Local councils are calling on NSW Health to help combat the ‘shameful’ inequity in life expectancy and access to healthcare in rural, regional and remote areas.
Councils across NSW have launched a six-point plan to address the crisis in rural healthcare and growing inequity in healthcare access across rural, regional and remote areas in the state.
The plan reads as a wishlist for NSW Health and the federal government ahead of next year’s state election. It was launched as part of the Local Government NSW Rural and Regional summit today.
Rural, regional and remote councils are facing ongoing and long-term issues securing healthcare workers, such as Gulgong, which did not have any GPs for 18 months after its only practice closed.
Another shire council area, Coolamon, reported in 2023 that chronic workforce shortages meant only 22 of its 33 residential aged care beds were operational, despite more than 70 people waiting for care.
And in Parkes, the birthing unit at the hospital has been closed since 2019 because it was unable to secure staff, and the town’s only obstetrician resigned in January 2025, leaving Parkes without any obstetric services.
The six-point plan calls for:
- Strengthen the regional health workforce: the NSW Government must establish a Regional Health Workforce Investment Package;
- A GP guarantee: a GP guarantee is needed, requiring targeted investment in regional training pathways and recruitment and retention incentives, and long-term workforce sustainability.
- Reimburse councils for filling the health gaps: the NSW Government must establish a rural, regional and remote health reimbursement scheme to compensate councils for costs incurred in supporting access to local healthcare.
- Fund patient transport as core health infrastructure: the NSW Government must recognise patient transport as core health infrastructure.
- Safe, local maternity care: the NSW Government must reverse the decline in rural birthing services and restore safe, local maternity care.
- Invest in community-based aged care and ageing in place: the NSW Government needs to work with the Commonwealth to establish a Rural and Regional Aged Care Transition Fund.
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President of LGNSW, the peak body representing the local government sector, and Mayor of Inner West Council Darcy Byrne said it was “completely unacceptable” that a patient’s postcode determined their access to essential healthcare services.
“We won’t stand for this crisis being allowed to fester and continue to grow,” he said today.
“Today councils from across NSW are sending a message that the crisis in regional health must not be ignored and that we demand action to fix it.
“Our Councils are working at the coalface in the bush, seeing how the gaps in health services are growing and becoming more dangerous by the day.
“Towns without GPs, mothers having to travel for hours to give birth, pensioners without access to aged care beds – these are all symptoms of the crisis and cannot be ignored.
“Shamefully, life expectancy for people living in these communities is about three years less than metropolitan areas.”
Mr Byrne said several inquiries had found that residents in rural, regional and remote areas of NSW had poorer health outcomes and faced significant challenges in accessing health and hospital services compared to people living in metropolitan areas.
“For too long, councils have been bridging the gaps in access to appropriate healthcare for their communities and we invite the state and federal governments to partner with us in implementing these six key actions.”
Forbes Shire Council Mayor Phyllis Miller said her council had invested “an enormous amount of money into healthcare” over the past 20 years, which meant Forbes had been able to keep its GPs and medical services – including full maternity services.
“Unfortunately, Parkes lost theirs. Had we not invested as a local government area, we would be in the same boat as Parkes,” she told The Medical Republic.
“It’s been pretty tough financially, but we continue to do it. It definitely has to change. Locums are sending everyone broke.”
Ms Miller said GPs were leaving practices for periods to work as locums because the work was more lucrative.
“Doctors that have been GPs in my town for 20 years are now leaving the practice and going and doing two weeks locuming somewhere, and they’re on three to five grand a day. It’s huge money.
“It’s a dog’s breakfast.”
Ms Miller said Forbes has been able to keep its maternity service by offering doctors, midwives and obstetricians financial incentives to stay for three years.
“That’s helped us keep the numbers. It’s been costly to our ratepayers, but we have kept the numbers and kept our hospitals full service.
“We were proactive enough to make sure we didn’t lose out by having these incentives in place.
“You’re fighting for everything you get.”
