.svg){kind=icon}
Abstract:
Around 7 million people—about 28% of the Australian population—live in rural and remote areas, which encompass many diverse locations and communities (ABS 2019d). These Australians face unique challenges due to their geographic location and often have poorer health outcomes than people living in metropolitan areas. Data show that people living in rural and remote areas have higher rates of hospitalisations, deaths, injury and also have poorer access to, and use of, primary health care services, than people living in Major cities. Despite poorer health outcomes for some, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey found that Australians living in towns with fewer than 1,000 people generally experienced higher levels of life satisfaction than those in urban areas and major cities (Wilkins 2015).
