North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) is seeking nine accredited general practices to deliver the Health Care Neighbourhood Project in the Brimbank local government area (LGA).
Successful applicants will enhance multidisciplinary care within their practices, working with a three-person ‘neighbourhood care team’ in the practice at least one day each week.
Each successful practice will receive $74,925 (ex. GST) till 30 June 2028.
A select request for tender (RFT) is now open, with submissions closing on 2 July 2026 at 3pm AEST.
NOTE: Select general practices in the Brimbank LGA have now received the tender documents for this opportunity.
Benefits for practices
- A care coordinator, social worker and mental health clinician on site one day per week to support your patients.
- Funding to support staff engagement in the activity.
- Dedicated support from NWMPHN to help implement system and workflow changes.
The neighbourhood care team will support GPs and practice staff to assess, coordinate and manage complex chronic and mental health care. The model is designed to build practice capability, not create a new service or replace routine GP care.
What is the Health Care Neighbourhood Project?
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 delivering the ‘Health Care Neighbourhood Project’. The project is underway in the local government areas (LGAs) of Hume and Melton, linking allied health professionals and general practices to improve the health of under-served patients.
For the Brimbank phase of the project, the service model will be expanded to include patients with severe and complex mental ill health.
The goal of the Brimbank Health Care Neighbourhood Project is to build capability and improve patient outcomes, care choices, and quality of life through multidisciplinary collaboration in managing chronic conditions and mental health within primary care.
The target population includes individuals living in Brimbank who have one or more of:
- chronic conditions and/or psychosocial complexities
- chronic disease and moderate intensity mental health conditions
- severe and complex mental ill health affecting daily functioning.
Market briefing
An online market briefing session was held on Wednesday, 20 May 2026. This session provided 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.
A recording of the session is available below. You can also access the slides here (.pdf).
Key dates
| 26 May 2026 | Select RFT opens |
| 25 June 2026 | Clarification questions close via Tenderlink |
| 2 July 2026 | Select RFT closes |
| 9 July 2026 | Tender evaluation* |
| 2 September 2026 | Notification of successful and unsuccessful applicants* |
Dates marked with (*) are indicative only.
Locations and eligibility
All accredited general practices located within the Brimbank LGA are eligible to apply.
Localities: Albanvale, Albion, Ardeer, *Brooklyn, Cairnlea, Calder Park, Deer Park, Delahey, Derrimut, *Hillside, Kealba, Keilor, Keilor Downs, *Keilor East, Keilor Lodge, Keilor North, Keilor Park, Kings Park, St Albans, Sunshine, Sunshine North, Sunshine West, Sydenham, Taylors Lakes and Tullamarine.
*Parts of these suburbs sit outside the Brimbank LGA boundary. Zoom in on this Victorian Government map to see if your practice sits within it.
Hospitals and acute care service providers are not eligible to apply for this funding. This RFT is intended for primary care providers only. However, if an organisation classified as a hospital or acute care provider also operates community health or primary care services within Brimbank, it may be eligible but only if it can clearly demonstrate that those services meet all required capabilities outlined in this RFT.
Also, providers that intend on applying to participate in the project as a neighbourhood care team are not eligible to apply for this general practice component of the funding. A request for tender notice for the neighbourhood care team component is expected to open on 2 June 2026.
Support from NWMPHN
General practices involved in the Health Care Neighbourhood will receive dedicated support from NWMPHN to help implement system and workflow changes within the practice.
This practical, hands-on assistance will be based on practice need and will support change management at the practice to ensure sustainable ways of delivering multidisciplinary care.
Tender process
The select RFT was released on 26 May 2026. NWMPHN is using Tenderlink as the portal for this opportunity. Visit tenderlink.com/mpcn
Communication and enquiries
All questions must be submitted in writing via the Tenderlink forum once the select RFT opens. NWMPHN cannot respond to questions asked outside of this forum.
Clarification questions close on 25 June 2026.
