Rural Aid supports the National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) and its call for better funding for the bush in the wake of new research showing rural Australians are missing out on $6.5 billion annually in healthcare access.
The NRHA-commissioned research reveals that each person in rural Australia is missing out on nearly $850 a year of healthcare access, equating to a total annual rural health spending deficit of $6.5 billion.
Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said living and working in the bush was challenging at the best of times and too often people in rural communities were forced to sacrifice access to basic services.
“The NRHA, through its research, has quantified the gap. Now we call on government to act swiftly to close the gap,” Mr Warlters said.
Alliance Chief Executive Susi Tegen said the report looked at health spending from a patient’s perspective, reflecting the alarming day-to-day realities for rural Australians unable to access equitable care.
“Over 7 million people, who make up nearly a third of Australia’s population, experience a greater burden from illness and early death, in part due to inadequate funding for their healthcare. This is despite the significant contribution they make to Australia’s economy,” she said.
Resources and rural industries alone generate around 80 per cent of Australia’s exports, excluding the extra contribution of rural-based services and manufacturing. The value of agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports is $76 billion, while commodities exports are worth $497 billion – a collective value to the nation of over $500 billion, courtesy of rural Australia.
“Rural communities need government to be more flexible and introduce block or genuine support funding to provide multidisciplinary care for patients. These communities know how to collaborate – they do it every day – but costs of access and delivery are higher, so the delivery of healthcare will be different and broader. It does not fit into the model available to urban people,” Ms Tegen said.
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