About Us
Our Heritage
During more than 20 years of commitment to fortifying remote and rural health services in PNG, ADI, its staff, volunteers and partners have provided health care to tens of thousands of Papua New Guineans.
Australian Doctors International is an Australian not for profit, Non-Government Organisation which operates in the development and charity sectors solely in Papua New Guinea. ADI was founded in 2000 by Dr Peter Macdonald and a group of his friends in Manly to help support rural health in Papua New Guinea.
While working in Western Province of PNG, Dr Macdonald was concerned to see that the efficient rural health services in the area, which had been established by the Australian Government and handed over to PNG at the time of Independence in 1975 had, over the subsequent 25 years, been ignored and degraded to the extent they were now virtually non-existent.
Peter therefore resolved to do something about improving public health for communities in Western Province, which is the largest Province by area in PNG and one of the most remote and poorest Provinces of the country.
ADI’s initial project was funded by a number of Rotary Clubs led by the Manly Club. It involved the distribution throughout Western Province from a base in Daru of over 50,000 insecticide impregnated bed nets to combat the high rates of malaria and mosquito borne filariasis in the Province.
ADI’s outreach health patrol concept was progressively refined in Western and New Ireland Provinces and ADI’s activities were gradually expanded to include health care worker education and capacity building, in service training, family planning, women’s health, public and community health education and gender equity, family planning and inoculation programs to further improve the health and well-being of the rural and remote communities served by ADI.
ADI’s experience in Western and New Ireland Provinces has been the model for ADI’s expansion into West New Britain and Manus Provinces in 2019 and 2021, where similar services are provided to rural communities.
From very humble beginnings, with the vision of Dr Peter Macdonald, many dedicated staff and volunteers over the years have been able to realise and implement this vision through the generosity of donors and the support of the Australian Government. ADI has today become the very effective organisation which continues to work to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Australia’s nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea.
About Us
Our Vision
A healthier rural and remote Papua New Guinea.
Our Mission
ADI is committed to working with partners to provide and strengthen services in rural and remote communities of PNG.
ADI strives for sustainable healthcare solutions, ensuring every individual, regardless of location, has access to quality healthcare and a healthy future.
Our Team
Our People, Our Culture
ADI is more than staff, we are family. United by the same personal mission to serve the vulnerable and disadvantaged within rural communities of PNG, we care about each other, celebrate our achievements, and work together through challenges.
Or the approximately 50 staff, 90 per cent of the ADI team are PNG nationals.
Our management culture is to encourage our people to be all they can be, excel in their performance, and pave a pathway to continual career growth. We provide opportunities for training, development and mentoring, as well as ongoing support and a platform of learning, monitoring, appraisal and recognition.
ADI is our people and our people are ADI.
Executive Staff
PNG Leadership Team
Our Annual Impact
ADI seeks to strengthen provincial health systems by working closely together with our partners to achieve the objectives outlined in the PNG National Health Plan.
ADI is committed to strengthening health systems and supporting rural health workers in some of the most complex and challenging environments in the world. ADI is not only committed to improving health outcomes and infrastructure, but also in creating a sustainable, long-term change via advocacy and education.
Highlights from our 24-25 financial year.
+14,540
Doses
of routine immunisations delivered to 6,700 children
443
Days
of outreach activities
100%
local government area
have ADI trained health workers
33,941
People Attended
public health education sessions
+32,900
clinical services
delivered
959
Sessions
of public health education delivered to rural/ remote communities
+664
health workers
have received training
117
Health workers
participated in maternal and child health training
1,491
Couple years
protection provided by family planning methods during a one-year period
Annual Reports
How you can help PNG
Donate Now
Small or large, every donation counts and enables ADI to impact the lives of the people of rural and remote regions of PNG.
Careers
Volunteer Testimonials
Doctor
Imagine a place where to go almost anywhere, you have to travel by water, through a maze of confusing rivers and lake channels, around floating stands of grass that move - but boat fuel is hard to come by and expensive.
Careers
Volunteer Testimonials
Doctor
Always helping, always teaching, Dr Bruce’s vast experience as an Australian country GP improved the lives of countless remote New Irelanders through the delivery of clinical services and the education of their health workers. Bruce introduced triage to patrol teams to improve efficiency and was instrumental with ADI’s early family planning work.
Careers
Volunteer Testimonials
Doctor
Working in PNG is varied and very different from Australian general practice. The attainment of good health or access to healthcare is not easy in this resource constrained environment but gaining an understanding of the complex factors affecting these health outcomes has been invaluable.
Careers
Volunteer Testimonials
Doctor
We are so lucky to live in Australia, yet we seem blissfully unaware of our privilege. Within two hours flight from my home I can step onto a totally different planet, a parallel universe, it is surreal. I am so blessed to have been given the opportunity to work in PNG, to ignite a passion for teaching, to have received in abundance and to have pushed myself beyond my limits.
Ambassador
Marcus Bai
Marcus comes from West New Britain province in PNG and grew up in a large family in the small, remote village of Ulamona where he learned the values of strong work ethic and values associated with caring looking out for the family and community.
These values contributed to Marcus going on to be the finest rugby league PNG export to the Australian National Rugby League. He was an inaugural player of the Melbourne Storm in 1998, with the Storm going on to win the Premiership in 1999. During the course of his 10-year career with the NRL, Marcus scored over 70 tries, locking in his legendary status at Storm and was hailed as a hero in PNG.
Despite the ‘glory’ status of being a celebrated sportsman, the greatest love of Marcus’s life is family. He has not forgotten the needs of his people and the hardship faced by vulnerable communities in hard-to-reach places. It was the desire to make life better for those in rural/remote PNG that inspired his decision to support ADI as Ambassador. Marcus is passionate about the health of mothers and children in PNG, childhood immunisations, and supervised births for rural mothers.
Early in 2024 Marcus joined the ADI team to celebrate the opening of the new ADI office building in Kimbe, West New Britain. ADI is very grateful for the time Marcus shares in supporting the work of ADI – spreading the word, discussing the need, and creating new connections for ADI to develop the delivery of rural and remote health services. He is serving his community and his country to improve health services in PNG with the same passion and drive that have seen him succeed in so many areas of his life.