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Joint Health Command

About JHC
Organisation
Branches & Directorates
Organisational Chart

Organisation - Branches & Directorates

Executive

Directorate Function
Directorate of Executive Support Responsible for the staff support to the Executive, includes Staff Officer and Personal Assistant to Commander Joint Health.

Strategic Health Policy and Plans Branch

The Director General Strategic Health Policy and Plans (DGSHPP) is responsible for the development of strategic health policy and strategic level health input into ADF exercises or operations. This includes policy matters relating to ADF Nursing, Dentistry, Allied Health, Clinical Medicine, Mental Health, Operational Health and Health Capability Development

Directorate Function
Directorate of Health Capability Development

The Directorate of Health Capability Development is responsible for

  • health concepts and force structure planning
  • health capability planning including the development and coordination of an implementation strategy for JP 060 – Deployable Health Capability
  • health doctrine development and review
  • interoperability (regional and major allies), and
  • health-related human research
Directorate of Strategic Workforce Development / Directorate of Defence Force Nursing

The role of Directorate of Strategic Workforce Development (DSWD) is seen as a broadening of the Directorate of Defence Force Nursing (DDFN) previous role to apply those skills and functions developed by and within the DDFN to the wider Health workforce. In this way it is envisaged that significant innovative synergies in the delivery of health care, and professional development of the Health workforce, can be identified and developed from a holistic Health Workforce perspective.

Directorate of Military Medicine

Directorate of Military Medicine (DMM) is responsible for current Clinical Policy role as well as all Public Health related roles currently undertaken by Operational & Preventive Health, including public and preventive health policy development, CBRN doctrine and policy development and advice, health promotion, and health surveillance.

Directorate of Mental Health

The Directorate of Mental Health delivers key initiatives that include Improved Mental Health Literacy, Integration of ADF Mental Health Services, Enhanced ADF Service Delivery, ADF Mental Health Training Framework, ADF Mental Health Research and Surveillance, ADF Suicide Prevention Program, ADF Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Program, and Enhanced Resilience and Wellbeing in the ADF

Defence Force Psychology Organisation

The mission of the Defence Force Psychology Organisation (DFPO) is to enhance ADF capability, operational effectiveness and force preservation through timely, pragmatic and culturally appropriate psychological support.

Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health

The Centre for Military and Veterans' Health (CMVH) is an innovative, multi-discipline centre, focusing specifically on the health of Australian Defence Force members during and after their service. CMVH is a University of Queensland led consortia, with University of Adelaide and the Charles Darwin University, supported by the Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs, as an Australian Government initiative.

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Health Services Branch

The Health Services Branch, in partnership with the single Services is responsible for the delivery of health care to ADF personnel. The Branch achieves its responsibilities for health care delivery by managing the health care budget which provides for all health services not provided by uniformed health care providers; this includes fee – for- service and contracted services. The branch achieves this role through the Joint Health Support Agency (JHSA) and the Area Health Services (AHS).

The Branch primarily has responsibility for the oversight of non-operational health care delivery to ADF personnel and this is provided by a mixture of JHSA, Defence Force Psychology Organisation (DFPO) and single Service facilities with financial and contracting supervision from the Directorate of Business Management (DBM). This oversight is through AHS through the DJHSA and business cells through the DBM.

Directorate Function
Joint Health Support Agency

Joint Health Support Agency (JHSA) provides health support services to Joint Health Command (JHC) and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) via each of its four sections:

  • Health Support and Plans (HS&P): provides health liaison for Senior Health Officers (SHO) of the Area Health Services (AHS) and overseas posts and promulgates the requirements for NSA support to ADF operations and exercises.
  • Medical Services (MS): provides health administrative support to the Medical Employment Classification Review Board (MECRB) and formal health care complaint resolution.
  • Clinical Governance (CG): provides technical control of the Defence Clinical Governance program.
  • Health Materiel, Logistics and Pharmacy (HMLP): Provides technical control of ADF pharmacies and strategic level advice regarding health materiel and logistics.
Directorate of ADF Rehabilitation Services

The ADF has a responsibility to provide Health Care to ADF members in order to maintain the required level of operational readiness. Rehabilitation is a key component for facilitating the return of members to a state of readiness as soon as is practicable after injury or illness. Rehabilitation has two purposes:

  • The restoration of physical and mental functioning, and
  • The restoration of productive work functioning.
Directorate of Defence Force Dentistry

The Directorate has responsibility for the Dental Officer Career and Professional Development Committee, the Dental Auxiliary Career Development Committee, oversight of clinical governance in the ADF dental service, strategic dental policy development and the provision of dental specific advice to ADF dental facilities, higher Defence organisations and other agencies.

Directorate of Business Management

The Directorate of Business Management (DBM) has responsibility for the following functions within JHC: Finance; Procurement & Contracting Services; and Human Resources.

Defence Injury Prevention Programme

The Defence Injury Prevention Programme (DIPP) addresses injury prevention at the unit level by emphasising and empowering local ownership and control of injury by conducting effective, injury prevention activities.

Health Services Evaluation and Contracting

Health Services Evaluation and Contracting (HSEC) leads the implementation of strategies to evaluate and improve the management of health services within the National Support Area of JHC. HSEC is responsible for undertaking review and evaluation processes that are consistent with current Government policy, and within a framework benchmarked against best practice. HSEC works cooperatively with JHSA, the single Services and other stakeholders in the conduct of these reviews.

Army Malaria Institute

The Army Malaria Institute (AMI) achieves its missions through the work of its 5 departments: Drug Resistance and Diagnostics, Drug Evaluation, Clinical Studies and Surveillance, Vector Surveillance and Control, and Arbovirology.

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4 September, 2008

Joint Health Command
www.defence.gov.au/health/