NAATSIHWP receives support from the Australian Government through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region ( PHR ) Initiative. In 2025, NAATSIHWP was awarded a three-year grant (AUD2m) to deliver the Regional Indigenous Partnership: Collaboration for Primary Health Care Workforce Strengthening in Vanuatu ( RegIP: Vanuatu).
RegIP: Vanuatu is founded on the principles of Indigenous self-determination, co-design, mutual respect, and relationship-centred collaboration. The project is delivered in close partnership with the Vanuatu Ministry of Health and will support practical, locally driven approaches to strengthening the role of Village Health Workers (VHWs) in Vanuatu. VHWs are embedded within their communities and play a critical and trusted role in the provision of primary health care.
NAATSIHWP is in a unique position to support the ongoing development and strengthening of the Vanuatu VHW program by drawing on decades of experience supporting culturally grounded health workforces. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker and Health Practitioners have demonstrated how their approaches can improve health outcomes by strengthening trust, increasing access to care, and embedding cultural safety within health services.
Through creating opportunities for collaboration, peer learning, and the exchange of knowledge and experience, the project seeks to build lasting professional connections between First Nations and Ni-Vanuatu health workforces. Such enduring networks can support a more resilient and community-led primary healthcare system in Vanuatu.