From Diagnosis to Action: How Shepparton Created the Workforce Position It Needed

In 2009, Shepparton media executive Chris McPherson received a prostate cancer diagnosis that sparked a simple mission: get blokes in a room talking about men's health.

McPherson - a savvy businessman known for getting things done - created Shepparton's Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch. What started as a conversation became something more: a sustainable funding model for a specialist nursing position. That position has now supported more than 1,200 men across a decade.

It's fundamentally a story about workforce development that every business leader should understand. Because sometimes the best workforce solutions don't come from rigid budget allocations. Sometimes they emerge from addressing a need and having the will to sustain what works.

The Gap That Couldn't Wait

The Goulburn Valley region serves 180,000 people across regional Victoria and southern New South Wales. Prostate cancer accounts for 27% of all male cancer diagnoses here.

Before 2014, men diagnosed in the region faced fragmented care. They'd see specialists and undergo treatment, but there was no coordinated support pathway. No specialist nurse to guide them through diagnosis, treatment decisions, or survivorship challenges.

In traditional workforce planning, this service gap would enter funding cycles. Proposals written. Budget lines negotiated. The gap might be filled in two years, five years, or not at all.

The Shepparton community didn't wait.

The Workforce Solution That Evolved

The Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch formula was straightforward: three speakers - a comedian, an entertainer (Kerry O'Keeffe, Peter Moody, David Schwarz among them), and someone sharing their prostate cancer journey. Get men talking. Break the silence.

As the lunch grew - now attracting over 1,200 attendees annually, selling out every year - the opportunity became clear: use these funds to employ a Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurse. Not for research. Not for equipment. For an actual position - salary, on-costs, everything.

McPherson passed away in 2015, but his legacy proved sustainable. McPherson Media's continued support has been instrumental in maintaining awareness and community engagement.

The model has now been replicated across nine other regions in Victoria, with seven funding specialist nursing positions.

Building the Position: Partnership, Not Replacement

The Blokes Lunch Committee partnered with Goulburn Valley Health to create a jointly funded model. GV Health provides clinical infrastructure, supervision, and professional integration. The Committee funds a substantial portion of salary through the annual lunch.

This partnership addresses a critical workforce principle: sustainable positions need organisational homes. GV Health's willingness to embrace this innovative funding model enabled a solution that traditional budget processes hadn't delivered.

The position launched in September 2014 at 0.8 EFT. By January 2020, demand drove expansion to 1.1 EFT.

The Job Share That Works

The position is shared by two nurses: Sonia Strachan and Nicole Lewis. From a workforce perspective, this delivers expanded talent pool, burnout prevention, built-in redundancy, and peer support.

For organisations wrestling with attraction and retention challenges, the assumption that critical roles must be held by one person full-time may be limiting workforce options.

The Numbers That Matter

In 2024-25, the service delivered 2,898 episodes of care, supporting 168 new patients. Since 2014, more than 1,200 men have received support, with 700 currently receiving ongoing survivorship care.

The nurses guide men and their families from diagnosis through treatment, survivorship, and where needed, palliative care. Notably, 68% of patients are referred at diagnosis, and 50% of consultations are delivered via telephone, addressing regional geography.

What This Means for Your Organisation

The Shepparton model offers workforce development lessons that translate beyond healthcare:

1. Let solutions evolve. What started as awareness-raising became workforce funding. Don't lock into rigid outcomes too early.

2. Partnership expands possibility. The Committee brought funding; GV Health brought infrastructure. Neither could have created the position alone.

3. Roles can flex with need. The position expanded from 0.8 to 1.1 EFT when demand demonstrated it. Job sharing proved beneficial. The need shaped the position.

4. Accountability drives performance. Strachan and Lewis attend Committee meetings and provide transparent reporting. This connection between worker and funder creates engagement traditional employment relationships sometimes lack.

5. Community trust is non-negotiable. After ten years, the service is deeply embedded through sustained engagement

The Proactive Mindset

In 2024, the service won the Excellence in Customer Service Award at the Shepparton Business Awards, while Sonia Strachan won the Helen Crowe Award at the Australian Prostate Cancer Conference.

Traditional workforce planning operates reactively: identify gap, request funding, wait for approval, recruit when budget allows.

Shepparton asked different questions:

• What capability do we need?

• What happens if we wait?

• What resources do we control?

• Can we create this ourselves?

The answer evolved from a lunch into a specialist nursing position that's now delivered care to more than 1,200 men.

But here's what the numbers don't capture: over a thousand blokes gathering annually in regional Australia - having a laugh, sharing a meal, and talking openly about health. PSA testing rates in Shepparton now sit 41% above the national average. In regional communities where men face a 20% higher risk of dying from prostate cancer than city counterparts, this dual outcome may be the model's greatest achievement.

The workforce solution delivered the healthcare service. The community approach delivered connection, conversation, and peer support that prevents problems before they require clinical intervention.

That's proactive workforce development. And it's a model any organisation can adapt.

Fifteen years later, Chris McPherson's question has an answer: Yes, you really can create it yourself.