Health Students the Winners with More Money for Rural Education Infrastructure
The Australian Government will boost the training opportunities for more than 1,000 medical, dental and allied health students in rural communities with $33 million more for essential infrastructure.
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Previous MinistersJoint Release
The Hon Nicola Roxon MP
Minister For Health And Ageing
The Hon Warren Snowdon MP
Minister For Indigenous Health, Rural And Regional Health and Regional Services Delivery
30 March 2010 The Rudd Government will boost the training opportunities for more than 1,000 medical, dental and allied health students in rural communities with $33 million more for essential infrastructure.
22 projects will be funded across the country, with each State and Territory to benefit. The projects will construct or expand student education facilities, student accommodation, primary care teaching sites, and distance education facilities.
Bolstering Australia’s rural health workforce is pivotal to the Government’s National Health and Hospitals Network reform plan.
The Government is determined to attract more doctors, nurses, dentists and other health professionals to regional and rural communities throughout Australia – and keep them there.
The projects funded under the Government’s Rural Education Infrastructure Development Pool, covers communities as diverse as Thursday Island in far north Queensland, where student accommodation will be purchased at a cost of up to $2.1 million, to Armidale in the NSW Tablelands, where $5.5 million will be spent to construct an education facility for the clinical school and $1.3 million for the University of Western Australia to construct a teaching and administration facility in Broome.
Providing high quality training and accommodation facilities in rural and regional communities will help to attract more people to live and work where the community needs them.
This in turn means more Australians will get better access to the health care they need, regardless of their location.
We know that doctors and health professionals who spend time training and learning in regional and rural centres often establish strong links with the local community.
Today’s funding announcement will enable more students to experience the many rewards of both living and working in a regional practice.
All of these projects are an important part of the Government’s strategy to build our health workforce of the future and improve the long-term sustainability of the rural health workforce.
The projects will provide a real boost to rural and regional communities and will help to ensure that students undertaking rural training have access to top quality facilities and encourage them to consider future careers in rural health.
This investment will build on the Government’s:
- $632 million announcement to train more doctors – 50 per cent of the new GP training places will be provided in rural and regional communities
- $134 million Rural Health Workforce Strategy, that will deliver 500 communities and 2,400 doctors with more financial support to move to and stay in rural and remote areas.
This means more Australians will get better access in the future to appropriate health care, regardless of their location.
Today’s announcement is another building block underpinning health reform to ensure we can deliver better health and better hospitals throughout the country.
For all media inquiries, please contact the Health Minister's Office on 02 6277 7220 or Rural Health Minister’s office on 0400 045 999.
State | Location | Organisation | Project Description | Amount ($ GST exclusive) |
| NT | Nhulunbuy | Flinders University Rural Clinical School | Construction of education, administration and student support centre for medical and allied health students in Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory | 4 003 000 |
| QLD | Cherbourg | Griffith University School of Dentistry | Construction of Dental student training facility in Cherbourg, Queensland | 642 955 |
| WA | Broome | University of Western Australia | Construction of teaching and administration centre in Broome, Western Australia | 1 300 000 |
| QLD | Mackay | James Cook University School of Medicine and Dentistry | Construction of new teaching and administration facility at the Mackay Hospital, Queensland | 2 500 000 |
| NSW | Armidale | University of New England Joint Medical Program | Purchase of land and construction of an education facility for the Tablelands Clinical School in Armidale, New South Wales | 5 500 000 |
| WA | Mount Magnet | University of Western Australia Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health | Student accommodation purchase and renovation of a house in Mt Magnet, Western Australia | 171 500 |
| SA | Kangaroo Island | Flinders University Rural Clinical School | Upgrade to Kangaroo Island Medical Clinic, South Australia | 285 000 |
| NSW | Ballina | University of Sydney Faculty of Dentistry | Construction of the Ballina Dental Teaching Clinic, New South Wales | 722 788 |
| NSW | Broken Hill | University of Sydney Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health | Purchase and installation of demountable units for student accommodation in Broken Hill and construction of a new wing at the existing educational facility in Broken Hill, New South Wales | 1 974 420 |
| QLD | Longreach | James Cook University Mt Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health | Construction of student accommodation, Longreach, Queensland | 1 145 084 |
| NSW | Cowra | Australian National University Rural Clinical School | Extension to medical practice to provide training facilities for medical students and General Practice registrars in Cowra, New South Wales | 205 600 |
| NT | Alice Springs | Centre for Remote Health | Purchase of student accommodation Alice Springs, Northern Territory | 905 200 |
| VIC | Castlemaine, Mildura and Bendigo | Monash University | Refurbishment of Primary Care Teaching Facilities - Northern Victoria | 450 000 |
| WA | Bunbury | University of Western Australia School of Dentistry | Purchase of dental student accommodation in Bunbury, Western Australia | 541 000 |
| NT | Yuendumu | Australian National University Rural Clinical School | Construction of accommodation for clinical supervisor and students in Yuendumu Northern Territory | 657 100 |
| SA | Barmera | Flinders University Rural Clinical School | Upgrade and extension of Lake Bonney Medical Clinic Barmera, South Australia | 172 650 |
| TAS | Mersey | University of Tasmania Rural Clinical School | Redevelopment of the clinical teaching centre at Mersey Community Hospital, Tasmania | 1 484 000 |
| QLD | Mackay | James Cook University School of Medicine and Dentistry | Construction of 30 bed student accommodation complex in Mackay, Queensland | 2 576 400 |
| NSW | Coffs Harbour | University of New South Wales Rural Clinical School | Extension to Coffs Harbour Campus building, New South Wales | 1 855 888 |
| QLD | Thursday Island | James Cook University School of Medicine and Dentistry | Purchase of student accommodation Thursday Island, Queensland | 2 116 736 |
| QLD | Rockhampton | University Of Queensland Rural Clinical School | Construction of an education centre at the local hospital | 2 500 000 |
| VIC | Gippsland | Monash University | Refurbishment of primary care teaching facilities in Gippsland | 1 125 000 |
| TOTAL ($) |  | | | 32 834 321 |
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