At the 2026 CRANAplus Remote Nursing & Midwifery Conference in May, Board Chair Dr Ann Aitken PhD launched the new CRANAplus Strategic Plan 2026–2031. While strategic plans can sometimes feel distant from day-to-day practice, this one has been shaped around a very practical question: How do we better represent, support and educate the remote and isolated health workforce over the next five years?
The plan sets out a clear direction for CRANAplus as we continue working to promote the delivery of safe, high-quality healthcare in rural, remote and isolated communities.
Built around six strategic pillars, the plan focuses on strengthening membership value and engagement, advancing advocacy and workforce support, embedding Cultural Capability and Cultural Safety, leading quality and innovation in service delivery, fostering financial sustainability, and driving operational excellence.
Each pillar speaks to a different part of CRANAplus’ work, but together they form a connected roadmap. For Members, this means a continued focus on value, connection, professional development and practical support. For the broader sector, it means strengthening the voice of the rural, remote and isolated health workforce, and advocating for the conditions, pathways and services needed to sustain it.
A significant feature of the plan is the way CRANAplus’ former First Peoples Strategy has been embedded across the organisation’s work and elevated as its own dedicated pillar. This reflects a renewed commitment to Cultural Capability, Cultural Safety and Cultural Responsiveness, and to centering First Peoples’ voices, partnership and accountability in meaningful and ongoing ways.
The plan also looks inward. Strong advocacy and better services rely on a sustainable organisation, sound governance, capable people and systems that make it easier to do good work well. By focusing on smart ways of working, data, partnerships and innovation, CRANAplus is positioning itself to respond to the changing needs of Members and the communities they serve.
Most importantly, the Strategic Plan is not an end point. It is a guide for action and accountability over the next five years.
It gives CRANAplus a shared language for what matters, where we are heading and how we will measure whether our work is making a difference.
For Members, stakeholders and partners, the message is simple: CRANAplus remains focused on the workforce at the heart of remote health. The new strategy provides a practical framework to keep listening, improving and leading alongside the people and communities we exist to serve.
