RDAA Parliament breakfast with Dr Sarah Chalmers
Rural Doctors Foundation CEO attends Parliament House breakfast
Fran Avon, CEO of Rural Doctors Foundation, recently attended a breakfast hosted by Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) at Parliament House.
The event focused on the future of access to rural medical care and brought together leaders and advocates from across the rural health sector. It featured a welcome from Emma McBride, MP Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health.
Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) President Dr Sarah Chalmers spoke about the unique challenges of delivering healthcare in remote communities and the need for more targeted and community‑specific policy responses to support remote health services and workforce sustainability. Dr Chalmers emphasised that remote healthcare differs significantly from metropolitan, regional and even rural settings, highlighting the reliance on Rural Generalist doctors, multidisciplinary healthcare teams, and the impact of isolation, distance and limited infrastructure on both patients and providers.
She also outlined how global pressures and extreme weather events are increasingly affecting remote health services, including rising fuel costs, supply delivery challenges, higher costs for patient travel, and increased demand for health services during floods and cyclones across northern Australia. In her address, Dr Chalmers stressed the importance of health policies that support not only access to care in remote communities, but also integrated and comprehensive models of care across health professionals and facilities. She noted the critical role of multidisciplinary teams in delivering quality care and reducing clinician burnout, and called for stronger recognition of these models through funding and policy frameworks such as Medicare.
The briefing also highlighted the significance of the upcoming Federal Budget for the remote and rural health sector, particularly following the formal recognition of Rural Generalist Medicine as a medical specialty. Dr Chalmers outlined the need for continued investment in training pathways, supervision capacity and workforce support to ensure the long‑term sustainability of remote healthcare services.
