The Public Health Nurses Recruitment Case Study

Delivering critical health workforce solutions to support Victoria’s public health response

When COVID-19 placed unprecedented pressure on Victoria’s health system, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) required an immediate and scalable workforce solution. McArthur was engaged to deliver qualified infection prevention control nurses, contact tracers, and public health professionals to support the state’s pandemic response.

This project demonstrated McArthur’s capability to rapidly mobilise a highly skilled health workforce, meeting urgent demand while ensuring quality, compliance, and continuity across critical public health functions.

The Challenge: Rapid Deployment of Skilled Nursing Professionals

At the height of the pandemic, Victoria’s public health response relied on fast, coordinated workforce expansion. The DHHS initially requested just five experienced Public Health Nurses but as infection numbers grew and word spread of the high calibre of nurses provided by McArthur, the demand escalated rapidly.

McArthur’s Health and Nursing recruitment team, led by Jane and Renae, began receiving urgent requests from multiple DHHS divisions to deploy staff across preventive, outbreak, and testing (swabbing) teams.

The recruitment scope quickly broadened to include diverse public health roles, such as:

• Qualified Infection Prevention and Control Nurses
• Contact Tracers and Case Investigators
• Data Managers and Program Analysts
• Legal Policy Writers and Administrative Support Staff

Meeting this surge in demand required precise coordination, strong communication, and the ability to source and vet talent under significant time constraints while maintaining full compliance with AHPRA and DHHS workforce standards.

McArthur’s Solution: Strategic Health Recruitment and Workforce Planning

Drawing on over 55 years of experience in health, government, and community recruitment, McArthur delivered a comprehensive workforce strategy to meet the urgent staffing needs of DHHS.

Our approach included:

• Rapid-response recruitment processes designed to identify, screen, and onboard qualified nursing and allied health professionals within days.
• Targeted sourcing campaigns across Victoria to attract public health nurses, infection control specialists, and skilled contact tracers.
• Streamlined credential verification and compliance checks, ensuring all candidates met AHPRA registration and public sector requirements.
• Deployment of temporary and project-based staffing models to flexibly scale workforce capacity in line with public health priorities.
• Continuous collaboration with DHHS managers to align workforce delivery with outbreak response goals and changing operational needs.

This agile and accountable approach enabled McArthur to deliver a reliable, compliant, and high-performing workforce when the Victorian health system needed it most.

The Outcome: A Reliable and Responsive Public Health Workforce

Through close partnership with DHHS, McArthur successfully recruited and deployed hundreds of professionals across metropolitan and regional Victoria, helping to strengthen the state’s public health response.

Key outcomes included:

• Rapid recruitment of Qualified Infection Prevention Control Nurses and Contact Tracers across Victoria.
• Workforce expansion supporting multiple DHHS divisions and community health teams.
• Proven capacity to deliver both clinical and non-clinical personnel under urgent timelines.
• Recognition from DHHS leaders for providing highly capable and adaptable staff.

McArthur’s contribution not only met immediate pandemic response needs but also supported the development of sustainable workforce structures for future public health initiatives.

Empowering Australia’s Health and Community Workforce

McArthur has been a trusted partner to Australia’s health, nursing and community care sectors, helping organisations build capable, compassionate and compliant teams.

Our national network of offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Canberra allows us to connect employers with skilled professionals wherever they are needed, urban centres or regional communities.

Through temporary, permanent, and large-scale recruitment programs, McArthur delivers workforce solutions that strengthen health services, support community outcomes, and enhance public sector capability across Australia.

Follow the link below to find out more about the project, our solutions and the outcome for Victoria’s Public Health Nurses Project.