Consequentially, potentially preventable hospitalisations are 2-3 times higher in remote and very remote areas than in major cities.
Rural Australians are treated like “second class citizens”, with a shocking $848 underspend per year per person on healthcare, says the National Rural Health Alliance’s chief executive.
Today, the NRHA released its Rural Health in Australia Snapshot 2025.
The report put on display the chasm between metropolitan and regional health, with avoidable deaths in very remote areas almost four times higher than in urban areas for some populations.
According to the report, despite significant improvements since the last data collection in 2022, close to 18,500 people living in Australia do not have access to a primary healthcare service within an hour’s drive of their home.
Patients in outer regional, remote and very remote parts of the country have to wait longer to see a GP and those in very remote areas use Medicare close to 50% less than their metropolitan counterparts.
As a consequence, potentially preventable hospitalisations are between two and three times higher in remote and very remote areas than in major cities.
Australia’s 7 million-strong rural population generates 70% of exports – worth $500 billion a year – and almost half of the country’s tourism revenue.
But despite this, the regional population is grossly neglected, said NRHA CEO Susi Tegen.
“This data highlights the shameful failure to adequately provide funding and services to rural Australians, who contribute so much to our economy,” she said.
“Why are they treated like second-class citizens, with a staggering $848 less spent per person per year on healthcare?”
Speaking to The Medical Republic, ACRRM president Rod Martin said the data reaffirmed the “burning need … to pick off some of the really persisting health issues in rural and remote communities”.
“We need, not just [workforce] numbers, but the right people doing the right things.
“[There are] more generalists coming through the pipeline, hopefully, to be able to address some of these things.”
Dr Martin said that the health of rural, remote and First Nations Australia was somewhat “standing still”.
“Things are not getting much better, in the absence of some good, serious solutions.
“We’re not spending on the most vulnerable people and the least served people in the country.”
Dr Martin said that while virtual care helped to plug some of the holes, it lacked continuity.
What is needed is a mindset shift from governments and incentivisation, said Dr Martin.
“People in rural communities need to be really offended by the fact that governments don’t feel they need to spend money on those in [rural] communities,” he said.
“What we need to do is … incentivise more people to come in who want to deliver the [necessary] services [and aren’t] so substantially challenged by the costs of providing that service that it’s hard to stay in the town.”
According to the snapshot, rates of potentially avoidable deaths in males in very remote Australia are 2.5 times higher than in major cities, and 3.7 times higher in females.
Men and women living in very remote areas are dying up to 13.6 and 12.7 years earlier than their metropolitan counterparts.
Currently, the highest life expectancy is in metropolitan Sydney, 85.5 for males and 88.2 for females, and the lowest is in remote Northern Territories with 71.9 and 75.5 for males and females respectively.
Overall, the death rates per 100,000 increased in both males and females with remoteness, from 621 in major cities to 859 in very remote areas and from 444 to 751 respectively.
Ms Tegen said the snapshot reinforced a need for urgent action.
“Especially with the federal election on the horizon,” she said.
“It is a wake-up call to say enough is enough.
“For decades, we have known about the healthcare challenges, the additional costs, and the tyranny of distance, but there has been too little action.
“Rural Australia has its own identity and requires tailored, place-based solutions to meet its unique geographic and societal needs.”
The NRHA called for a National Rural Health Strategy under the National Health Reform Agreement.
“This will coordinate Commonwealth, State, and Territory policy, investment and service delivery to ensure tailored, sustainable solutions,” said Ms Tegen.
“We also call for ‘block’ and infrastructure funding, that is equitable.”
