Author: Rhonda Kerr - AAHP Co-chair

2024 was a year of discovery, delight and achievement. From an initial meeting of health planners from every mainland state, New Zealand and the ACT we have discovered an impressive healthcare knowledge base, brilliant systems thinkers and a passion for working through challenges to achieve remarkable outcomes.

Discovery. The first question in 2024 was ‘’Who are Health Planners and what can they do?’’ was answered with a world first Capability Framework describing the scope of practice, capabilities and capacities of health planners, standard deliverables, qualifications and attributes. These were affirmed by literature reviews, consultations and survey of 80 Australasian health planners.

Delight. All that happened by June!   The name and constitution were ratified in August and the Australasian Association of Health Planners Inc. was registered in September. Moving to the operating mode, financial systems were installed by November and the Association was launched on 27 November 2024.  One year since the initial concept meeting. Membership applications have exceeded our expectations.

Achievement. A group of competitors came together to form the first professional association for health planners in Australia and New Zealand and one of the first in the world, in 12 months. They proved to be dynamic, insightful, hard-working, brilliant, cooperative, generous, thoughtful professionals with a wealth of experiences. The AAHP has created a platform for sharing knowledge, expanding scope, learning, and above all, generous collegiate fellowship. These are people of great worth. I note the powerful contributions of Isabelle Mansour and Annabel Frazer in particular.

Advocacy for the profession status of health planners amongst decision makers in healthcare and with other professional colleagues will be a key focus in 2025. Happy New Year!!