People living in rural areas experience generally poorer physical and mental health compared with those living in inner-city and urban areas.

Adverse mental health outcomes are compounded by degree of remoteness. These outcomes are further exacerbated by the limited availability of – and access to – healthcare services and the limited number of specialists, including psychiatrists, who practise in rural areas.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) engaged AHA to undertake a scoping project to support regional, rural, and remote psychiatry training in Australia and New Zealand.

AHA’s scoping project resulted in:

• A roadmap for the implementation of dedicated and sustainable regional, rural, and remote psychiatry training pathways and networks.
• Key strategic recommendations for relevant governments, health planning authorities and health services to assist in the training of psychiatrists in rural jurisdictions.

 AHA consulted extensively through interviews, a discussion paper and focus groups with:

• Rural trainees, Specialist International Medical Graduates (SIMGs) and members of the Psychiatry Interest Forum
• Rural educators, supervisors and consultants involved in the RANZCP Fellowship Program
• Health services and planning authorities
• Australian Government and state/territory government representatives
• Community members

The purpose of these consultations was to identify the barriers and challenges that the psychiatry workforce faces, to ensure that the roadmap and recommendations would be practical and actionable.

AHA worked closely with the RANZCP to draft and test the roadmap. The finalised roadmap will be used by the RANZCP to guide collective action over the next decade, to build and support a sustainable rural psychiatry workforce. Ultimately, it aims to improve access to timely and appropriate psychiatric care for all – regardless of their postcode.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists received Australian Government funding under the Specialist Training Program for this initiative.