4 women participating in a workshop, sitting at a table, holding up sticky notes

HCNSW Annual Report 2025/2026

HCNSW Annual Report 2025/2026

4 women participating in a workshop, sitting at a table, holding up sticky notes
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Headshot of Dr Anthony Brown smiling into the camera.

A message from our CEO (FY2025/2026)

2025/26 was a year of connection, growth and change for Health Consumers NSW. We continued to strengthen the voice of health consumers across health policy and created more opportunities for consumers to influence research and the education of future health professionals through our partnerships with researchers and universities.

We also supported consumers and consumer representatives to navigate emerging issues such as artificial intelligence in healthcare, while continuing to invest in our training and online community.

It has been a great privilege to lead Health Consumers NSW over the past 12 years. I am always inspired by the work of our members and their passion for making health services better. I am incredibly proud of what we have all achieved together.

My decision to step down from the role of CEO at the end of this financial year was difficult, but it has opened the door for new opportunities to grow consumer involvement in health and medical research. I’m excited that I will still contribute to the work of Health Consumers NSW, and that I will continue to work with our wonderful members and consumers in my new role as Research Manager.

2025-2026 Annual Report cover

Annual Report 25/26

Download the report

Our year in numbers

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Training

Total participants in all HCNSW training.

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Total Members
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Publications

12 editions of The Wrap e-newsletters and 13 HCNSW alerts

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Community

We held 7 consumer ‘coffee catch-ups’ and several informal, online ‘check-in’ meetings with our network of health consumer representatives.

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Bringing consumer voices into plans and policy development

Newcastle Calvary Mater Hospital; NSW Health Single Digital Patient Record; Healthy Eating and Active Living Equity Guide; Regional Health Strategic Plan; Consumer and Community Involvement in Research Options Paper

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Consumer opportunities

We advertised 84 health consumer engagement and participation opportunities, helping place consumer representatives in influencing roles across National and State policy, services and research projects and initiatives.

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Submissions

National Health and Medical Research Council Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research; Voluntary Assisted Dying Legislation

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Webinars

811 people registered for our 4 webinars this year: 1 x National Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Research; 2 x AI in healthcare; and 1 x The age barrier: Older adults’ experiences of ageism in healthcare.

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Media appearances

The Guardian (commenting on NSW Health’s new social media policy) and The Illawarra Mercury (commenting on private health providers’ Emergency Department Nurse Liaison Programs in public hospitals)

Growth of social media channels

Growth in socials year on year: 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026

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Total Audience

Our total audiences added together across all our social media channels.
(LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram)

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Reactions & Comments

Growth of our online community ‘Hub’

HCNSW’s Online Engagement platform on Mighty Networks, The Hub, continues to grow, with the number of members actively engaged and contributing online increasing by 85 percent from last year.

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Total Contributions

The sum of actions members, moderators, and hosts take within our network, such as reactions, comments, posts, shares, messages, etc.

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Active Members

A member that visits our platform at least once during a selected date period.

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Total Members

All members on our Mighty Networks platform.

Our highlights of the year in review

2025

July

Together with the University of Wollongong, we host our first AI in healthcare webinar on Monday, 7 July. We have hosted 3 more since. Link to recordings and resources: AI in health care – Health Consumers NSW

CEO Anthony Brown speaks at the Positive Life Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR) Community Consultation and Engagement Forum on 5 July as part of our SDPR consultations.

We partner with The University of Sydney and the Consumers Health Forum (CHF) on a research project, Stronger Voices/Toolkit for Independence.

August

Anthony speaks at the launch of the Anti-Racism Collaborative, which HCNSW joins.

September

We host two online consultations, one for consumers involved in research and one for consumer organisations, to inform our submission to the draft Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research, which was released in April 2026.

October

With the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts and the Older Women’s Network NSW, we hold a Special Screening of the Australian documentary Nansie, highlighting the important role of carers and older Australians’ issues with accessing healthcare.

Louise Conn, from the Family and Consumer Council for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, is elected to the HCNSW Board.

November

In partnership with the Three Rivers Department of Rural Health (TRDRH), we hold a Consumer involvement in rural health research workshop in Wagga Wagga, NSW.

We officially launch our first Reconciliation Action Plan with artwork commissioned by First Nations artist Shelby Lyon, ‘Nurturing Voices’.

New Research Officer, Bella Spongberg-Ross, joins the team.

December

HCNSW and Sydney Health Partners sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), deepening our long-standing consumer-research collaboration.

2026

January

We move our training courses to our online community space, The Hub, offering a more connected experience with more support and networking with peers and our staff.

February

We partner with the George Institute for Global Health on a research project, Unlocking the power of linked data to improve patient journeys across the health system: LUMOS and set up a Health Data Consumer Reference Group

March

Longstanding HCNSW CEO, Dr Anthony Brown, announces his step-down from the role. He will stay on as Research Manager.

April

We run 2 webinars: The age barrier: Older adults’ experiences of ageism in healthcare, together with the Older Women’s Network NSW and the Australian Age Discrimination Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald AM; and our third AI in healthcare webinar.

We run a face-to-face training workshop with the Consumer Reference Group and Research Team for our project with the George Institute.

May

Our Treasurer, Sarah Young, joins the HCNSW Board.

June

We partner with Sydney Health Partners to deliver a free, in-person workshop designed for researchers and consumers to build confidence, practical skills and explore potential partnership opportunities: ReConX 2026.

Our work with NSW Health

A key part of our role is ensuring the experiences and priorities of health consumers help shape the policies, services and systems that affect them. Our input into consultation processes with NSW Health this year included:

NSW Health logo

Research and tertiary education engagement

We work with researchers, universities and health consumers to strengthen consumer involvement in research and education, ensuring lived experience and consumer perspectives help shape health and medical research and the development of future health professionals.

In 2025/26, this included:

  • A partnership with the University of Sydney’s School of Pharmacy and the Consumers Health Forum on the Stronger Voices/Toolkit for Independence
  • A partnership with The George Institute for Global Health at the UNSW on Unlocking the Power of Linked Data to Improve Patient Journeys Across the Health System project.
  • Opportunities for health consumers and researchers to connect, build relationships and explore opportunities to work together, such as ReConX 2026.
  • Work with universities supporting consumers to provide input into the education of future health professionals.
ReConX

What we have heard this year

These are the issues that mattered most to health consumers and their organisations this Financial Year:

Artificial intelligence in healthcare

Patient experiences in emergency departments

Accessibility and inclusion

Health consumer remuneration

Barriers to conference participation

Racism in healthcare

Impact of NSW Government’s secure jobs and funding certainty reforms

Impact of portable long service leave on consumer organisations

The people who make it all possible

Angelique Barrett
Angelique Barrett
NSW Health, Healthy Eating Active Living Equity Guide, Project Officer

We co-facilitated workshops with Health Consumers NSW to gather feedback from health consumers to strengthen action on equity related to the NSW Healthy Eating and Active Living Strategy. Participant feedback helped refine the guidance to better reflect community needs, particularly for priority populations. Our team feel more confident and capable to work with consumers in meaningful ways, and participants also shared they felt heard and included during the workshops.

Dr Saba Nabi OAM
Dr Saba Nabi OAM
HCNSW member

I personally loved the way the consultations were done – very engaging and inclusive.

Michelle Sharkey
Michelle Sharkey
Former CEO of the Stroke Recovery Association

You are a great organisation, and you have always been, for me, as a smaller advocacy organisation, a great support. You’ve also provided me with information that I would not necessarily be privy to, …, and you’ve offered me great opportunities to work with other organisations.

Annie Miller
Annie Miller
Health consumer representative, HCNSW Taskforce member

I value being part of HCNSW and will continue to look for opportunities not only to utilise my professional and lived experience, but also to connect with and support those experiencing the health system now, in real time.

Brigitte Sigl
Brigitte Sigl
Health consumer representative/researcher, HCNSW Taskforce member

Consumer voices improve research relevance, strengthen grant applications, and help ensure findings translate into real-world impact. When consumer delegates are supported, they contribute richly. They ask questions others might not see, they highlight lived realities, and they bring purpose to the conversation.

Read Brigitte's Story
Kimberley
Kimberley Grima
Consumer representative, HCNSW RAP Working Group member, HCNSW Board member and proud First Nations woman

If we keep working together, learning from each other, and including everyone in the conversation, we can create a better system for everyone.

Read Kimberley's Story
Francine Campbell
Francine Campbell
Consumer representative, HCNSW RAP Working Group member and proud First Nations woman.

Once I realised people were listening, I felt more confident to speak. And it’s not just about speaking; it’s about sharing knowledge and learning both ways.

Read Francine's Story

Our members – passionate voices

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Individual members
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Voting member organisations
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Associate member organisations

Our membership has grown 9 percent overall, compared to last financial year.

A very warm welcome to all our new members this year, and a heartfelt thanks to our existing members for your ongoing participation and support.

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Financial Report

A copy of our audited financial statements is available on request, email info@hcnsw.org.au.

2026 Income
Income: NSW Grant 65%, Projects 2.6%, Research Partnerships 19.7%, Research 6.2%, Training Courses 1.6%, Other 4.8%
Expenses 2026
Expenses: Research Partnerships/all Projects 9.4%, Operational 14.6%, Board 0.2%, Training 0.4%, Employee Cost 75.4%,
Download the report