29 August 2025

The National Rural Health Alliance, of which ASMIRT is a member organisation, this week released its report, "The Forgotten Health Spend: A Report on the Expenditure Deficit in Rural Australia."

The report shows individuals living outside major cities now receive $8.35 billion less in health funding, which is equivalent to $1,090 less per person each year, simply because of their geographic location. This has grown from $980, when the National Rural Health Alliance last analysed the data in 2023.

This funding gap is most acute in small rural towns and remote communities with populations between 2,000 and 12,000 people. Shortfalls in various areas drive the deficit, including hospital care, and private allied health services.

Call for solutions

ASMIRT supports the National Rural Health Alliance’s call for sustainable, long-term solutions, including:

1. A rural health fund of $1 billion per annum, which allows for coordinated, flexible state-federal-local level funding models and infrastructure funding, to address regions with small markets and a lack of infrastructure investment in the health, ageing, and disability sectors
2. Collaborative, multidisciplinary workforce approaches, to build integrated, cooperative teams and prioritise continuity of care
3. Regional planning and governance, to optimise local resources and adapt to community needs

ASMIRT also acknowledges that extended practice in radiography – where radiographers assess and evaluate medical images in consultation with treating physicians – can be beneficial to rural communities, particularly in emergency situations. Their input would complement and support, rather than replace, the diagnostic process of radiologists. With over 85% of radiologists practicing in metropolitan areas, and the shortage of radiologists in regional areas getting worse, radiographers are well-positioned to assess/evaluate imaging outcomes in situations where radiologists are not available.

Thirty-four per cent of ASMIRT members live and work in regional and rural areas. Like nurses and other health professions, our work is on the ground, we are working in and with communities and are a cornerstone to rural health services.