The federal government is overhauling its Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program, shifting the focus from placement numbers to graduate tracking and long-term rural workforce outcomes.
Canberra has rebooted its $1.36 billion rural health training program, replacing placement targets with a tougher test – whether universities can show their graduates actually go on to build medical careers in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Applications opened this week for the reformed Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) Program, which will distribute $1.36 billion between 2026-27 and 2031-32 to support rural education and clinical training for medical, nursing, midwifery, dental and allied health students.
The RHMT is separate to the John Flynn Prevocational Doctor Program, which funds rural rotations for junior doctors.
Universities that meet performance targets could secure funding for a further two years beyond 2031.
The RHMT has been a cornerstone of the Commonwealth’s rural workforce strategy for more than two decades, supporting a national network of rural clinical schools, university departments of rural health, rural dental training sites, the Northern Territory Medical Program and regional training hubs.
Its overarching goal has been to encourage more health graduates to live and work in rural and remote Australia. Now the government wants stronger evidence that the investment is delivering lasting workforce gains.
Rather than measuring success largely through the number of placements completed, the revamped program will require universities to demonstrate that rural training leads to long-term recruitment and retention of health professionals in regional, rural and remote communities.
Institutions will be expected to survey students, track graduates after they leave university and use workforce data to shape education and training priorities.
The reforms follow a government review that concluded the program should move towards an outcomes-focused model, consolidate several existing funding streams and reduce unnecessary administrative burden while encouraging more innovative approaches to addressing rural workforce shortages.
In the grant documents, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says the reforms will strengthen universities’ role in addressing local and national workforce needs, by shifting the program to an outcomes-focused model and replacing outdated requirements with measures tied to rural workforce outcomes.
“Further detail on the objectives, current parameters and requirements of the RHMT is included in the RHMT Framework, which is currently being revised in accordance with stakeholder consultations and inputs from Working Groups established by the department to inform reform of the RHMT,” the Grant Opportunity Guidelines read.
“Universities funded under the RHMT must ensure that activities align with the Framework.”
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The funding round is a targeted competitive process limited to the 21 universities already participating in the RHMT program, including Adelaide University, Australian National University, Curtin University, Charles Sturt University, Deakin University, Edith Cowan University, Flinders University, Griffith University, James Cook University, La Trobe University, Monash University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Newcastle, the University of New South Wales, the University of Notre Dame Australia, the University of Queensland, the University of Sydney, the University of Tasmania, the University of Western Australia, the University of Wollongong and Western Sydney University.
The changes also reflect a growing body of evidence supporting extended rural training. Previous evaluations of the RHMT have found participation in long-term rural clinical placements has increased substantially over the past two decades.
Research consistently shows graduates who undertake extended rural placements, particularly those from rural backgrounds, are significantly more likely to return to rural practice after graduation.
The new model removes several long-standing requirements, including compulsory short-term medical placements, replacing them with measures focused on long-term workforce outcomes. Universities will have greater flexibility in how they deliver training, provided they can demonstrate their programs improve rural recruitment and retention.
Funding will continue to support rural clinical schools, university departments of rural health, rural dental training, regional training hubs, rural health clubs and research into rural workforce development.
Medical schools will still be expected to ensure at least 25% of Commonwealth-supported medical students undertake a year or more of rural clinical training unless they can demonstrate alternative approaches that produce stronger rural retention outcomes.
Universities will also negotiate targets for recruiting students from rural backgrounds across medicine, nursing, midwifery, dentistry and allied health.
The reforms also place greater emphasis on First Nations health and workforce outcomes.
Universities will be assessed on their contribution to Closing the Gap targets, including increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolments and graduates, strengthening partnerships with First Nations communities, embedding cultural safety throughout training and expanding First Nations leadership and employment across the program.
Performance measures will extend well beyond student numbers. Universities will need to demonstrate they are building supervisor capacity, strengthening community partnerships, conducting workforce-focused rural research and ensuring funding remains embedded in rural communities.
One proposed indicator expects institutions to direct no more than 5% of RHMT funding towards central administration while maximising investment across Modified Monash Model 2-7 locations.
Graduate tracking will become one of the program’s key accountability measures, alongside evidence that universities are using local and national workforce data to plan activities aligned with areas experiencing the greatest workforce shortages.
According to the department, restricting eligibility reflects the long-term relationships these institutions have built with rural communities and their proven record of delivering rural education and clinical training. Charles Darwin University, whose medical school remains in its establishment phase, will continue to receive separate funding until 2028.
The Commonwealth has allocated $138.8 million for the first year of the program before annual funding rises to around $270 million through most of the funding period until the final year when the allocation is $135.3 million. Funding will be indexed each year.
Applications close on 24 August, with the DoHDA holding a national briefing for universities and stakeholders on 30 July to outline the reforms and explain how applicants can align proposals with the government’s new rural workforce priorities.
For more information about the grants opportunity see here.
