Time for governments to stop putting rural health in the ‘too hard basket’
Overworked rural doctors are demanding greater funding and resources to improve staffing levels and hospital facilities in some of the country's most under-serviced areas.
The Australian Medical Association’s 2025 Rural Health Issues Survey Report reveals doctors are still grappling with inadequate resources, while crippling workforce shortages limit access to care for rural communities.
The need for extra funding and resources to provide adequate staffing levels — as well as up-to-date facilities and equipment and access to ancillary services — was ranked the most critical priority by 90 per cent of survey respondents. This has been ranked the number-one issue in each of the AMA’s past four Rural Health Issues surveys dating back to 2016.
AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said this showed consecutive federal governments had failed to prioritise healthcare issues in rural areas.
“Rural and remote communities suffer worse health outcomes than those living in major cities — and this is due to the historic underinvestment and a lack of attention given to these issues,” Dr McMullen said.
“Our latest survey reflects the long-held concerns of rural doctors about the lack of staffing in our rural hospitals and inadequate facilities.
“It is high time our governments stop placing rural and remote Australia in the too hard basket.”
The Rural Health Issues Survey Report proposes a range of measures to strengthen rural and remote healthcare, including the establishment of an independent national health workforce planning agency.
The AMA was pleased to see both major parties commit to investing in more GP and rural generalist training places during the election campaign.
Dr McMullen said the Coalition’s additional $100 million funding commitment announced this month — which includes support for a rural, regional and remote health strategy — was also a step in the right direction.
“It is pleasing to see rural healthcare feature in this election campaign, and we will ensure these issues don’t ever fall off the radar of the major parties,” she said.
“One very encouraging aspect of our survey is the testimonies from rural doctors expressing the immense satisfaction they gain from their work. Being able to treat generations of families and have strong ties to communities is an amazing feeling.”
Ensuring rural health professionals and communities are involved in policy making decisions was ranked as the second-highest priority by 89.5 per cent of rural doctors in the AMA’s survey. This was followed by the need to enhance rural access to specialist outreach services that are integrated with local services.
