Flexible Funds - program consolidation
Rural Health Outreach Fund
This page contains information on the Rural Health Outreach Fund
The Rural Health Outreach Fund (RHOF) consolidates the activities of five existing programs, and will provide a larger, flexible funding pool for initiatives aimed at improving access to medical specialists, GPs, allied and other health providers in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia.
The Fund will support the delivery of all medical specialties and a range of primary health care services in rural, regional and remote Australia. These include but are not limited to multi-disciplinary maternity services, eye health services and their coordination, and services by female GPs.
The Fund Guidelines are available below:
The first funding round under the RHOF was advertised on 1 December 2012 and closes on 25 January 2013.
Background
Rural Health Outreach Fund
Following a review of administrative arrangements in the Health and Ageing portfolio, the Australian Government announced in the 2011-12 Budget that it will establish the RHOF.The RHOF consolidates the activities of five existing outreach programs, and will provide a larger, flexible funding pool for initiatives aimed at supporting people living in regional,rural and remote locations to access a wide range of health care services.
The RHOF is one of the new Flexible Funds and consolidates five programs, namely:
- The Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program (MSOAP);
- MSOAP – Ophthalmology expansion;
- MSOAP – Maternity services expansion;
- Rural Women’s GP Service Program; and
- National Rural and Remote Health – Kimberley Paediatric Outreach Program.
Funding Round One
Funding round one is an open competitive grant round. The Fund is an ongoing program and it is expected that successful Applicants will be offered up to a three year funding agreement. A competitive round may be held every three years. Highly performing fundholders may be considered for contract extensions of up to three years.The following table outlines the anticipated timeline for the funding round of the Fund.
| Milestones | Dates |
|---|---|
| Rural Health Outreach Fund Announced | 10 May 2011 |
| Discussion Paper circulated to Stakeholders | 24 August 2011 |
| Fund Guidelines Published | 1 December 2012 |
| Applications Open | 1 December 2012 |
| Applications Close | 25 January 2013 |
| Assessment and Decision | March-April 2013 |
| Services commence | 1 July 2013 |
How Much Funding is Available?
The Australian Government is providing approximately $97.2 million (GST exclusive) in funding which will be in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 years.For further information about the RHOF, please email: RHOF@health.gov.au
