Darwin Office Opening

We are excited to announce our Darwin office has been officially opened, on Friday the 26th of May. The Darwin team along with colleagues from businesses we collaborate with took the time to celebrate all that has been achieved by the Darwin team and what we are striving to achieve in the future. We thank those who came along for recognising this special moment with us.

Opening the celebrations, Managing Director Sam Gerrard who was born and raised in Darwin shared the story of how the Darwin team came to be. Having grown up in the Northern Territory, Sam was acutely aware of the challenges that the Northern Territory local and remote communities face trying to obtain essential Allied Health services. As such in 2021, when the opportunity presented itself, Sam began operations in Darwin by hiring our first Occupational Therapist, Mat.

Mat, who now leads the Darwin team worked incredibly hard to create connections and build a presence for Pacific Health & Wellbeing during those early days. Each member of the team has been handpicked, ensuring they all fit with our beliefs and direction. The work from the team has seen Pacific Health & Wellbeing become cemented in the Northern Territory as a reputable Allied Health service provider and we could not be prouder. 

We had the privilege of Dr Richard Fejo joining us to share his words of wisdom and inspiration. Richie, of the Larrakia and Warramungu people has been a Cultural Educator for over a decade providing insight, understanding, and knowledge for organisations and businesses throughout Australia. Among his many achievements, Richie is also a board member of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and actually flew in from a meeting in Adelaide one hour before joining our celebrations. We are incredibly grateful for Richie’s contribution to our opening and thank him for reminding us all that we are the difference. We are the ones who decide to use our talents to the best of our ability to make a change in other people’s lives. Richie gives great inspiration to all people from the challenges he faced as a child through to adulthood, that if you never give up you can achieve greatness.

Another special thank you to Les Huddleston, who came along to the opening to play his didgeridoo for our team and guests. Further giving his insight from the days in Groote Eylandt and his continued push for all people on this earth that we are one.

We are also grateful to Niki, Wendy, Jamie, and all the team at Autism NT who came along for the opening and who allowed us the pleasure of giving back to the NT community. When we first started planning the office opening we knew we wanted to use the opportunity to support the Northern Territory community.

With April being the month to spread awareness and further acceptance for neurodiverse individuals, we decided to be a part of this mission by donating a prize of three tickets for a Kakadu National Park Scenic Flight to an Autism NT raffle. Thank you to Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel, who also donated a one-night stay to accompany the flight tickets so as to provide the prize winner with a unique Darwin experience. All proceeds from the raffle went to not-for-profit Autism NT.

On the evening of Friday 26th May 2023, Executive Officer of Autism NT, Niki Lehmann drew the raffle winner. Congratulations to Emma McGrath who is the winner of the Autism NT raffle! And thank you to all who entered and supported this incredible cause. All money raised will go towards increasing awareness, acceptance and the running of community programs for individuals with Autism. 

A final thank you to our team for your consistent passion and hard work. To support coordinators for your support in our growth. To our participants for making our job so incredible. And to all in the community who have made our vision for Darwin a reality - thank you! 

We are incredibly proud of how far the Darwin team has come since our beginnings in 2021 and are excited for all that is to come in the future.