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CheckUP works with partner organisations and health providers to create healthier communities and reduce health inequities through a range of initiatives.

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Future-proof your First Nations health workforce with free planning support

CheckUP Australia is offering free workforce planning support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and community service organisations across Queensland. Access expert guidance, download the new Strong Futures Start Here toolkit, and discover available grants to build skilled, culturally connected teams.

What’s inside this edition

Workforce planning made simple
Learn what workforce planning is, why it matters, and how to assess your team’s current capacity and future needs to serve community for generations to come.

Free Strong Futures Start Here guide
Download our comprehensive toolkit designed specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employers. Work through practical strategies at your own pace to build sustainable, culturally connected workforces.

Expert support from First Nations Industry Workforce Advisors
Connect with Carissa McAllister for personalised workforce planning support available anywhere in Queensland. Organisations report professionally presented plans aligned with strategic priorities and valuable ongoing guidance.

Available grants and programs
NDIS Business Connect for small providers, Queensland training programs (VETiS, Career Start, Career Boost), Business Assist and Workforce Evolve support, plus free Disability-Friendly Business Basics micro-credentials.

Real results
Read testimonials from organisations who’ve strengthened their workforce capacity with CheckUP’s support.

The January 2026 edition of Reaching Out

The latest Reaching Out newsletter celebrates the dedicated providers and practitioners making a difference in rural and remote Queensland. This edition farewells Dr Sandra Zeeman after 12 years of outreach GP services in Kilkivan and marks CheckUP’s 10-year milestone as fundholder for the Visiting Optometrists Scheme.

Readers can also find updates on patient feedback surveys, upcoming service delivery audits, and congratulations to Dr Rolf Gomes (2026 QLD Australian of the Year), Floyd Leedie OAM, and Dr Sangla OAM for their contributions to rural and Indigenous health.

View the newsletter

CheckIN Issue 229 – January 2026

Kick off 2026 with the January edition of CheckIN

Explore the 2024-2025 Annual Report, discover free disability friendly training opportunities, and save the dates for the upcoming Queensland Primary Health Care Network event, plus more.

View the newsletter

CheckUP celebrates 10 years as Visiting Optometrists Scheme fundholder

Left to Right: Fiona Moore (Optometry Qld/NT and CheckUP VOS Provider), Dr Theo Charalambus President Optometry Australia, Monica Barolits-McCabe (Executive Director, NACCHO), Lose Fonua (CEO, First Nations Eye Health Alliance), Michelle Hodges, CheckUP

50 Years of Outreach Eye Care Across Australia

As the Visiting Optometrists Scheme (VOS) marked its 50th anniversary in 2025, Optometry Australia hosted a celebration at Parliament House in Canberra. For fifty years, VOS has ensured people in regional, rural, and remote communities can access essential eye care, prevent avoidable vision loss and help bridge longstanding health inequities.

As the jurisdictional fundholder of VOS for over 10 years, CheckUP were pleased to attend the event during National Rural Health Month alongside key stakeholders.

10 Years supporting eye care in Queensland

CheckUP proudly reflects on its own decade of leadership as Queensland’s jurisdictional fundholder. Over the last 10 years, CheckUP has supported outreach providers by managing funding, facilitating service planning and referral pathways, and collaborating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and key stakeholders.

This work has helped maintain continuity of care and ensured VOS services remain aligned with cultural, geographic, and logistical realities across Queensland. Throughout this time, CheckUP has strengthened partnerships with optometrists, local health providers, and community organisations, ensuring services are responsive to local needs and delivered seamlessly.

Image – Fiona Moore (Optometry Qld/NT and CheckUP VOS Provider)

Queensland VOS Outreach: 2024–25 by the numbers

112

communities received VOS optometry visits

1,148

visits delivered across the state

19,738

occasions of service provided

12,377

accessed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Growing Queensland’s outreach optometry network

Several VOS providers have been with CheckUP since 2015 when we started with 11 providers – this has now grown to 21. Along with the communities they serve, we are very appreciative of their commitment and dedicated service to delivering outreach.

Image – Dr Shelley Hopkins QUT, Gayle Stallard CheckUP, Tanya Morris, Country Director – Indigenous Australia Program | The Fred Hollows Foundation

The future of outreach eye care in Queensland

As VOS enters its next 50 years, CheckUP celebrates the shared achievements of providers, partners, and communities. The organisation remains committed to supporting equitable access to eye care for rural, remote and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and continuing its role in sustaining and strengthening the VOS legacy across Queensland.

Image – Senator the Hon Anne Ruston (Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care)

CheckUP staff at VOS 50th anniversary celebration at Parliament House Canberra

Dr Shelley Hopkins QUT, Gayle Stallard CheckUP, Tanya Morris, Country Director – Indigenous Australia Program | The Fred Hollows Foundation

Want more stories?

Read about regional, rural and remote stories that are making a real difference.

Kilkivan outreach provider retiring after 12 years of dedicated service

CheckUP’s Gayle Stallard recently attended a farewell morning tea in Kilkivan to celebrate the remarkable contribution of Dr Sandra Zeeman, who has been delivering outreach GP services to the community for over 12 years.

 

A service built from the ground up

The Kilkivan model wasn’t your typical outreach service. Built from the ground up, it later became known as the Kilkivan Community Health Hub. Located in a house in the small Kilkivan community, the service began as a collaborative effort between community members, Gympie Regional Council, Sunshine Coast Medicare Local (now Country to Coast PHN), and CheckUP – all working together to provide access to a local GP service.

As the service grew, the need for additional support quickly became clear, along with increasing demand for allied health professionals. Today, the community has access to two GPs, a Nurse Practitioner, a Physiotherapist, and a Podiatrist. In previous years, the service also included a counsellor.

CheckUP’s Regional Coordinator, Amber Hanks, regularly checks in with all stakeholders to ensure community needs continue to be met through these services.

CheckUP’s commitment to the Kilkivan community and their ageing-in-place goals will continue, supported by the Australian Government’s Rural Health Outreach Fund.

Celebrating Dr Sandra Zeeman’s 12 years of service to Kilkivan

Dr Zeeman was instrumental in establishing the service back in November 2013, with her first visit on 21 November that year.

In her farewell speech, Dr Zeeman said that serving the Kilkivan community was the highlight of her career. She is delighted to be leaving the community in good hands, having recommended Dr James Mann and Dr James Pearson and supported their transition into the role.

CheckUP thanked Dr Zeeman for her years of dedicated service and presented her with a farewell gift.

Gayle handing flowers to Dr Zeeman

For more news and stories

Visit our news and publications page

December CheckIN eNews is here!

CheckUP’s final newsletter for 2025 features the newly released Annual Report showcasing 26 years of impact across Queensland. Plus, catch up on the successful Disability Action Week event, learn about Queensland’s groundbreaking GP ADHD prescribing changes, and discover how 6,800+ students engaged with the Health Gateway Project this year.

Free disability inclusion training is available now, NDIS compliance sessions are booking up, and new child safety legislation takes effect January 1st. Find out what your business needs to do, access free workforce planning advice, and read important wet season health warnings before the office closes December 19th.

December CheckUP Connect is here!

The CheckUP team has been connecting with communities right across Queensland, delivering free training and practical support for health and community service businesses. This month’s newsletter features tools you can use now. they include workforce planning guides, NDIS compliance resources, and new micro-credentials to help your team thrive.

Government consultations are open on NDIS pricing and disability safeguards, plus there are free webinar recordings, career pathway tools, and support programs ready to help your business in 2026.

Find out what’s available and how to get involved.


Disability Action Week Highlights, 2025 QPHCN Event

CheckUP brought together health professionals, community leaders, and disability advocates for our final Queensland Primary Healthcare Network (QPHCN) event of 2025, exploring the theme “Communicate. Connect. Create.”

Hosted by Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM (doctor, lawyer, researcher and disability advocate), the event featured powerful conversations about what inclusion really means. The day highlighted inspiring examples from Joshua Bamford on practical disability employment at M&H Ward (McDonald’s) Australia, DJ on his inclusion in schools program reaching 5,000+ students yearly with Social Futures, and Chithrani Palipana on vocational rehabilitation and creating pathways for people with disability.

Debbie Rooskov presented CheckUP’s Disability Friendly Business Basics micro-credential program, designed to help small businesses unlock the disability customer base while building genuine inclusion. The credentials focus on appropriate services, challenging biases, and effective communication.

The event explored real barriers and real solutions. From employment success stories to education programs that shift how young people see disability, speakers shared lived experience alongside practical strategies.

Watch the event

Resources

Joshua Bamford’s Presentation
View here
Debbie Rooskov’s Presentation
View here
Gain more information about Access for All

Access for All is an online course that aims to improve disability awareness among health providers and increase understanding about the barriers people with disability experience when accessing healthcare.

Register Today
Become a disability friendly business

Disability Friendly Business Basics (DFBB) is a training program that teaches businesses how to be more accessible and welcoming to customers and employees with disability.

It’s an online course that covers topics such as making your physical space easier to navigate, communicating more effectively with people who have different needs, and understanding disability inclusion basics.

It’s designed for any business (trades, retail shops, cafes) that wants to serve everyone in their community better and create a more inclusive environment.

Register Today
Eager to attend future events?

CheckUP hosts networking and learning events throughout the year across Queensland.

These gatherings bring together health professionals, community leaders, and service providers to share knowledge, build connections, and explore ways to collaborate.

Whether you’re interested in workforce development, disability inclusion, or reconciliation work, there’s an event coming up that might interest you.

Follow us on Humanitix to stay in the loop about what’s next and stay tuned for QPHCN 2026 dates!

Register Today

Sponsor acknowledgement: Thank you, PSC MediProtect

We gratefully acknowledge PSC MediProtect for their support. From humble beginnings in September 1999, PSC Mediprotect has grown to become a market leader in innovative insurance solutions for health professionals, medical, and affinity groups. A commitment to these markets has seen the company develop unique products.  PSC MediProtect sponsorship means we can facilitate events to raise disability awareness.

QPHCN 2026

How local care shaped one Emerald family’s future for the better

In March 2024, ten-year old Summer’s world shifted in the Emergency Department at Emerald Hospital. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, Summer was airlifted by a CapRescue helicopter to Rockhampton.

For her mum, those first moments were a whirlwind. But one thing stood out: meeting diabetes educators Carolanne Boland and Dr Louise Russell from the Emerald Diabetes Clinic.

“We didn’t know then how important their support would become,” Summer’s mum said. “The time away in hospital was a blur, but what stood out was knowing that when we went back home to Emerald, we wouldn’t be alone.”

Getting the care that matters

At their first clinic appointments, Carolanne and Dr Russell walked the family through their options for ongoing treatment, focusing on insulin pump technology which allows insulin to be delivered directly into the body with a thin tube called a canula. By the end of April 2024, Summer was equipped with her first pump, a huge milestone many families wait months to achieve.

“While I didn’t know this at the time, I later discovered that without the Emerald clinic, we would have faced a lengthy wait and likely would have needed to travel to Hervey Bay for similar specialist care,” her mum explains.

Instead, Summer’s been continually supported by a highly qualified and experienced  local healthcare team and supplemented by specialists from Queensland Children’s Hospital through both telehealth and in-person consultations.

Summer being transported by CapRescue helicopter with a flight paramedic monitoring her care during the medical emergency transfer.

More than medical appointments

“This approach has been nothing short of incredible for Summer,” her mum said. “Not only has she developed strong relationships with her health team, but she’s also returned to her happy, healthy self in record time.”

The clinic has been able to give Summer’s family something just as meaningful as medical management, they’ve given her a sense of community, a group of passionate people along for the ride.

“The clinic has done more than manage her medical condition. It’s given us a sense of community during a challenging time and ensured that distance wasn’t a barrier to exceptional healthcare.”

Summer with her mother outside their home, showing her recovery and resilience after her medical emergency.

Local care matters

The Emerald Diabetes Clinic is part of CheckUP’s Rural Health Outreach Fund program, which has delivered over 56,000 appointments across 111 communities as of 2024. Each of those appointments represents a family like Summer’s getting access to care that would otherwise mean hours of travel, time off work, and nights away from home.

Healthcare professionals like Carolanne and Dr Louise demonstrate what genuine commitment to regional communities looks like. They bring expertise, certainly. But they also bring something equally important: the understanding that good healthcare means being there when families need you most.

For Summer’s family, having that support locally made a difficult situation manageable, and for Summer, it meant getting back to being a ten-year-old.

Summer at home using a medical monitoring device as part of her ongoing care and recovery.

Summer’s story shows that committed providers like Carolanne and Dr Louise have a huge impact on people who live remotely. Accessible and quality healthcare in rural and remote communities isn’t only the right thing to do – it’s necessary for a better Queensland.

CheckUP providers are committed to delivering quality healthcare to rural and remote communities.

For more information about CheckUP’s Outreach program

October CheckUP Connect is here!

Planning for the future of your health team? We’ve got practical ideas coming out of the Strategic Workforce Planning Conference, plus free resources to help you grow.

This edition covers everything from Disability Friendly Business Basics to SCHADS Award essentials, what’s happening in regional Queensland, and funding opportunities you can tap into today.