Call for Abstracts – 10th Rural & Remote Health Scientific Symposium

Research from the heart – shaping rural & remote health futures

For the first time, the Rural and Remote Health Scientific Symposium will be held in Alice Springs, the heart of Australia. Rural and remote health research is vital for a vibrant healthy future Australia. This Symposium provides an opportunity for delegates to present and translate their research, learn from others, build collaborations and understand emerging directions in rural, remote and Indigenous health research.

Call for abstracts closed 3 June 2025

Presentation options

Oral presentations: presenters will be allocated 20-minute time slots on the program. Oral Presentations provide an opportunity to share current research, including systematic reviews and primary research projects that address rural, regional and remote health issues.

Lightning talks: aim to support early career academics and the next generation of rural health researchers. Fast-paced lightning talks can be accompanied by no more than 5 PowerPoint slides summarising the presentation. Authors speak to their presentation for 5 minutes only, followed by 5 minutes of discussion with delegates.

Poster presentation: AO portrait (841mm x 1189mm) posters will be on display during the Symposium and authors should be available to discuss the poster’s content with delegates at the Symposium.

Presentation Categories

Research	Original research reports, using quantitative and/or qualitative methods that contribute to the evidence base.
Review of research	Systematic, narrative or scoping reviews of literature to reveal new insights to inform rural health.
Policy	Analyses of public policies, or the implementation of policies impacting rural, remote and Indigenous health, the health sector, and the workforce.
Implementation Research	Practical research or evaluations, exploring the outcomes of projects on the ground, including models of successful service delivery.

Presentation Themes

The scope of the Symposium is broad, and the list of potential themes are provided to illustrate some of the areas that abstracts might address.

Innovations that have impacted in the field of rural, regional and remote health
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research and health
Best practices and emerging priorities in rural health and research
Remote health research
Improving health equity
Social determinants of health in rural contexts
The contribution of University Departments of Rural Health and Rural Clinical Schools to the changing face of research and education
Digital health and technology
Rural generalist approaches in different settings
Future health workforce, emerging professions and intermediate-level workers
Successful models and service designs
Research relating ecological and social challenges (including climate change)
Translating research into policy and practice
Health service access
Rural and remote primary healthcare
Prevention and early intervention
Rural/remote depopulation and health services
Rural safety and injury prevention
Mental health and mental health services
Teaching and training
Recruitment and retention of the health workforce
Capacity building in rural research
Co-design and participatory in research and service delivery
Partnerships (including industry)

Abstract selection criteria

Abstract themes and categories will be considered by the Abstract Review Committee when ranking abstracts.

The criteria used by the Abstract Review Committee will include:

Relevance to Symposium themes: The presentation offers something significant or unique relating to one of more of the Symposium the themes.
Contemporary work: The presentation demonstrates new or recent activity with an emphasis on, current issues in research in rural, remote and Indigenous health.
Quality: The presentation demonstrates methodologically sound, high-quality research (qualitative or quantitative) or evaluation.
Reflective and Analytical: The presentation draws together prior understandings and new information, it identifies new insights, lessons or recommendations.

Program allocation

All abstracts will be blind reviewed by the Abstract Review Committee, the committee will then select presentations on the basis of forming a program with a comprehensive and diverse focus on issues related to the Symposium themes.

The Program Committee will determine the number of concurrent sessions, and the mix of presentations based on the abstracts received.

Format of abstracts

An abstract should summarise the important points of the proposed presentation and highlight the content to be communicated. Abstracts should be concise yet informative, and contain an outline of the aims, methods, relevance, results and conclusions of the work undertaken. Abstracts should be:

Be brief, less than 500 words
Have titles less than 12 words
Be structured using headings such as: – Background, Method, Results Conclusions or Aims, Context Intervention, Findings and Conclusions
Exclude author details the blind review process requires the abstracts to be anonymous. However, as part of the online submission process, you will be asked to provide author details separately
Not include tables, figures or references
Be provided a work document (.docx format only)
Not include invalid characters in file name eg. “*\ / { }: ; = , “
Be accompanied by a 200-word biography for the presenting author.

The 10th Rural and Remote Health Scientific Symposium is committed to promoting and strengthening meaningful Indigenous leadership in health research. To that end, we expect that any abstracts relating to the health and wellbeing of First Nations people or Indigenous communities would reflect community consultation, clear involvement of Indigenous leaders/researchers and meaningful contribution of Indigenous authors.