Former NT Administrator appointed Flying Doctor Deputy Chair

Ms O’Halloran has served on the nine-member RFDS SA/NT Board that governs its emergency and non-emergency services across the Northern Territory and South Australia since August 2023. She was appointed to Deputy Chair at its recent Annual General Meeting.

“While I was Administrator of the Northern Territory, I had the privilege of meeting the Board and my visits to the RFDS Darwin and Alice Springs Bases always brought me a great deal of joy, talking to staff about their achievements,” Ms O’Halloran said.

“I’ve known for a long time what a spectacular organisation the RFDS is – it has been serving the Territory for 85 years – and I've heard so many stories from Territorians about people being retrieved and how the RFDS has saved their lives.

“And not only that – I learned a lot about the proactive nature of the Flying Doctor and the primary healthcare services that are delivered to the outback in those regional and remote communities that often miss out on many services.

“The RFDS goes to great lengths to ensure people who live in isolated communities receive the finest care in the furthest corner.”

The RFDS airlifts eight Territorians every day for life-saving care or specialist treatment, as well as supports and delivers essential primary, mental, dental and oral health care services on the ground in remote communities.

As the 22nd Administrator of the Northern Territory from late 2017 to early 2023, Ms O’Halloran was patron to 60 organisations, including the RFDS, and actively supported the development of emerging Territory leaders.

As RFDS SA/NT Deputy Chair, she is particularly passionate about building upon the organisation’s health service delivery and its collaborations with local health partners to ensure communities in the Territory have access to high-quality holistic care.

“The need for the Territory now and into the future is about whole-of-life healthcare – being able to respond to whatever concerns people in the community have, whether it's about their dialysis, oral health care or maternity care,” Ms O’Halloran said.

“The challenges that exist for people in their day-to-day health and wellbeing is also at the forefront of our planning – we talk about mental health openly now, as we should have done for many years, and the RFDS is responding to that.

“I meet so many people in regional and remote communities that tell me, ‘I wouldn't be here if there wasn't that particular retrieval or if I didn't have knowledge about how to handle my pregnancy over nine months without regular doctor visits’.

“The RFDS is a life-saving and life-changing organisation.”

Originally from Tasmania, Ms O’Halloran made Darwin her home more than 35 years ago.

As a proud Territorian, she is excited to be supporting the work of the RFDS from what she affectionately labels, “the best place in the world”.

“The Territory feels like home because it’s full of good people doing great things,” she said.

“It's a world of opportunity here in our Northern Territory and the RFDS is very much a part of our Territory lifestyle. To think that they've been supporting the Territory for 85 years is remarkable.”