Hi there,

Welcome to the October edition of CheckIN. 

CheckUP recently coordinated Queensland Mental Health Week (QMHW). This year saw over 400 community events registered to raise awareness and bolster connection.

We thank the Queensland Government and the Queensland Mental Health Commission for funding QMHW, and all our cross-sector partners who helped bring the week to life.

It's not too late to visit the QMHW website, organise a get-together and register it. We encourage everyone to participate during October, World Mental Health Month. 

Our last major events of the year are almost here, and we welcome your attendance. Firstly, we are hosting a Toowoomba Member and Stakeholder event on 6 November. If you live in the Toowoomba region, come along to connect with CheckUP staff, Board and Executive, plus local health and workforce professionals and industry leaders.

Then, on 25 November, we have our final 2025 Queensland Primary Health Care Network event during Disability Action Week. We're thrilled to announce Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM will be chairing the event, alongside a fantastic line-up of presenters. Register now to secure your spot.

CheckUP teams have been out in community over the past month visiting regions, plus hosting and attending events, including the Disability Summit, the 2025 Health Gateway Awards and more. 

Above: Ann Maree Liddy, CheckUP CEO

CheckUP continues to provide online micro-credential courses, including Disability Friendly Business Basics to help businesses build more inclusive services, and Access for All: Disability Awareness Training for Health Providers. See details below, including our new informative Disability Friendly Business Basics video.

This newsletter also highlights important health sector news, industry events, new child safety legislation, awareness initiatives, and more.

As the year draws closer to its end, we thank all our partners and members for their ongoing support and collaboration. 

Best wishes,

Ann Maree Liddy
Chief Executive Officer
CheckUP

Supporting rural and remote Queensland communities

CheckUP is proud to support rural and remote communities across Queensland.

It’s a privilege to deliver vital health services, collaborate with dedicated health providers and partners, and build meaningful relationships along the way.

We’re also fortunate to explore some of the most stunning and diverse regions Queensland has to offer, including Kazu Pearl, Friday Island!

These images feature CheckUP's CEO, Ann Maree Liddy, and our CheckUP Management Team travelling in Torres Strait Islands with our valued partners.

Success during Queensland Mental Health Week (QMHW)

Queensland Mental Health Week was held from 4 to 12 October 2025 and saw more than 400 community events registered on the official website. We thank everyone who participated and raised awareness to create stronger, more connected communities.

The CheckUP team (pictured) had the pleasure of attending some of the amazing QMHW events over the week.

Did you participate in QMHW? Don't forget to add your pics to socials with the hashtag #QMHW2025. We'd love to read your stories. 

It's still not too late to register an event during October, World Mental Health Month. Visit the QMHW website to register a gathering and download resources.

CheckUP's AfA team exhibited at the Disability Summit

Last month, CheckUP proudly exhibited at the National Disability Summit in Melbourne. The Summit gave disability service providers, community care organisations, and industry leaders opportunities to learn about the latest developments in disability care and support.

CheckUP's General Manager – Engagement and Business Development, David Millichap, and Amanda Frier, CheckUP's Access for All Manager promoted Access for All, an online course designed to improve disability awareness among health providers. 

Grow your customer base! Become an inclusive, disability friendly business today

Did you know one in five Australians live with a disability? Many of them are looking for accessible businesses to support.

CheckUP's FREE Disability Friendly Business Basics micro-credentials course offers practical skills to make business services more inclusive and welcoming. If you want to build confidence, expand your customer base, and create a business where everyone feels they belong, complete the FREE course today!

Meet Disability Friendly Business Basics Program Manager, Deb Rooskov, in this engaging and informative video to learn how you can start your journey to becoming a more inclusive business today!

Open your doors to more customers and build a stronger community.

View the Video below

Attend the Disability Action Week 2025 QPHCN event

You're invited to attend the last QPHCN event of the year for Disability Action Week on Tuesday, 25 November 2025, from 12 - 2pm.

This popular annual event celebrates and recognises Disability Action Week. The theme for 2025 is "Communicate. Connect. Create."

Along with our MC, Dr Dinesh Pilipana, there will be a range of engaging speakers with lived and living experience of disability, and people who champion inclusion and strengthen connections. Plus, there will be opportunities to share ideas and stories that support people with disability.

2025 Health Gateway Awards

Recently, we celebrated the achievements of outstanding students and educators across the Health Gateway network at the 2025 Health Gateway Awards, held online on 8 October. 
To view the highlights video, click HERE.

Congratulations to the winners:

• School Based Trainee of the Year – 
  Kees Luffman, Kelvin Grove State College
• First Nations Student of the Year – 
  Juzzy Baldwin, Ripley Valley State Secondary College
• Health Qualification Student of the Year 
  Gabriella Toohey, St Columban's College, Caboolture
• Teacher or Educator of the Year – 
  Gemma Dawson, Kirwan State High School

We extend our heartfelt thanks to our independent judging panel:
Jade Galloway (Queensland Health), Tammy Rasmussen (QAIHC), Les Retfort and Christopher Buchanski (Department of Trade, Employment and Training).

Thank you to everyone who joined us in recognising the incredible talent and dedication within our Health Gateway community!

View the Highlights video above

CheckUP supports Indigenous Business Month and offers free workforce planning advice

CheckUP is a proud ally to many Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and employers, and we acknowledge and thank them for their wisdom, strength and service as we all celebrate Indigenous Business Month in October 2025. 

CheckUP serves as the Industry Workforce Advisor organisation for the following sectors:

• First Nations healthcare and social assistance
• Health
• Community Services

The Industry Workforce Advisor program supports small to medium health and community services businesses to address workforce challenges, diversify their workforces, and support workforce and productivity growth.

For free workforce planning advice for any of the sectors we support, please complete the Expression of Interest form via the link below.

Toowoomba Member and Stakeholder Networking event

CheckUP is excited to invite you to the final Regional Member Networking Event for 2025.

The Toowoomba Member and Stakeholder Networking event will be held on 6 November from 5.30pm - 7.30pm.

Come along to network with health providers, workforce professionals and industry leaders. It's also a great opportunity to meet face-to-face with CheckUP's Board, Executive and staff, share ideas, collaborate, and celebrate 2025 as we all look towards 2026. We hope to see you there.

New Child Safe Organisations Act - now in effect

Queensland's New Child Safe Organisations Act, now in effect (from 1 October 2025), requires that organisations providing services to children demonstrate how they are keeping them safe. The Act is in place to protect Queensland children from harm when they interact with businesses and organisations. This is a critical update for all service providers, especially those working with children with disability. 

To help organisations understand the new Act, CheckUP recently hosted a webinar, presented by the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC). The webinar gave over 200 attendees a clear and practical walkthrough of Queensland’s new Child Safe Organisations Act.

View the webinar highlights HERE

CheckUP's Workforce and Industry team is exhibiting at the upcoming Mt Isa Jobs Expo

CheckUP's Workforce and Industry team will be at the Mt Isa Jobs Expo, hosted by the Mount Isa Regional Jobs Committee (RJC) on 30 October. 

This free event highlights employment, training and career pathways across all industries, with a special focus on the Health & Social Assistance sector, Mt Isa's largest and fastest-growing industry. Students, job seekers, community, employers and training providers are encouraged to attend, explore current job vacancies, connect with local businesses and take part in interactive, hands-on trade and skills demonstrations.

Come and meet CheckUP's Workforce and Industry team to learn more!

CheckUP staff profile

Meet Mirabelle
As CheckUP's Regional Coordinator for North and North West Queensland, Mirabelle brings a compassionate and informed approach to supporting health equity across rural and remote communities. With a Diploma of Counselling and a background in suicide prevention and crisis support, she is committed to fostering meaningful relationships and working collaboratively to improve access to health services. Mirabelle aims to ensure that community strengths and needs are genuinely reflected in the way services are delivered.

Delivering mental health services to Queensland's rural and remote communities 

CheckUP funds many vital Outreach Health Services. One of them is psychology.

This month's Partyline magazine, published by the National Rural Health Alliance outlines how psychologist Ed Mosely from Wakai Waian Healing is making a difference in some of Queensland's most remote communities.

Travelling regularly to some of the state's most remote communities, Ed delivers mental health care where it’s often needed most. “Out here, mental health support starts with connection. You need to be more than a visiting clinician. You need to be someone people know and trust.”

Ed’s outreach work focus is caring for the carers; rural and remote health professionals who often face isolation, long hours, and limited resources.

Discover your skin cancer risk with a free online tool

QIMR Berghofer recently unveiled the next generation of its FREE online melanoma risk prediction calculator. This tool helps Australians understand their melanoma risk, supports early detection, and guides smarter skin cancer screening.

Created using a decade of research and data from over 40,000 participants in the landmark QSkin Study, the upgraded calculator incorporates 16 important personal factors such as age, skin type, hair colour, and sunspot history. Plus, it considers regional differences in UV exposure across the country.

Inclusion at Work Week is coming up next month

Organised by Diversity Council Australia (DCA), Inclusion at Work Week (IAWW) runs from 17 to 21 November 2025. The initiative encourages workplaces across Australia to unite, to celebrate the power of inclusion and showcase how they are building fairer, more respectful and more equitable workplaces.

In its 40th year, IAWW will focus on progress made and where to go next. DCA encourages organisations to share their diversity and inclusion (D&I) progress and achievements, plus what’s next on their D&I journey.

Everyone is welcome to take part in the social media campaign by using the hashtag #InclusionAtWorkWeek and sharing their stories.

Register and access resources HERE 

Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) National Conference

The 2025 IAHA National Conference will be held from 24-26 November on the lands of the Kabi Kabi people, Sunshine Coast.

The conference theme is Transition to Transformation: Leading in Allied Health.  

The Conference recognises the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the diversity of IAHA membership, as well as interdisciplinary actions within the allied health sector. IAHA acknowledges that sustained, holistic, strengths-based approaches to health and wellbeing can achieve health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Conference attendees will gain opportunities to learn, grow, heal, network and celebrate excellence in the Indigenous allied health sector. 

Day for Daniel 2025

Day for Daniel is on Friday, 31 October 2025. It is Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day.

With Queensland's new Child Safe Organisations Act coming into effect, there is no better time to show your support for this important cause.

Keeping kids safe is a responsibility we all share—parents, carers, educators, businesses…the entire community.

Health career information session - Gladstone

Health Workforce Queensland is excited to announce Gladstone's New Career Information Session on Thursday, 23 October 2025, from 5.30pm - 8.30pm.

This free event is designed for anyone 18+ who has ever considered a career in health or is looking to upskill but isn’t sure where to start.

Attendees will hear from knowledgeable guest speakers from a broad range of health disciplines. Find out MORE.

Telehealth-integrated GP funding for rural practices

Country to Coast Queensland (CCQ), in partnership with UQ Mater Research and Health Workforce Queensland, will invite rural MMM 4–7 practices to apply for funding to join a three-year, telehealth-integrated GP support program.

Applications open soon via CCQ TenderLink. To learn more and get an email when applications open, register on TenderLink now.

Leadership Workshops with Carole Cooper Consulting

With over 25 years of experience in business and People & Culture across multiple industries, Carole Cooper is one of Australia’s leading experts in culture transformation, particularly in creating a commercial culture.

Carole Cooper Consulting also facilitates workshops designed for anyone who wants to lead with clarity, confidence and impact. No matter your role, Carole's engaging and practical workshops will help you grow and improve your skills and confidence.