Better health and ageing for all Australians

Rural and Regional Health

Rural Health Overview

The Australian Government is committed to improving health outcomes for people in regional, rural and remote Australia.

In this section:

Through the 2009-10 Federal Budget, new funding was announced for rural health programs. A significant part of this investment is the Rural Health Reform – Supporting Communities with Workforce Shortages measure, a package of $134.4 million to address rural and remote health workforce shortages. This package was based on retargeting existing workforce programs to provide greater incentives for doctors to work in more remote parts of Australia and the progressive introduction of a new remoteness classification.

The new classification system, to be introduced progressively from 1 July 2009, is the Australian Geographical Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Areas (RA) System. This will replace the
Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) classification system as the basis for funding rural health programs.

Specifically, ASGC-RA categories 2 (Inner Regional) to 5 (Very Remote) will be applied to all rural workforce, education and training and service delivery programs. The adoption of ASGC-RA will help to ensure that workforce incentives meet the needs of health professionals, ‘the more remote you go, the greater the reward’, and that rural health programs are targeted to where the funding is most needed.

2009-10 Workforce Package Funding

Funding under the Workforce Package has been allocated as follows:

General Practice Rural Incentives Program
The General Practice Rural Incentives Program has received new funding of $64.3 million over four years, in addition to existing funding of $189.6 million over four years.

Scaling of Rural Workforce Programs
New funding of $47.5 million over four years on top of existing funding of $108 million over four years, has been provided for the scaling of Rural Workforce Programs.

Training for Rural and Remote GPs Program
New funding of $15.5 million over four years has been allocated for the Training for Rural and Remote GPs Program, on top of existing funding of $74.2 million over four years.

Expansion of the TRRGPP to Urban GPs undertaking Locums
New funding of $5.9 million over four years, on top of existing funding of $8 million (Specialist
Obstetrician Locum Scheme) over four years has been allocated to expand the TRRGPP to Urban GPs undertaking Locums.

In 2007-08, the Government invested $550 million in targeted rural health programs which are aimed at improving access to services and increasing the number of health professionals in country Australia.

The Government has already made a range of commitments which will improve health services for rural communities, and these include:

    • to identify a long-term plan for improving rural health services through the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission;
    • to improve elective surgery capacity in Australia's rural and regional hospitals through the $600 million elective surgery plan;
    • to help put extra nurses in country hospitals through the $81 million nursing package;
    • to establish GP Super Clinics in areas where there is under-utilisation of Medicare funded services, which will include rural areas;
    • to improve access to health services by providing funding under the National Rural and Remote Health Infrastructure Program;
    • to improve Indigenous health through the $260 million Indigenous early childhood package;
    • to expand and enhance specialist services through the Medical Specialists' Outreach Assistance Program;
    • to invest in additional rural scholarships for medical students and in supporting obstetricians in rural areas;
    • the establishment of an Australian Allied Health Rural and Remote Clinical Placements Scholarships Plan; and
    • maternity reform including the development of a national plan.

Rural health related journals

Links to Australian and international rural health journals.

Useful Links

Links to government websites and rural health organisations.

Australian Government websites | State Government websites | Rural health organisations | Rural Media organisations | Overseas organisations

Australian Government websites

State Government websites

Rural health organisations

Rural Media organisations

Overseas Organisations