Alliance celebrates 30 years as the voice of rural health

This year, the National Rural Health Alliance (the Alliance) celebrates its 30th anniversary, having become an incorporated association on 11 August 1993.

The Alliance began, and has remained, as an important voice for rural, regional and remote Australians, to address their concerns in accessing health care and to bring recommendations and solutions to government and others.

The Alliance’s work has always been focused on fairness – the principle that people should have equal health status and access to health and related services equivalent to their city counterparts.

Although the Alliance was incorporated 30 years ago, its beginnings can be traced back to a 1976 government report that highlighted healthcare issues confronting rural communities.

In June 1990, the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council established a Rural Health Task Force, and in the following year, the frst National Rural Health Conference was held in Toowoomba, Queensland.

Participants at the conference –representing rural communities, doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, and allied health professionals – produced and adopted a National Rural Health Strategy. This strategy aimed for ‘optimal health for all people in rural and remote Australia’. During and after the Toowoomba conference, participants agreed on