Publications

The Government commissioned the National Centre for Social Applications of Geographical Information Systems (GISCA) to study the effect of the Government’s $134m Rural Workforce Strategy, which forms part of the Government’s regional workforce investments.

• Rural health services
• Health workforce

The Commonwealth Maternity Services Review report Improving Maternity Services in Australia (February 2009) identified the need to improve access to maternity services for women in rural and remote locations. As part of the 2009-10 Budget, the Government announced a package of measures to respond to this need, including a consultancy to examine the potential for expanding the Queensland Health Rural Generalist Pathway model nationally. This consultancy was carried out by NOVA Public Policy and was completed in June 2010.

• Health workforce
• Rural health services
• General practice

This document sets out major structural reforms to establish the financing and governance foundations of a National Health and Hospitals Network for Australia’s future. The Government expects that these reforms will permanently establish the Commonwealth Government as the majority funder of hospitals and place the Australian health system onto a sustainable and self-improving footing for the future.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
• Chronic disease
• Health promotion
• Hospitals
• Primary health care
• Rural health services
• Youth health

This report identifies actions that can be taken by governments to reform the health system under three reform goals: tackling major access and equity issues that affect health outcomes for people now; redesigning our health system so that it is better positioned to respond to emerging challenges; and creating an agile and self-improving health system for long-term sustainability.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
• Cancer
• Chronic disease
• Health promotion
• Hospitals
• Primary health care
• Rural health services
• Youth health

This report provides information gathered in the audit of the health workforce in rural and remote Australia. It investigates the number and distribution of the health workforce, specifically doctors, nurses and other health professionals, currently working in rural and regional Australia, describes the current workforce supply and identifies where health workforce shortages exist.

• Health personnel
• Health workforce
• Nursing
• Rural health services

The publication "Building Healthy Communities - A Guide for Community Projects" is a guide for people in small rural communities who want to try new ways to make a difference to chronic disease at a local level.

• Rural health services

This project targeted people with continence problems who live in rural and remote areas of Australia, providing them with access to the expertise of major metropolitan continence services. It also offered continence clinicians working in these areas the opportunity to update their skills and expertise in continence management by providing education sessions via videoconferencing.

• Continence
• Rural health services

The review was initiated to ensure that the application of Part IV of the Trade Practices Act (TPA) was not reducing the capacity of rural communities to recruit and retain medical practitioners.

• Health workforce
• Rural health services

This report reviews measures to support rural and community terms for junior medical officers.

• Health workforce
• Health personnel
• Rural health services

The Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia, sponsored by the Department of Health and Aged Care, uses accessibility by road to services to develop a standard classification and index of remoteness.This revised edition was released in October 2001.

• Rural health services