What We Do

Western Alliance is Australia’s first rural and regionally-focused academic health science centre.

Western Alliance is comprised of 12 member organisations located across the Barwon/Southwest and Grampians regions of western Victoria. Members include six public health services, three private hospitals, a primary health network and two universities.

The two regions have a combined population of over 660,000 residents or approximately 44% of rural/regional Victoria’s population. Western Alliance supports the development of healthier rural and regional communities, in recognition of the significantly poorer health outcomes experienced by people living in the Barwon/South West and Grampians regions of Victoria compared to their metropolitan-living counterparts. The challenges that affect the health of people living in western Victoria include distance and major variations in access to healthcare, socio-economic status and infrastructure.

Through a program of training, education, funding and advocacy, Western Alliance supports its members to improve the health of their communities through research-based and evidence-informed health care.

Our vision

Healthier rural and regional communities.

Western Alliance supports its members to improve the health of their communities through research-based and evidence-informed health care.

Our mission

• We foster relationships between organisations and individuals who can influence rural and regional health outcomes and research.
• We build capability of rural and regional health practitioners, researchers and consumers, enabling them to contribute to and benefit from health research.
• We prioritise rural and regional health problems and fund rural and regional health research teams to investigate, generate evidence and implement solutions.
• We support development of nationally relevant models of rural and regional health research.
• We work to achieve equitable funding for rural and regional health research.

Our values and principles

Collaboration

Success requires positive relationships and ongoing cooperation between consumers, clinicians, researchers, health services, universities and other organisations at all stages of the translational research continuum.

Agility and Utility

Research must lead to practical changes that improve health outcomes for rural and regional consumers and communities. This requires timely responses to research questions and efficient dissemination and implementation of solutions.

Respect

Consumers, clinicians from all disciplines and researchers at all career stages can make valuable contributions to improving health outcomes through research.

Equity

Fair local access by rural and regional communities to research-enabled quality health care.

Western Alliance Academic Health Science Centre (Western Alliance) was established in 2014 and incorporated as a registered health promotion charity in 2016.