ASCIA is facilitating education and training initiatives to upskill health professionals, as part of the National Allergy Council Shared Care for Allergy project, funded by the Australian Government.

ASCIA invited Expressions of Interests (EOI) from ASCIA members (that were due by 8 May 2024) for funding of initiatives to improve access and timely delivery of allergy education and training for health professionals. ASCIA conducted the EOI process to try to best utilise the expertise and ideas of ASCIA members, as we believe it is the optimal way of allocating funding to provide programs for a range of health professionals. The quality of EOIs was very high, and the selection panel evaluated a range of elements in their decision making, including target audience, budget, impact and skill of the team.

A total of 18 EOIs were received and reviewed by a selection panel, with the following 5 initiatives selected for funding in the 2024 EOI round:

• Associateship of Clinical Allergy (ACA) and Rural and Regional Clinical Allergy Network (R2CAN); Dr Melanie Wong, Dr Peter Goss (Budget - $100,000) 

• The Regional and Rural Maternal Child Health Nurses Allergy Education Program; Dr Paxton Loke, Marianne Tomlin, Elizabeth Steven-Smith (Budget - $69,430)

• Develop ASCIA Food Allergy Dietitian Recognition Program and Certification Model; Corrina Michael, Caroline South, Prof Michaela Lucas (Budget - $64,650)

• A Comprehensive Mental Health Training Program for Allergy Health Professionals; Monique Kerr, Emma Warner, Dr Richard Nolan (Budget - $57,279)

• Virtual Immunology Clinic for General Practice Rural Initiative for Practice Education (VIC-GP RIPE); Prof Dominic Mallon, Dr Michael O’Sullivan, Dr Jack Bourke, Terri Williams (Budget - $20,760)

Total amount awarded - $312,119

For more details about these initiatives go to https://www.allergy.org.au/national-allergy-strategy

Important Dates

• Call for EOIs opened: 14 March 2024
• Call for EOIs closed: 8 May 2024
• Funding announced: 26 August 2024
• Progress reports due: March, July and September 2025
• Final report due: March 2026

The allergy education/training initiatives were selected based on the following criteria:

• Provide standardised, evidence-based and best practice postgraduate allergy education and training for one or more of the following health professions;

• General Practitioners
• Paediatricians
• Other Medical Practitioners (other than clinical immunology/allergy specialists and trainees)
• Dietitians
• Nurses
• Pharmacists
• Psychologists

• Improve access to postgraduate allergy education and training for health professionals, including those in regional, rural and remote areas
• Have a budget of $10,000 up to $100,000 AUD per initiative
• Be piloted within 18 months (by March 2026)
• Have the potential to be scaled up
• Have measurable outcomes
• Involve at least one Full ASCIA member 

All EOIs needed to outline how initiatives can fund education and training of multiple health professionals.

Funding is not available to support education and training of individuals, such as fees for established courses.  

We thank ASCIA members for responding to this call for EOIs and look forward to reports on the progress of initiatives that have been funded in the 2024 EOI round.

This news item was updated on 18 September 2024 by Jill Smith, CEO of ASCIA, the peak professional body for clinical immunology and allergy in Australia and New Zealand.