Rural Health Services
Regional Health Services
This program helps small rural communities with a population of less than 5000 people improve their access to local primary health care services.
The Regional Health Services (RHS) program supports community identified primary health care priorities relating to the prevention and treatment of illness in small rural or remote towns with populations of less that 5,000. Primary health care services provided under the program under the program include community nursing, mental health, social work and counselling, health promotion and education, palliative care, child and family health, youth services, drug and alcohol services, dietetics, podiatry, physiotherapy, speech and occupational therapy.
The objectives of the RHS program are to:
- Improve the health and well being of people in rural and remote Australia;
- Improve access to quality, multi-disciplinary, comprehensive primary health care services;
- Play a role in the recruitment and retention of health professionals in rural communities;
- Enable flexible delivery of services; and
- Assist service viability.
Primary health care is focussed on keeping healthy people healthy, improving the health of the community and responding to people who need treatment and care. It can include such things as:
- Maintaining good health and preventing people from becoming ill (eg. local programs to reduce smoking and domestic violence), and
- Helping people with a chronic illness to prevent complications or needing to go to hospital.
The Regional Health Services program is based on a number of fundamental principles:
- Local solutions for local health problems ensuring there is to be real health gain.
- Flexible, innovative and integrated solutions promoting better health.
- Governments supporting improved access to health services, particularly in small communities.
- The Australian Government, and State and Territory and local governments collaborating to provide the best way to improve health in rural communities.
The Regional Health Services Program's flexibility stems from the knowledge that no two communities are alike, and that there is no single solution for service-mix or activity. In order to find the right mix, the Regional Health Services Program allows communities to consider a mix of services for health promotion and education, including:
Illness and injury prevention
- Women's health
- Children's, youth and family health
- Community nursing
- Mental health and counselling
- Nutrition and dietetics
- Social work
- Drug and alcohol services
- Allied health services such as dietetics, podiatry, physiotherapy, speech and occupational therapy.
Services funded under the RHS program
Services funded under the RHS program include but are not limited to:
- Community nursing
- Mental Health and counselling services
- Social work
- Health promotion and health education activities
- Child and family health services
- Youth services
- Drug and alcohol services
- Allied health services such as dietetics, podiatry, physiotherapy, speech and occupational therapy.
For further information about the Program email:
ruralhealth@health.gov.au or call toll free 1800 020 787 or contact the relevant Australian Government, State/Territory Office:
State and Territory Office Contacts
Contact | Telephone |
| New South Wales | (02) 9263 3574 |
| Victoria | (03) 9665 8758 |
| Queensland | (07) 3360 2595 |
| South Australia | (08) 8237 8167 |
| Western Australia | (08) 9346 5305 |
| Tasmania | (03) 6221 1420 |
| Northern Territory | (08) 8946 3435 |
| Central Office | (02) 6289 9287 |
Alternatively, you can write to:
Rural Health Program Manager
Department of Health and Ageing
GPO Box 9848
in your Capital City