Allied Health

The WAHTN Allied Health Platform was formed in 2018 in response to concerns raised by Allied Health professionals in relation to the limited opportunities to undertake research and contribute to research knowledge translation. The aim of the WAHTN Allied Health Platform is to promote research capacity-building among the many professions recognised as Allied Health. 

Allied Health is the second largest professional group in Western Australia’s healthcare system. The term Allied Health is used to describe a broad range of health professionals who aren’t doctors, dentists or nurses. Allied Health professionals comprise of university qualified practitioners with specialised expertise diagnostic, technical and therapeutic skills used to improve the health and well-being of community members. Some are referred to as regulated professions and registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Others are referred to as self-regulating professions, which involves professional peers establishing and monitoring professional standards. Further information on Allied Health professions can be found at the Allied Health Professions Australia or Chief Allied Health Office. 

The Allied Health Platform team is led by representatives from WAHTN and its member organisations, including the WA Department of Health, Western Australian universities and private hospital providers. If you are interested in being involved, contact WAHTN. 

National Allied Health Conference

The National Allied Health Conference (NAHC) is held biennially and run by a local organising committee in each destination state. The Chief Allied Health Office of the WA Department of Health hosted the 15th NAHC at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in August 2023.   

Hosted by South Australia in August 2025, the 16th NAHC in Adelaide brought together more than 800 allied health professionals from across the country, both in person and online. The event offered valuable opportunities to take part in exclusive workshops, exchange ideas, and strengthen connections within the allied health community. 

The WA Chief Allied Health Office supported more than 50 WA Health employees in 2025 who presented and hosted workshops during the 3-day event.

NAHC 2025 WA Health Presentations

Enabling Allied Health Capacity Grants

Since 2020, the WA Chief Allied Health Office has partnered with the WA Health Translation Network to build WA Health’s allied health research capacity through the Enabling Allied Health Capacity Grants Program. The program supports allied health clinicians to progress early-stage research and time for research development. This research capacity building also aims to increase the relative success of allied health professionals in competitive national and state research grant opportunities such as the Medical Research Future Fund and the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund. As of 2025, the Enabling Allied Health program has provided a grant worth total of close to $1 million for allied health clinicians across WA Health.

In 2025, the Enabling Allied Health Capacity Grants funded the 2025 WA Allied Health Advanced Practice Capacity Building Grants Program, providing small funding grants to support the development and evaluation of new allied health advanced practice models of care through research or quality improvement activities. There were 29 applications from nine allied health professions demonstrating high demand for supporting for developing allied health advanced practice models of care. 

2025 Allied Health Advanced Practice Capacity Building Grant Recipients

The Enabling Allied Health Capacity Grants allocated to WA Country Health Service (WACHS) also directly contributes to the WACHS Allied Health Novice Researcher Fellowships program. The program supports WACHS allied health professionals working in clinical settings gain research skills while undertaking a health service endorsed research project. Representing a range of disciplines, recipients of the 12-month fellowship are supported by WACHS Research and Innovation with mentors provided by the Curtin University School of Allied Health.

Meet the 2025 WACHS Allied Health Novice Researcher Fellows

From treating high-risk foot ulcers to enhancing medication safety, country health staff are delivering a range of innovative projects as part of the Allied Health Novice Researcher Fellowships (AHNRF) program. 

A joint venture between WA Country Health Service, Curtin University and the Chief Allied Health Office (Department of Health), the AHNRF program supports allied health professionals working in clinical settings to gain research-related skills while undertaking a health service endorsed research project. 

Throughout their 12-month fellowship, participants are provided half a day per week of guaranteed time to undertake their research.  They are trained by the WACHS Research and Innovation team and paired with a mentor from the Curtin University School of Allied Health.  

The program builds on a vision to be at the forefront of innovation for rural and remote health care, by building research capacity and developing home-grown clinician researchers. 

Julie Glynn (Senior Podiatrist) – Can we afford to not have a statewide podiatry led high-risk foot ulcer telehealth service in WA?

Tell us a little about your project. 

I’m researching the development of a podiatry led high-risk foot ulcer telehealth service in WA. Podiatrists are best placed to lead the treatment of foot ulcerations within rural public health, but not all WACHS sites have access to a Podiatrist. 

What inspired your project? 

University enrolments in podiatry are down across Australia and the flow on effect of this could negatively impact patients with foot ulcers in rural and remote locations. I’m located in the Great Southern, and so are my patients, but that does not mean I cannot offer my specialist skill to patients in other regions. Telehealth could support patients in locations without a podiatrist to have access to specialist foot ulcer management. 

What does this fellowship mean to you? 

I’m passionate about foot ulcer care. There is nothing sexy about foot ulcers, but as so many of my patients have said to me, ‘you take your feet for granted until something goes wrong’. Quality of life is directly linked to mobility, and statistically we know that once a patient has a major lower limb amputation their life expectancy is dramatically reduced, with 50 per cent deceased after four years. 

How will it make a difference to communities? 

A podiatry led high-risk foot ulcer telehealth service would allow staff members access to highly trained foot ulcer care professionals, to steer the treatment of complicated ulcerations. Podiatrists offer gold standard neurovascular assessments, wound care and offloading, which are all essential for wound healing, and can focus on patient-specific causes of non-healing or reoccurring ulcerations to achieve the best outcomes for these lifelong, high-risk patients. 

Nam-Anh Nguyen (Medicines Management Pharmacist) – Enhancing the effectiveness of medication independent double checks to reduce patient harm

Tell us a little about your project. 

My project is looking at the ratio of independent double checks compared to preventable medication administration errors, and what other risk mitigation strategies we can lean on when double checks are not possible (e.g. when working alone on site). 

What inspired your project? 

We all come to work to care for patients and we all deserve to work in an environment which helps us to work as safely with medicines as possible. 

What does this fellowship mean to you? 

Being a Fellow means that I can develop my research and quality improvement skills, which will make me a better pharmacist and help me to lead practice changes which are meaningful, and which have a better chance of success. 

How will it make a difference to communities? 

Hopefully it will give our communities more confidence in the care they receive from us. We’re always looking to improve the way we do things, and we empower our staff to do so. 

WACHS would like to acknowledge and thank the Department of Health Chief Allied Health Office for funding via the Allied Health Research Capacity Grants to support this initiative, and Curtin University for providing mentoring to our fellows. 

Future Health Research and Innovation Grants supporting Allied Health Research

The Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund is a Western Australian sovereign wealth fund established in 2020 with an investment of $1.8 billion. Its primary purpose is to support health and medical research, innovation, and commercialisation activities to improve the health and prosperity of Western Australians. 

The FHRI Fund has funded notable allied health research activities in WA, with over $1.5 million in 2024/25 allocated to supporting research in allied health categories including audiology, clinical psychology, dietetics, exercise physiology and sonography.

2024/25 FHRI Fund Recipients – Allied Health category