The National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) is
Australia's
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
peak
non-government organisation
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
for
rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
and remote health.
The Alliance began in 1991 and was incorporated in 1993. It brings together a number of disparate organisations for the common purpose of improving the health of people who live and work in Australia's non-metropolitan areas.
Member bodies
the Alliance comprises 53 member bodies, each of which is a national organisation. They represent
health consumers,
health care professionals
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, pain ...
, service providers,
health educators
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, pain ...
, students and some
Indigenous health
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
organisations. The following are current members:
* Allied Health Professions Australia (Rural and Remote Committee) - AHPARR
* Angel Flight Australia - AFA
* Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (Rural, Regional and Remote Committee) - ACEM (RRRC)
* Australasian College of Health Service Management (Regional, Rural and Remote Special Interest Group) - ACHSM (RRRSIG)
* Australasian College of Paramedicine - ACP
* Australasian Sonographers Association - ASA
* Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Pain Medicine - ANZCA FPM
* Australian Chiropractors Association (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rural and Remote Practitioner Network) - ACA (ARRPN)
* Australian College of Midwives (Rural and Remote Advisory Committee) - ACM (RRAC)
* Australian College of Nurse Practitioners - ACNP
* Australian College of Nursing (Rural Nursing and Midwifery Faculty) - ACN (RNM)
* Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine - ACRRM
* Australian Counselling Association - ACA
* Australian Dental Association (Rural Dentists' Network) - ADA (RDN)
* Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited - AGPAL
* Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association - AHHA
* Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association - AIDA
* Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (rural members) - ANMF
* Australian Paediatric Society - APS
* Australian Physiotherapy Association (Rural group) - APA
* Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association - APNA
* Australian Psychological Society (Rural and Remote Psychology Interest Group) - APS (RRPIG)
* Australian Rural Health Education Network - ARHEN
* Carers Australia
* College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (Rural Committee)
* Council of Ambulance Authorities - CAA
* CRANAplus
* Exercise & Sports Science Australia - ESSA
* Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators - FRAME
* Joint Colleges Training Services - JCTS
* Mable
* Malpa
* National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners - NAATSIHWP
* National Rural Health Student Network - NRHSN
* Optometry Australia (Rural Optometry Group) - OA (ROG)
* Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (Rural Special Interest Group) - PSA (RSIG)
* Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia - PACFA
* Regional Medical Specialists Association - RMSA
* Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators - RACMA
* Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (Rural Surgery Section) - RACS (RSS)
* Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - RANZCOG
* Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists - RANZCO
* Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists - RANZCP
* Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (Rural Faculty) - RACGP Rural
* Royal Far West - RFW
* Royal Flying Doctor Service - RFDS
* Rural Aid Australia
* Rural Doctors Association of Australia - RDAA
* Rural Pharmacists Australia - RPA
* Rural Workforce Agencies Network - RWAN
* Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health - SARRAH
* Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia - SHPA
* Speech Pathology Australia (Rural and Remote Member Community) - SPA (RRMC)
Mission and support
The Alliance has core operational support from the Australian (Federal) Government
Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...
. The Alliance's work has remained independent of government and is controlled and managed by its member bodies, through its council. Current members of Council at any given time are listed on the Alliance's website.
The Alliance's interests and constituency are the communities of rural and remote Australia. Rural and remote areas are defined (arbitrarily) by the Alliance as all those places except the nine
capital cities
A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...
and the regional conurbations of
Townsville
The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
, the
Gold Coast,
Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
, the
Central Coast,
Wollongong
Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...
and
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
. Australia has various formal classification systems of the geographic continuum from 'metropolitan' to 'remote', the latest and most widely used of which is the Australian Standard Geographic Classification System – Remoteness Areas (ASGC-RA).
Despite Australia's general affluence, for a number of reasons the health status of its people deteriorates with increasing remoteness (i.e. distance from its capital cities). The proportion of
Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander
Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...
people in local communities increases with remoteness and this contributes to the urban-remote health gradient. Across Australia as a whole there is a 12–17 year difference in
life expectancy
Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...
between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Between remote and metropolitan areas the difference is estimated to be 3–4 years.
Against this background, the Alliance's vision is good health and wellbeing in rural and remote Australia. The Alliance takes a broad view of health and a long-term view of the development of rural Australia. Its operation is based on the view that all Australians, wherever they live, should have access to comprehensive, high quality health services and the opportunity for equivalent health outcomes. This aspiration requires action relating to the social and economic determinants of health, as well as to factors in the health sector more narrowly defined.
These broader issues include
education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
,
housing
Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...
, employment,
rural and regional development,
telecommunication
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
s, transport,
cultural safety
Cultural safety is the effective nursing practice of nursing a person or family from another culture; it is determined by that person or family. It developed in New Zealand, with origins in nursing education. An unsafe cultural practice is define ...
, illness prevention,
health promotion
Health promotion is, as stated in the 1986 World Health Organization (WHO) Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the "process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health."
Scope
The WHO's 1986 Ottawa Charter for ...
, and health infrastructure. The Alliance works with consumers, communities and governments to make the diverse communities of rural and remote Australia healthy and health-promoting places in which to live and work.
In 1998–99 the NRHA was a participant with Commonwealth, State and Territory governments in development of a national strategic framework for rural and remote health in Australia: Healthy Horizons. It worked with governments on the updated Healthy Horizons 2003–07 and on its review in 2008.
The NRHA is manager of the biennial National Rural Health Conference. The Conference has become a key event on the calendar of people interested in improving health in rural, regional and remote Australia, whether as community representatives, policy makers, researchers or other stakeholders.
The NRHA was the national manager for the
Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...
of the Rural Australia Medical Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme (RAMUS). The RAMUS scheme was part of the national strategy to increase the medical workforce available to people in rural Australia. RAMUS supported around 2500 rural students since inception in 2000 to study medicine.
The Alliance also managed Stream 2 of the Rural Health Continuing Education program (RHCE2) on behalf of the Department of Health.
RHCE2 was designed to foster inter-professional, team-based training and joint continuing development projects in order to better enable practising health professionals to provide health care services, both as members of multi-disciplinary teams and as individual practitioners.
The program was also designed to support the retention of rural and remote health professionals.
The Alliance is owner and manager of the Australian Journal of Rural Health (AJRH)
Partyline is the Alliance's flagship
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
.
Friends of the Alliance is a support network for individuals and organisations interested in rural health and in supporting the work of the Alliance.
Alliance chairs
Chairpersons of the Alliance have been:
* Bruce Chater (1993–1994)
* Sabina Knight (1994–1995)
* Sue Wade (1995–1997)
* John Lawrence (1997–1999)
* Steve Clark (1999–2000)
* Nigel Stewart (2000–2003)
* Sue McAlpin (2003–2005)
* John Wakerman (2005–2008)
* Jenny May (2008–2011)
* Lesley Barclay (2011–2013)
* Tim Kelly (2013–2015)
* Geri Malone (2015–2017)
* Tanya Lehmann (2017–2020)
* Nicole O’Reilly (2020–present
)
References
{{reflist
External links
National Rural Health Alliance
Medical and health organisations based in Australia
Rural organisations in Australia
National Rural Health Alliance organisations
1993 establishments in Australia