Friends of Community Health
Friends of Community Health is a voluntary advocacy group to support and strengthen health care services that reflect our values. We receive no funding for our activities, but work closely with the current leaders of the community health movement, in particular Community Health First organisation that represents current leaders of the sector, understanding that individual services may fear that their funding will be jeopardised if they advocate publicly. We are not affiliated with any political party, but seek to spread our vision of health care reform at the community level across conventional political divisions.
What is a ‘friend of Community Health’?
We do not levy a membership fee to become ‘a friend’. Thus, we do not require regulatory approval for our
activities. You become a friend of community health simply by filling out the online membership form giving
us permission to send you news of community health services and our campaigns of support. From time to
time, we will encourage you to take specific actions such as writing to relevant ministers, visiting your local
member of parliament, volunteering at your nearest community health service.
Who are we?
Since the 1974 funding of the first community health centres in Australia, this vision of how community-
based health care should be structured and funded has inspired generations of health care providers
(doctors, nurses, allied health practitioners) and more importantly, satisfied users of these services. Our
vision is not the conventional charity model of care for the poor and downtrodden, but we need to
bring these voices together.
We have thousands of potential friends who see the importance and value of this model of care.
Friends of Community Health is minimally governed by a Victorian steering committee recruited from the
membership and led by a convenor. Initially this body is an online sounding board to initiate and guide
statewide activities. Local groups can initiate their own activities under the Friends of Community Health
banner, provided they add a locality identifier (‘Friends of Community Health—Woop Woop’) to any
materials (press releases, local actions, etc). Individual
‘Friends’ can publicly advocate by signing themselves
‘a Friend of Community Health’. Only actions and publications of the statewide steering committee can
adopt ‘official’ statements on behalf of all Friends of Community Health. To the extent there is a hierarchy
of advocacy, it goes:
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A Friend of Community Health
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Woop Woop Friends of Community Health
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Victorian Friends of Community Health
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(…and maybe someday…) Australian Friends of Community Health.
Starting today
Join us to give support to this neglected and underfunded part of our health care system. Bring your real-life friends along with you. Spread awareness of how the social determinants of health affect health care outcomes, to build a constituency for locally-accountable, team-based, multi-disciplinary health care. You will find like-minded users and providers of health care who will become your friends.
Get in Touch
We invite you to reach out to discuss our initiatives, get involved, or share your thoughts on how we can collaborate to improve community health.