Directions Health Services

18/06/2026

🙌 This morning, we joined Directions Health Services to celebrate 10 years of providing mobile healthcare services.

🚐 Chat to PAT has provided over 40,000 comprehensive healthcare consultations for ACT’s most vulnerable and marginalised community members. Staffed by a multidisciplinary team, they provide chronic disease management, acute medical care, vaccinations, blood-borne virus screening, Hep C treatment, opioid dependence treatment, mental health support and more. Clients also receive support to access and navigate housing, food, clothing, legal, justice and employment services.

In 2022, and independent evaluation by the The Australian National University found that 67% of clients reported that access to the service reduced their need to attend ED.

As the ACT PHN, CHN is proud to fund Chat to PAT, alongside ACT Government Health and Community Services

👏 Congratulations to the team at Directions Health Services, and thanks for all your work in the community. We look forward to continuing to collaborate to achieve better health outcomes in the ACT.

More information: directionshealth.com/chat-to-pat

📷 l-r: Bronwyn Hendry, CEO of Directions Health Services and ACT Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith.

18/06/2026

18/06/2026

📍 Canberra, ACT

This week, the ACT Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA () joined Directions to celebrate 10 years of mobile healthcare on Canberra's streets. With over 40,000 consultations delivered directly to Canberra's most disadvantaged and marginalised community members, Directions Health's mobile healthcare services are, for many clients, their only connection to a wider health system.

Our purpose-built vehicles, affectionately known as 'Chat to PAT' and Mini-PAT' and the teams who operate them have become a trusted and accessible healthcare service with a 'no wrong door' model of care for people who have difficulty accessing mainstream healthcare, and those who may be experiencing homelessness, housing instability, mental ill-health, substance dependence, disability and other complex health and social challenges.

Thank you to those who came to celebrate with us. Meridian ACT Hepatitis ACT Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn YWCA Canberra Hands Across Canberra Early Morning Centre The Australian National University Orange Sky Australia

Our mobile health services wouldn't be possible without the funding support from ACT Government, .healthandcommunityservices, , John James Foundation, , Canberra Region Rotary Clubs (), CDC Data Centres and the support of our many other local partners.

📸 PhotoCanberra

09/06/2026

NEXT MONTH - Join Canberra's Community services to celebrate 50 Years of Deadly!
This year we're heading down south to Tuggeranong.
Don't miss this free, family friendly event on Tuesday July 7.

Communities at Work Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn Karralika Programs Inc. Volunteering ACT Community Services #1 Woden Community Service Thirrili - Indigenous Su***de Postvention Service The Smith Family ACTCOSS - ACT Council of Social Service Inc. YWCA Canberra Toora Women Directions Health Services

01/06/2026

This Reconciliation Day, we're proud to stand All In for reconciliation.

At Directions, that means working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to deliver culturally safe, accessible care, strengthen community partnerships, and support better health outcomes for future generations.

Reconciliation is an ongoing journey. One that requires commitment, action, and listening. Together, we're all in.

01/06/2026

📍 AddictionZ Conference, Gold Coast

Directions' Pathways Murrumbidgee team recently presented at AddictionZ 2026. 'Turning Screens into Circles' covered the teams highly successful Online Day Program.

AddictionZ brings together the A to Z of addiction topics and the full breadth of voices from across Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Whether you’re working with patients, shaping policy or leading research, AddictionZ is where the important conversations within the sector happen.

To find out more about the Murrumbidgee team's Online Day program - reach out to them at [email protected]

📷 Charles Debaecker (Team Leader), Deanna Price-Maxwell (NSW Regional Manager), Michele Lumb (Programs Facilitator/AOD Case Manager)

16/05/2026

Today is IDAHOBIT: the International Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination.

IDAHOBIT is held every year on 17th May - marking the date when homosexuality was removed from the WHO Classification of Diseases in 1990. Today we recognise the progress we've made, and how much there's still left to do.

Want to learn more about IDAHOBIT? Visit http://idahobit.org.au or visit
Want to find an IDAHOBIT event near you? Visit http://may17.org

13/05/2026

Home Directions Health Services is a not-for profit organisation that provides a range of free, integrated services and programs for individuals, family members and friends impacted by alcohol, to***co and other drug use, mental health and other complex health issues in the ACT and regional NSW. Dir...

12/05/2026

Delivering harm reduction focused programs and services to people impacted by alcohol and other drugs across the ACT & surrounding NSW regions.