Aims and Objectives

The National Rural Health Conference is the largest regular public event on the agenda of those interested in improving health and wellbeing in rural and remote Australia.

The biennial Conference is the NRHA’s biggest project, it is a key element of its core business and sets much of the agenda for the Alliance’s work for each two-year period.  It has become a key part of the agenda-forming process for the rural and remote health sector as a whole.

Networking among interested parties, and celebration of successes, are key parts of the Conference’s broader agenda, as well as the formal and informal presentation of research reports.

The Conference potentially involves all sectors that can make a major contribution to the health of people in country Australia.  It seeks to widen the rural and remote health community to include people involved in education, the environment, economic development and community services.  It reminds us that the rural health community includes many people who live and work in the major cities and who care about the health of people from country areas.

For the rural and remote health sector itself the Conference aims to:

• showcase developments on the ground;
• help build interdisciplinary health teamwork;
• engage health consumers with others in the sector;
• provide an opportunity for research reports to be delivered by experienced and beginning researchers;
• encourage information dissemination and the building of networks in the pursuit of better health;
• anticipate developments and issues and help set the sector’s agenda; and
• promote an awareness of rural and remote health issues in the wider community and among policy makers.