The Joint Health Command (JHC) is responsible for the delivery of military medicine and joint healthcare services to

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

(ADF) personnel, including

military psychiatry Military psychiatry covers special aspects of psychiatry and mental disorders within the military context.Temple, M. & Greenberg, N. (2002)Military psychiatry. ''British Medical Journal Career Focus, 324'', S161a.Walter Reed Army Institute of Resear ...

and rehabilitation services. The JHC is also responsible for providing strategic health policy, the development of the health

preparedness Preparedness is a set of actions that are taken as precautionary measures in the face of potential disasters. Being prepared helps in achieving goals and in avoiding and mitigating negative outcomes. There are different types of preparedness, su ...

of ADF personnel for operations, and the coordination of health units for deployment in support of operations. JHC is led by the dual-hatted Commander Joint Health and

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

of the ADF. The Commander Joint Health is responsible to the Chief of Personnel while deployed health units are responsible to the Chief of Joint Operations. The JHC is staffed by ADF active and reserve personnel, Department of Defence

public servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, and contracted health professionals.Main features of the medical services of the armed forces of Australia
Medical Corps International Forum

History

Pacific Partnership

The Joint Health Command has contributed personnel to the

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

Pacific Partnership Pacific Partnership is an annual deployment of forces from the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy (USN), in cooperation with regional governments and military forces, along with humanitarian and non-government organizations. The deploymen ...

, a

humanitarian assistance Humanitarian assistance is aid and action designed to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity during and after man-made crises and disasters. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including providing food, water, shelter, ...

initiative, since 2005. In 2010, 25 personnel of the Joint Health Command, supported by and acting as forward operating platform for remote medical and dental clinics, deployed to

North Maluku North Maluku (; ) is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Halmahera Sea to the east, the Molucca Sea to the west, and the Seram Sea to the south. It shares marit ...

and assisted in medical treatment for over 5000 patients and 150 surgeries onboard .

AUSMTF Uruzgan

In 2008, the health personnel from the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

and the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

provided two rotations of 10 surgical and intensive care personnel in support of the Dutch Role 2 (Enhanced) Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) also called the Uruzgan Medical Centre located in Kamp Holland within

Multi National Base Tarin Kot Multi National Base Tarin Kot is a former International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) installation, used after the Netherlands Armed Forces' departure by the Afghan National Army. The base was located on the outskirts of Tarinkot, the capital ...

in Tarin Kowt, the capital of the southern

Uruzgan Uruzgan (Pashto: ; Dari: ), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot ...

province known as AUSMTF teams.

Role

Joint Health Command (JHC) provides health care to ADF members and ensures the health preparedness of ADF personnel for operations, and, deployable elements of JHC for deployment in support of operations. To effect this, JHC develops strategic health policy, provides strategic level health advice and exercises technical and financial control of ADF health units.

Structure

The JHC is staffed by medical, dental and

allied health Allied health professions (AHPs) are a category of health professionals that provide a range of diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services in connection with health care. While there is no international standard for defining ...

professionals. These staff may also provide garrison health services to ADF members while they are not on deployment. A total of 1699 health practitioners work in garrison health services comprising 403 public servants, 510 defence personnel, and 786 contractors working on a sessional basis. The Joint Health Command is made up of the: *Garrison Health Operations Branch which is responsible for the delivery and management of healthcare to ADF personnel within Australia and on non-operational postings overseas. *Mental Health, Psychology and Rehabilitation Branch which provides mental health support across occupational psychology, rehabilitation services, and mental health clinical programs. *Health Capability Branch which oversees health resources and logistics, pharmacy, workforce development and training, and strategic health capabilities. *Strategic Health Coordination Branch which oversees family health, health and medical research, and eHealth data and information management. *Chair of Military Surgery and Medicine is a professional position held jointly at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, the

Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) is a tertiary public hospital located in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeaste ...

and the Department of Defence to lead a research program in trauma medicine and surgery relevant to the

Regional Health Services

The JHC's delivery of garrison health services is via a regional structure for medical facilities through Regional Health Services (RHS) that provide the basis for healthcare administration. JHC manages 104 garrison health facilities. Central New South Wales (JHU-CNSW) *Albatross Health Centre *HMAS Creswell *Holsworthy Health Centre *Kuttabul Health Centre *Randwick Health Centre *Tobruk Clinic *Victoria Barracks Clinic Sydney *Watson Clinic Southern NSW ACT (JHU-SNSW) *Butterworth Clinic *Duntroon Clinic *Duntroon Health Centre *Harman Clinic *Kapooka Health Centre *Kapooka Clinic *Russell Health Centre *Weston Clinic *Wagga Health Victoria and Tasmania (JHU-VICTAS) *Albury Wodonga Health Centre *Anglesea Clinic *Cerberus Health Clinic *East Sale Health Clinic *Laverton Clinic *Puckapunyal Health Centre *Simpson Health Centre *Victoria Barracks Clinic Melbourne Western Australia and South Australia (JHU-WASA) *Campbell Health Centre *Edinburgh Health Centre *Keswick Clinic *Leeuwin Health Centre *Pearce Health Centre *Stirling Health Centre *Stirling SUMU Clinic *Taylor Clinic *Woodside Clinic Northern Territory (JHU-NT) *Darwin Health Centre *Larrakeyah Health Centre *Robertson Health Centre *Tindal Health Centre Northern Queensland (JHU-NQ) *Cairns Health Centre *Lavarack Health Centre *Lavarack East Clinic *Porton Clinic *Townsville Health Centre *Tully Clinic South Queensland (JHU-SQ) *Amberley Health Centre *Canungra Clinic *Cabarlah Clinic *Enoggera Clinic *Enoggera Clinic East *Enoggera Health Centre *Oakey Health Centre Northern New South Wales (JHU-NNSW) *Glenbrook Clinic *Penguin Health Centre *Penguin SUMU Clinic *Richmond Health Centre *Singleton Health Centre *Tamworth Clinic *Waterhen Clinic *Williamtown Health Centre

Surgeons-General

References

External links

Australian Defence Organisation website

Joint Health Command website
{{ADF Leadership Commands of the Australian Defence Force Military medicine in Australia Leadership of the Australian Defence Force Medical units and formations of Australia Joint military units and formations Military units and formations established in 2005