Editorial: A big year planned for 2018 in rural and remote health

Welcome to the latest edition of Partyline and our last for the 2017 calendar year.

In the time that has passed since our last edition, we were delighted to hear the long-awaited announcement of Australia’s first National Rural Health Commissioner. Here at the National Rural Health Alliance we have warmly welcomed the appointment of Emeritus Professor Paul Worley and look forward to working with him to address rural health issues over the coming months and years.

We are also very pleased to confirm that Professor Worley will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming 6^th Rural and Remote Health Scientific Symposium which is taking place in Canberra in April 2018.

As well as delivering a keynote address to delegates about his first six months as Australia’s first National Rural Health Commissioner, Professor Worley will be running one of the Symposium’s Rogano-style presentations. This style of presentation is designed to encourage debate and sharing of ideas on specific questions or problems faced by researchers engaged in rural and remote health. To my mind, this is a session that is not to be missed.

This year’s Symposium, which is celebrating 20 years of rural and remote health research, is gearing up to be one of the largest and most significant in the Alliance’s long history of hosting the event in partnership with Australian Rural Health Education Network (AHREN), the Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators (FRAME) and the Primary Health Care Research and Information Service (PHCRIS).

As well as the two sessions featuring the National Rural Health Commissioner, the Symposium will include presentations from a wide range of both established and emerging health researchers on insights into and challenges of rural and remote health. You can read more about our speakers in this issue of Partyline, and more information about the program and registration can be found on the Symposium website.

In closing I’d like to thank you for your continued support of and interest in Partyline and the National Rural Health Alliance. We wish all our readers a safe and relaxing holiday break and look forward to continuing the strong momentum for rural and remote health in the new year.