Advisory · Strategy · Transformation

Clear direction for complex organisations.

Frontier North helps health, aged care, government and complex service organisations set strategy, lift performance and deliver change — with advice grounded in real operating experience, not just theory.

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$2Bn+revenue portfolios led by our principal
20+ yrsacross health, government and consulting
10,000+people led in complex service organisations
AU & globalexperience across Australia, Europe and beyond
Why Frontier North

Advice from people who have sat in the operator's seat.

Most advisers have studied complex organisations. We have run them — multi-billion-dollar health portfolios, major government contracts and some of Australia's largest public private partnerships. That means our advice is practical, testable and built to be implemented.

  • Strategy that holds up on the ground, shaped by executives who have delivered it.
  • Deep networks across Australian health, government and the private sector.
  • Senior attention on every engagement — you work directly with the principal.
  • Honest, independent counsel — we tell you what we would do in your seat.
Meet our founder

Strategy & Growth

Corporate and business unit strategy, market entry and growth options that fit your capabilities and context.

Performance & Turnaround

Rapid diagnosis and disciplined execution to lift financial and operational performance.

M&A & Integration

Due diligence, transaction support and integrations that actually deliver the value case.

"The best advice is simple, honest and built for the real world. Our job is to help you find true north — then walk with you until you get there."
Liz Curran — Founder & Principal
Where we work

Deep roots in health. At home in any complex system.

Health & Hospitals

Public and private hospitals, local health districts, primary care, dental and community health.

Aged Care & Community Care

Residential aged care, home and community care providers — strategy, operations and reform readiness in a sector under transformation.

Government & Defence Services

Large government service contracts, defence health services and outsourced service delivery.

Insurers, Investors & Life Sciences

Health insurers and payers, private equity in health, pharmaceuticals and life sciences.

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Ready when you are

Facing a strategic decision, a performance challenge or a deal?

A first conversation costs nothing and usually saves a great deal. Tell us what you're weighing up.

Get in touch
About Frontier North

Built on two decades of leading Australia's most complex health and service organisations.

Frontier North is an independent Australian advisory firm founded by Liz Curran. We work with boards, chief executives and senior leaders in health, aged care, government and complex service organisations — bringing the judgement of a seasoned operator and the rigour of a top-tier strategy consultant to every engagement.

Liz Curran, Founder and Principal of Frontier North Liz Curran Founder & Principal
Our Founder

Liz Curran

Liz Curran is one of Australia's most experienced health and government services executives. She is a Non-Executive Director of the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation and the Founder and Principal of Frontier North, where she advises health and government organisations on strategy, AI-enabled transformation, performance improvement, and mergers and acquisitions.

Most recently, Liz was Managing Director – Health Services at Bupa, leading a portfolio of around 4,000 people and approximately $2 billion in revenue spanning primary care, mental health, dental, optical and hearing, visa medical services, and health services for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) — the largest health services contract in Australia. Under her leadership the portfolio met or exceeded its targets, built new general practice and mental health businesses from the ground up, completed major acquisitions and integrations, and turned around the performance of both the ADF contract and the dental business.

Before Bupa, Liz led the Health & Education portfolio at Downer Group — more than 3,500 people and around $0.5 billion in revenue, including some of Australia's largest Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) — where she led the turnaround of the Royal Adelaide Hospital PPP. Earlier, as Executive Director of Operations in NSW Health, she ran operations for two of Sydney's largest local health districts, with budgets of up to $1.8 billion and more than 10,000 staff, and served as COVID-19 Incident Controller.

Liz began her career in strategy consulting with A.T. Kearney and Booz & Company in Sydney and Amsterdam, later advising pharmaceutical and life sciences companies in London and serving as a Director in Deloitte's National Strategy & Operations practice. She holds an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona and a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction from UNSW — and away from work, she has represented Australia at multiple world sailing championships.

MBA — IESE Business School B.Com (Distinction) — UNSW Non-Executive Director Former Managing Director, Bupa Health Services
Career at a glance
2026 – presentFounder & Principal, Frontier North

Advisory to health and government organisations on strategy, transformation, performance and M&A.

2022 – presentNon-Executive Director, Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation

Board member of one of Australia's leading children's health charities.

2024 – 2026Managing Director – Health Services, Bupa

~$2Bn revenue, ~4,000 people across primary care, dental, defence and government health services.

2021 – 2024EGM Health & Education, Downer Group

~$0.5Bn portfolio including major hospital PPPs; led the Royal Adelaide Hospital PPP turnaround.

2016 – 2021Executive Director Operations, NSW Health

South Eastern Sydney and Northern Sydney Local Health Districts; budgets to $1.8Bn, 10,000+ staff.

EarlierDeloitte, Booz & Company, A.T. Kearney, life sciences advisory (London)

Strategy, operations and M&A consulting across Australia and Europe.

How we work

Senior. Straightforward. On your side.

Principal-led

No leverage model, no juniors learning on your time. You get senior expertise, hands-on, from day one.

Practical

Every recommendation is one we would be willing to implement ourselves — because we have implemented them before.

Candid

We give you the honest answer, not the comfortable one — delivered constructively and backed by evidence.

Curious whether we're the right fit?

We're happy to talk through your situation before any engagement takes shape.

Contact Liz
Services

Advisory that moves from insight to delivery.

We support boards and executive teams across the full arc of organisational change — from setting direction, to lifting performance, to executing transactions and transformation. Engagements are tailored, senior-led and sized to the problem.

Strategy & Growth

Corporate and business unit strategy, market entry, service diversification and growth options — grounded in a clear-eyed view of your capabilities, competitors and operating context. We have developed and delivered growth strategies inside health insurers, hospital operators and infrastructure businesses, so our strategies come with a delivery path attached.

  • Corporate & portfolio strategy
  • Market entry & adjacencies
  • Business cases & investment options
  • Commercial & bid strategy

Performance Improvement & Turnaround

Rapid, evidence-based diagnosis of underperformance and a disciplined program to fix it — financial, operational and cultural. Our principal has personally led turnarounds of a national dental business, Australia's largest health services contract and one of the country's largest hospital Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

  • Performance diagnostics
  • Turnaround programs
  • Cost & productivity improvement
  • Contract & PPP performance recovery

Transformation & AI-Enabled Change

Large-scale organisational and digital transformation, including the practical application of artificial intelligence (AI) in service operations. We help leaders separate genuine value from hype, sequence change realistically, and build the operating model and workforce plan to sustain it.

  • Operating model redesign
  • AI & digital transformation
  • Major program review & assurance
  • Workforce & change planning

Mergers, Acquisitions & Integration

Support across the deal lifecycle — commercial due diligence, transaction advice and, critically, the integration work that determines whether a deal delivers. Our experience spans buy-side diligence for corporates and private equity through to leading major acquisitions and integrations from the inside.

  • Commercial due diligence
  • Deal & integration strategy
  • Post-merger integration leadership
  • Synergy & value realisation

Operations & Service Delivery at Scale

Practical advice on running large, complex service operations — hospitals, clinics, contact centres, field services and multi-site networks. From governance and performance management to safety, quality and client experience, we know what good looks like because we have run it at scale.

  • Operational excellence
  • Service & network design
  • Quality, safety & governance
  • Major contract management

Interim Executive & Board Advisory

Senior leadership capacity when you need it — interim executive roles, executive coaching and counsel, and independent advice to boards and audit or risk committees. We bring the perspective of someone who has held the accountability, not just observed it.

  • Interim executive leadership
  • Board & committee advisory
  • Executive mentoring
  • Governance reviews

Not sure which service fits your situation?

Most engagements start with a short, sharp diagnostic. Tell us the problem — we'll suggest the smallest sensible first step.

Discuss an engagement
Industries & Areas of Expertise

Whole-of-health-sector expertise, and beyond.

Frontier North's experience spans the full Australian health system — public and private, payer and provider, clinical and corporate — together with aged care, government services, defence health and major infrastructure partnerships.

Hospitals & Health Systems

Public hospital operations at local health district scale, private hospital groups, and system-level strategy and performance.

Primary Care, Dental & Allied Health

General practice, mental health, dental networks, optical and hearing — including greenfield builds and national multi-site operations.

Health Insurance & Payers

Strategy, health services and payer–provider partnerships, drawing on senior executive experience inside Australia's largest health insurer.

Government & Defence Health Services

Large government health contracts — including health services for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and veterans — visa medical services and outsourced delivery.

Aged Care & Community Health

Residential, home and community-based care — strategy, operational performance, workforce and reform readiness for providers navigating the sector's once-in-a-generation transformation, and the intersection of health, ageing and disability services.

Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences

Market access, pricing and commercial strategy, built on advisory work with global pharmaceutical companies across major therapeutic areas.

Infrastructure & PPPs

Social infrastructure Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) — hospitals, education and precincts — from bid through operations and turnaround.

Private Equity & Investors

Commercial due diligence, value creation planning and operating expertise for investors in health and human services.

Education & Human Services

Education facilities and services within major outsourced portfolios, and other complex people-centred service organisations.

"Health and government services are unforgiving systems: complex funding, high public expectations, no room for error. Advisers need to have earned their scars inside them."
Frontier North

Working in one of these sectors?

Chances are we've faced a version of your challenge before. Let's compare notes.

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Insights

Practical thinking on health, strategy and change.

Short, useful perspectives from the front line of Australian health and government services — no jargon, no 40-page reports.

Our first insights are on their way.

We're writing practical perspectives on AI in health operations, contract turnarounds and making integrations deliver. If there's a topic you'd like our take on, we'd love to hear it.

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We share new perspectives occasionally — only when we have something worth your time.

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Contact

Let's talk about what's next for your organisation.

Whether you're weighing a strategic decision, facing a performance challenge or preparing for a transaction, we'd welcome the conversation. No obligation — just a candid discussion about whether and how we can help.

Send us a message

We respond to every enquiry, usually within one business day.

Direct contact

Emailliz@frontiernorth.com.au
Based inSydney, Australia — working nationally
EntityFrontier North Pty Ltd, trading as Frontier North

Engagements range from short diagnostics to multi-month programs and interim executive roles. All conversations are held in strict confidence.