Northern Queensland Primary Health Network
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) is an Australian Government-funded not-for-profit that commissions primary and preventative health care services across northern Queensland, serving 700,000+ residents through offices in Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay and a network of general practices, ACCHOs, allied health providers, and Hospital and Health Services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersCairns, Australia
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Northern Queensland Primary Health Network does
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) is an independent, Australian Government-funded not-for-profit organisation established around 2015 as one of 31 regionally designated Primary Health Networks. It commissions — rather than directly delivers — primary and preventative health care services across a catchment spanning more than 500,000 square kilometres from south of Mackay to the Torres Strait, serving over 700,000 residents through offices in Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay. Its three statutory functions are commissioning targeted services, building primary healthcare workforce capacity, and coordinating care across the regional system.
NQPHN's core offerings are a portfolio of commissioned programmes and digital health tools rather than a single unified product. Major programmes include the Mental Health Stepped Care programme (delivered through 17 commissioned providers), Integrated Team Care for First Nations clients (12 providers, 59,833 service interactions), the Older Persons Medication Management Pilot with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (four sites across Cairns North, Cairns South, Townsville, and Mackay), suicide prevention services (Universal Aftercare, Ways Forward, Distress Brief Support), and mental health services such as MyndKind. Digital tools include the Primary Sense clinical decision support platform for general practices and AI-driven GoShare outreach (voice and SMS) for patient engagement including bowel cancer screening reminders.
Revenue and funding flow primarily from the Australian Government, with additional joint Federal/State funding for programmes such as the Distress Brief Support Initiative. In FY2024-25, NQPHN invested A$70.7 million in commissioning primary health services, coordinating care, and workforce capacity. The organisation employs approximately 100 staff and contracts with general practices, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, allied health providers, mental health organisations, pharmacies, aged care providers, and Hospital and Health Services as distribution channels. Services are provided free or subsidised to eligible residents through commissioned providers rather than direct billing.
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Northern Queensland Primary Health Network
- Legal name
- Northern Queensland Primary Health Network
- Website
- https://nqphn.com.au
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) is an Australian Government-funded not-for-profit that commissions primary and preventative health care services across northern Queensland, serving 700,000+ residents through offices in Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay and a network of general practices, ACCHOs, allied health providers, and Hospital and Health Services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Primary Health Care Commissioning
- NAICS
- Health Care and Social Assistance (62), Ambulatory Health Care Services (621), Social Assistance (624)
- SIC
- Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Offices & Clinics Of Doctors Of Medicine (8011), Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Primary Care Networks, Groups & MSOs (HLAFAGAE)
Keywords
Where Northern Queensland Primary Health Network is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cairns
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices3 records
Markets served
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Australian Government Funding: NQPHN is an independent, not-for-profit organisation funded by the Australian Government to commission primary health care services across northern Queensland. In 2024-25, NQPHN invested $70.7 million in commissioning primary health services, coordinating care, and building workforce capacity.
- Joint Federal/State Funding: Programs such as the Distress Brief Support Initiative and Universal Aftercare are jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments, delivered in partnership with Hospital and Health Services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Free public health services - NQPHN funds services that are provided at no cost to eligible community members |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation funded by the Australian Government to commission primary health care services across northern Queensland. It works with general practices, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, mental health providers, pharmacies, allied health services, aged care providers, and Hospital and Health Services to fund, coordinate, and build capacity in primary health care delivery for over 700,000 residents across Torres and Cape, Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay regions.
Product overview
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation funded by the Australian Government to commission primary health care services across northern Queensland. Rather than operating a single unified product, NQPHN offers a portfolio of commissioned healthcare services and digital health tools. Key offerings include Primary Sense (a clinical decision support tool for general practices), the Older Persons Medication Management Pilot (integrating pharmacists into GP practices), AI-driven bowel cancer screening outreach via GoShare, Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, and various mental health programs including MyndKind, Universal Aftercare, Ways Forward, and Distress Brief Support. These services are coordinated across the region spanning Torres and Cape, Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay to improve health outcomes for over 700,000 residents.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Primary Sense
Quantifiable outcome
- 2,281 older persons helped navigate health and aged care services
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Northern Queensland Primary Health Network
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability6 records
Feature3 records
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- Wellways AustraliacoreWellways delivers the Ways Forward program and Universal Aftercare for suicide prevention, providing education, emotional support, and connection for people supporting loved ones through suicidal crisis. Jointly funded by Australian and Queensland Governments, with referrals coordinated through Hospital and Health Services.
- Health Workforce QueenslandcoreNQPHN partners with Health Workforce Queensland to run the 'Want to live and work in paradise?' campaign showcasing rewarding careers and lifestyle opportunities in northern Queensland's primary health sector to attract health professionals to the region.
- Townsville Hospital and Health Service (THHS)coreTHHS partners with NQPHN and Wellways to deliver Universal Aftercare program for people experiencing suicidal crisis. THHS clinical staff make referrals to the program, with pathways developed in close partnership.
- Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health ServicecorePartners with NQPHN in delivering the Distress Brief Support Initiative in Mareeba Shire and Atherton Tablelands. CHHHS contributes expertise in mental health services and provides coordination support for the program.
- Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA)coreNQPHN partners with PSA to deliver the Older Persons Medication Management Pilot Project, integrating non-dispensing pharmacists into general practices. The project supports people over 65 and First Nations peoples over 50 with medication management, safety reviews, and multidisciplinary care. PSA provides project management, training, and mentoring for GP pharmacists embedded in participating practices across Townsville, Charters Towers, Cairns, and Atherton.
- Mareeba Community CentrecoreDelivers the wellness team component of the Distress Brief Support Initiative, providing short-term support for up to three weeks and connections to longer-term services for people experiencing everyday overwhelm.
- Beacon StrategiescoreDelivers community engagement points for the Distress Brief Support Initiative, building a network of trusted people and places in communities for compassionate support conversations.
- Lives Lived WellcoreNQPHN funds Lives Lived Well to deliver nurse-led Withdrawal Support and Clinical Care Coordination program, providing compassionate, wrap-around care for people navigating withdrawal, homelessness, and complex health conditions across northern Queensland.
- Palliative Care QueenslandcorePalliative Care Queensland hosts the Good Life, Good Death Expo in Mackay, supported by NQPHN, providing community education on death, dying, grief, and loss, along with professional education for healthcare workers.
- Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA)supportingNQPHN funds corporate APNA memberships for primary health care nurses across the region, providing access to education resources, professional development, and clinical support.
- North and West Remote Health (NWRH)coreNWRH delivers comprehensive allied health, mental health and wellbeing services across Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay. NQPHN funds psychological therapies, primary mental health care, Indigenous mental health programs, alcohol and other drugs programs, and telehealth mental health services.
- Active PerformancecoreMultidisciplinary allied health provider delivering services to Croydon, Georgetown, and Mount Garnet under the Multidisciplinary Allied Health Teams program. Regularly visits over 400 NDIS participants across 24 communities in FNQ, Cape York, TSI, Gulf, and East Arnhem Land.
- Physio Plus MackaycoreDelivers Multidisciplinary Allied Health Teams program to Moranbah, Clermont, Dysart, and Middlemount communities, providing expert multidisciplinary care for people with chronic conditions in the Isaac region.
- Kirwan GP ClinicsupportingParticipating practice in NQPHN's Proactive Chronic Conditions Management CQI program, providing bulk-billed GP services in Townsville and benefiting from quality improvement support and resources.
- Healthily (GoShare)supportingTechnology partner providing GoShare platform for AI-driven voice calls and SMS reminder campaigns to support patient recalls, MyMedicare registration, and chronic disease management engagement.
- Health Education Collaborative (HEC)supportingHEC delivers nurse upskilling workshops across Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay, with 145 nursing professionals trained in fracture management, burns, ECG, IV cannulation, and deteriorating patient treatment. Funded by NQPHN.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Tasmania PHN: Direct peer: Australian PHN serving a geographically dispersed population (including rural and remote communities) with the same commissioning model, workforce-attraction challenges, and reliance on general practice and ACCHO partnerships as NQPHN.
- Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN: Direct peer: Queensland PHN with the same statutory remit to commission primary care, mental health, and First Nations services; comparable in scale and program mix to NQPHN and competes indirectly for adjacent regional populations and provider relationships.
- Hunter New England and Central Coast PHN: Direct peer: one of Australia's largest PHNs, operating under the identical Australian Government funding and commissioning framework with comparable mental health stepped care, ACCHO partnerships, and regional service-coordination functions.
- North Western Melbourne PHN: Direct peer: large metropolitan-anchored Australian PHN funded and structured identically to NQPHN, with the same commissioning, capacity-building, and care-coordination mandate across mental health, aged care, and chronic conditions.
- Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast PHN: Direct peer: Queensland PHN commissioned by the Australian Government to coordinate primary care across an adjacent and partially overlapping regional footprint, delivering the same mental health stepped care, ITC, and general-practice support programs as NQPHN.
- Western Queensland PHN: Direct peer: another Australian Government-funded non-profit PHN operating in a similarly vast, remote, and low-density region of Queensland with comparable mental health, First Nations, and workforce-attraction challenges and an identical commissioning-and-capacity-building mandate.
- Brisbane North PHN: Direct peer: another Queensland PHN with the same federal funding model, skills-based Board governance, and three-function mandate (commissioning, capacity building, care coordination), serving a much larger but adjacent metropolitan-and-regional catchment.
- Gold Coast PHN: Direct peer: Queensland PHN commissioned under the same national PHN framework, delivering the same commissioning, practice-support, mental-health and aged-care programs, and operating with a comparable skills-based board and CEO-led not-for-profit structure.
- Western Sydney PHN: Direct peer: PHN operating under the same federal framework, with comparable multicultural-community outreach, mental health stepped care, and general-practice quality-improvement programs that mirror NQPHN's GoShare-style targeted engagement approach.
- Country SA PHN: Direct peer: South Australian PHN covering regional and remote areas, operating under the same federal funding and commissioning mandate and facing similar primary-care workforce, mental health access, and chronic-disease challenges as NQPHN.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network social profiles
Digital presenceNorthern Queensland Primary Health Network financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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Northern Queensland Primary Health Network M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about Northern Queensland Primary Health Network
What does Northern Queensland Primary Health Network do?
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation funded by the Australian Government to commission primary health care services across northern Queensland. It works with general practices, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, mental health providers, pharmacies, allied health services, aged care providers, and Hospital and Health Services to fund, coordinate, and build capacity in primary health care delivery for over 700,000 residents across Torres and Cape, Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay regions.
Is Northern Queensland Primary Health Network a public or private company?
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Northern Queensland Primary Health Network founded?
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network was founded in 2015. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Northern Queensland Primary Health Network based?
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network is headquartered in Cairns, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Northern Queensland Primary Health Network make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Australian Government Funding is the primary driver. The others are joint Federal/State Funding.
Who are Northern Queensland Primary Health Network's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Tasmania PHN, Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN, Hunter New England and Central Coast PHN, North Western Melbourne PHN, Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast PHN, Western Queensland PHN, Brisbane North PHN, Gold Coast PHN, Western Sydney PHN and Country SA PHN.
Does Northern Queensland Primary Health Network have an API?
No public API is recorded for Northern Queensland Primary Health Network.
What industry is Northern Queensland Primary Health Network in?
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network's product category is Primary Health Care Commissioning. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAFAGAE, Primary Care Networks, Groups & MSOs. Its NAICS code is 62 and its SIC code is 8000.