Health LEADS Australia: implementation and integration into theory and practice

This article reviews the development, implementation and impact of the national health leadership framework, Health LEADS Australia. While influenced by the Canadian LEADS in a caring environment approach, the Australian model had significant stakeholder engagement due to the collaborative and consensual process led by Health Workforce Australia.

As stakeholder ownership has passed to formal licensees and other interested parties, adoption and adaptation has raised concerns about framework fidelity. The danger of fragmentation associated with the development of local variants is decreased by two elements of a ‘second wave’ of implementation. The incorporation of the framework into the academic curricula, where it becomes part of the existing body of knowledge, provides greater depth of intellectual resources. The development of practical resources and tools, such as a related competency framework, assists in jurisdictional implementation. Framework implementation within the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services and the University of Tasmania School of Medicine postgraduate program demonstrates these dynamics in this article.

Mapping the relationship of Health LEADS Australia domains to mainstream leadership theory, this article contributes to the small, but growing, literature associated with this new field. The article concludes by discussing the disestablishment of Health Workforce Australia and the implications for the future of the Framework. The national and international connections formed during the development of Health LEADS Australia has resulted in a ‘policy community’ that provides the basis for future work.