Inaugural Meeting of the National Complex Needs Alliance Today

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Representatives from health and community sector organisations from around the country will gather today for the inaugural meeting of the  National Complex Needs Alliance.

Member organisations include a range of national, State/Territory and local groups focused on improving services and outcomes for some of the most marginalised and disadvantaged Australians.  The meeting will also be attended by a number of Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum.

"It has long been acknowledged that people with complex needs often fall through the cracks in service delivery – between national and jurisdictional service delivery, between government and non-government services, and between services delivered by different portfolio agencies,” said Melanie Walker, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA).

“People don’t live their lives within portfolios, and those with complex needs in particular need help to negotiate their way through the maze of available services.  "The new National Complex Needs Alliance will be seeking to engage with both national and jurisdictional governments, policy makers and funding providers to raise awareness of issues relating to complex needs and the need for government policy and funding structures to facilitate collaborative cross-portfolio approaches to service delivery.

“There are some brilliant examples of collaborative approaches to achieving better health and social outcomes for people with complex needs at the local level, but these are often not supported by traditional approaches to policy and funding that focus on a single area of need.  By facilitating cooperation between agencies providing assistance to people with complex needs, governments will also be able to achieve better returns on existing investments in funding.  If we work together, we can achieve better outcomes for both people and budgets,” explained Ms Walker