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Healthcare access
Our access initiatives address disparities in regional and remote areas, ensuring all communities have access to quality healthcare.
How we are improving healthcare
Limited access to healthcare is one of the biggest drivers of health disparities in rural and regional Australia. Deakin Rural Health is committed to closing these gaps by combining research, innovation and collaboration. Through advanced geospatial mapping and workforce tracking, we identify where services are lacking and uncover trends that inform smarter policy and planning.
Address Level Intelligence
Address Level Intelligence uses locational data on dwellings, people and services to highlight gaps in access to health and other services. In regional and rural communities, this means clearer insights into service gaps, smarter resource allocation and evidence that can help drive policy change. By visualising access inequities, we help ensure every community gets the services and care it needs.
Centre for Australian Research into Access
The Centre for Australian Research into Access (CARA) is a collaboration between Deakin Rural Health and Grampians Health Ballarat. The Centre develops and applies address level intelligence tools that reveal service gaps and guide policy and planning to improve healthcare access.
Policy advice
CARA has supported the Commonwealth Department of Health by reviewing the Modifiable Monash Model, which guides the application of rural and regional health policies. We are also working with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to refine methods for calculating remoteness, ensuring more accurate and equitable policy decisions.
Data supply
CARA contributes critical data to Australia’s national data infrastructure. For example, we provide information on access to schools, childcare, GPs and pharmacies as part of the ABS Life Course Data Initiative, helping shape insights that inform planning and service delivery.
Workforce shortages in rural areas
Workforce shortages in regional and remote areas mean fewer doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, leading to delayed care and poorer health outcomes for communities. We believe solving this is vital to ensure timely, quality healthcare for all Australians, no matter where they live.
Nursing and Allied Health Graduate Outcome Tracking study
The Nursing and Allied Health Graduate Outcome Tracking study is a collaboration among leading Australian universities. The study investigates what influences graduates when choosing where to work. By understanding these factors, the study helps address workforce shortages in rural and regional areas.
