North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) will soon seek to commission three accredited general practices to deliver the Health Care Neighbourhood Project in the Melton local government area.
Each successful applicant will receive $49,950 (ex. GST) over an 18-month period. Funding for an additional 12 months may be possible, contingent on Commonwealth priorities.
Interested practices must register for Tenderlink and notify NWMPHN by 3pm, Friday 13 March 2026. All accredited practices in the Melton local government area are eligible. See below for details.
Benefits for practices
- A care coordinator and a social worker on site one day every week, at no cost to the practice.
- Extra funding to better support patients with chronic conditions.
- Support from NWMPHN to build practice capability.
Successful practices will participate in the design and implementation of a multidisciplinary team model of care, specific to patients in each area.
How practices can register to apply for this funding
This opportunity will be a select request for tender (RFT) process conducted through NWMPHN’s tenders portal, Tenderlink. Practices that complete the two steps below by 3pm, Friday 13 March 2026 will receive the RFT documentation and be invited to respond.
The RFT is expected to be released on Monday, 16 March 2026. To ensure you receive the RFT, please complete these two steps by 3pm, Friday 13 March 2026:
- Ensure your practice has at least one email address registered for Tenderlink. Visit tenderlink.com/mpcn and view Tenderlink registration information (.pdf) to set up your account, if you don’t have one already.
- Notify NWMPHN of the email address(es) you have registered for Tenderlink by emailing tenders@nwmphn.org.au. This will ensure our procurement team can issue the RFT to the correct contact(s) at your practice.
Market briefing
An online market briefing session will be held at 12pm on Thursday, 12 March 2026. This session will provide an overview of the project, funding, eligibility requirements and the tender process, and offer an opportunity to better understand what participation would involve for general practices.
Key personnel from your practice can register for this session now.
The session is not mandatory, but we strongly encourage you to attend. If unable to attend, a recording will be made available on Tenderlink with the RFT pack for registered practices.
Key dates
| Tuesday, 10 March 2026 | Advance notice distributed to eligible practices |
| 12pm, Thursday, 12 March 2026 | Market briefing |
| 3pm, Friday 13 March 2026 | Practices must register for Tenderlink and notify NWMPHN to ensure they receive the RFT |
| Monday, 16 March 2026 | Select request for tender opens via Tenderlink |
| 3pm, Wednesday, 1 April 2026 | Clarification questions close via Tenderlink |
| 3pm, Wednesday, 8 April 2026 | Select request for tender closes via Tenderlink |
Eligibility and locations
Accredited general practices located within the Melton local government are eligible to apply. Visit the City of Melton website for a list of suburbs and a map of the area’s boundaries.
Practices will need to nominate a lead GP, a practice nurse and an administrator for the project.
Applicants must adhere to the following points:
- Demonstrate capacity to participate in co-design and implementation of the Health Care Neighbourhood Project.
- Commit to collaborate with NWMPHN, the neighbourhood care team, patients and other community members.
- All patients involved in the project must be bulk billed. Project funding can only be used for services and activities that Medicare Benefits Schedule does not cover, like coordination activities.
Background information
As part of the Australian Government’s Strengthening Medicare reforms, primary health networks across the country are building multidisciplinary care teams to deliver high-quality continuity of care to address people’s health needs.
With funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, NWMPHN is commissioning multidisciplinary care from allied health professionals and general practices to improve the health of under-served patients.
Known as the Health Care Neighbourhood Project, this activity focuses on the Melton local government area, in which residents have high rates of complex and chronic conditions.
NWMPHN is commissioning three general practices and a neighbourhood care team. Successful applicants will work together, and with patients and other community members, to co-design a multidisciplinary model of care that best suits each practice’s ways of working and patient cohort.
Commissioned practices will each receive $49,950 (ex. GST) over an 18-month period. Funding for an additional 12 months may be possible, contingent on Commonwealth priorities.
The Health Care Neighbourhood Project aims to:
- strengthen the capability of primary care providers to deliver multidisciplinary care
- improve patient care by designing and delivering multidisciplinary care in general practice.
The intended long-term outcomes include:
- Participating GP practices and allied health clinicians develop capability, and sustain the model of care beyond the life cycle of the project.
- Broader acceptance that the multidisciplinary model of care is a good way of working and is integrated into general practice.
- Improved chronic disease management, leading to better patient outcomes, reduced hospital admissions and improved integration.
The funding will be used to support the practice participation in the project, and for activities related to multidisciplinary care not currently funded via MBS. The funding is not for direct patient care; practices will utilise MBS items for this. Patients participating in the project must be bulk-billed.
Participating practices will work with the neighbourhood care team, also commissioned by NWMPHN, which will comprise a clinical care coordinator and a social worker.
It will be highly mobile and spend one day a week with each of the three participating practices. It will assist staff in assessing patient need, delivering care, supporting patient self-management, and coordinating access to other allied health and support services in the local area.
Communication and enquiries
All questions must be submitted in writing via the Tenderlink forum once the select request for tender opens. NWMPHN cannot respond to questions asked outside of this forum.
If your practice needs support to register for Tenderlink, please contact the Tenderlink support team for assistance. The team is available from 8:30am to 5pm Monday to Friday on 1800 233 533 or support@tenderlink.com to assist your registration process.
