The National Rural Health Alliance applauds the introduction of the Regional, Rural and Remote Capacity Building grant opportunity introduced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
The initiative will provide grants of up to $5 million over seven years to support research capacity in rural, regional and remote communities, including a dedicated and growing stream for researchers based in those communities.
National Rural Health Alliance Chief Executive Susi Tegen said the initiative was a forward-looking investment by the NHMRC in the future of Australia’s health system.
“Rural communities are not smaller versions of cities. They have different workforce challenges, different access and funding issues, different service models and different health needs and outcomes,” Tegen said.
“For too long, Australia has relied on metropolitan-centric health and medical research and assumed it can be applied everywhere, with little involvement of rural people. Research designed for cities does not always reflect the realities of rural, regional and remote communities.”
Tegen said building place-based research skills and capacity in rural communities would strengthen the health system for all Australians.
“This is not only an investment in rural communities, but also an investment in the health of the whole nation,” she said.
“When rural communities have the skills, infrastructure and support to lead research locally, the outcomes are more relevant, more practical and more likely to improve care where it is needed most.”
Around 30% of Australians, or more than 7.4 million people, live in rural, regional and remote areas. These communities experience higher rates of illness, poorer access to services and lower life expectancy than people living in metropolitan centres.
Tegen said the grant program recognised that meaningful improvements in health outcomes require genuine community-led approaches.
“Place-based research matters because communities know what works for them; they just require the opportunity”, she said.
“Research led by and with rural communities will help deliver stronger services, a more sustainable workforce and better health outcomes, not only for rural Australians, but for the country as a whole.”
The Alliance said the initiative was an important step toward fairer research investment and would help address longstanding barriers to participation, including limited infrastructure, workforce shortages and lack of professional networks.
The NRHA looks forward to seeing the initiative support a new generation of rural researchers and strengthen Australia’s ability to deliver equitable, evidence-based care across the country.
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