer relevant topics
• regular newsletters and up-to-date health consumer news.

Governed by a Board consisting of representatives from our voting members (all NSW health consumer organisations), our core funding comes from a NSW Health Ministry grant. Other income is generated through training, consulting services, seminars, and workshops.

You can find out more about our history in our 10-year anniversary publication: