Pregnancy, Birth and Baby home

Health services for rural families

Key facts

  • People living in regional, rural and remote areas may find it harder to access some health services than people living in cities.
  • The health services you can access will depend on where you and your family live — this can include pregnancy and birth care.
  • If you need to travel to access a health service, support is available.
  • Telehealth services may be available — these can help reduce the need to travel for care.

    • Health services in rural areas

    In rural or remote Australia, it can be harder to access some health services.

    If you and your family live in a rural area, there are different ways that you can get care.

    You can read more about rural and remote health (Opens in new tab).

    First aid

    If you live far from medical services, it is important to know first aid. This can help save a life. You can do training through:

    Where can I go for health services in rural areas?

    The services near you will depend on where you live.

    You may need to travel (Opens in new tab) to access some face-to-face health services.

    Some health services can be accessed virtually — such as online using a digital device.

    What if I need to travel for a health service?

    If you live in a rural area, you may need to travel to a larger town or city for some health services.

    Support for travel

    There are different services available that can support you if you need to travel for care.

    Each state and territory has a Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS) (Opens in new tab) to provide financial help for rural Australians. This can help you access specialist health care that requires travelling out of your home area.

    The Royal Flying Doctor Service or Careflight (Opens in new tab) can also help transport you to a health service.

    Transferring between health services

    If you are travelling to get care, you might move between different health centres and different doctors.

    When transferring between health services, it is important to communicate with your doctors and healthcare team.

    They should support you to:

    • be involved in making choices about your care — your support person or carer can also be part of the discussion
    • ask as many questions as you need to
    • give your doctor as much honest information as possible about your health

    Your doctor should provide your new service with all the information they need. This helps the new service give you the best care.

    Your My Health Record is a secure online summary of your health information. It can help your health services communicate and understand your medical history.

    CHECK YOUR SYMPTOMS — Use the Symptom Checker and find out if you need to seek medical help.

    How can I access virtual health services?

    You may be able to access health services virtually, such as:

    • over the phone
    • using a video call (videoconference)
    • over the radio
    • online

    Depending on what care you need, virtual health services may mean you don't have to travel.

    Telehealth

    Telehealth (Opens in new tab) is a way to access a health service over a video call or a phone call. It is a secure and private conversation, just like seeing your doctor in person.

    If you need to travel to see a doctor, you can ask if they will do a telehealth appointment instead.

    The Royal Flying Doctor Service

    You can speak to a doctor over the radio or the phone through the Royal Flying Doctor Service. You can use this service for any health concerns, including if you need emergency support. This is available 24/7 for:

    • patients in remote areas
    • their families
    • healthcare workers

    After hours medical advice

    If you or someone with you is having a medical emergency, call triple zero (000) immediately and ask for an ambulance.

    After-hours health services (Opens in new tab) may be available if you need medical assistance outside your doctor's normal operating hours. This may depend on where you live.

    These services can help you until you can see your usual doctor or visit your nearest health service.

    You can call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    These services are not for emergencies.

    What types of care can I access in rural areas?

    In Australia, the Rural Health Outreach Fund (Opens in new tab) supports healthcare professionals (Opens in new tab) travel to rural areas. This way, they can provide different types of care to rural Australians. These doctors can include:

    The Royal Flying Doctor Service (Opens in new tab) (RFDS) provides many services in rural areas. This includes fly-in fly-out doctor and nurse clinics, and mobile dental services.

    The types of care available to you will depend on where you and your family live. You may still need to travel for a health service.

    You can read more about rural health services in different states and territories:

    FIND A HEALTH SERVICE — The Service Finder can help you find doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and other health services.

    Pregnancy and childbirth services

    During early pregnancy, your doctor often plays an important role in performing and arranging tests. Later in pregnancy you can see a midwife, an obstetrician or both.

    In rural Australia, many doctors have a shared care arrangement. This is where they team up with an obstetrician or one or more midwives to provide your care.

    Some doctors in rural areas are qualified in obstetrics and can deliver babies.

    Midwives also deliver babies, but they will call a doctor qualified in obstetrics or a specialist obstetrician if there are difficulties during childbirth.

    You might have your baby in a hospital or a birthing centre. Some hospitals and midwives offer a home birth service. The plan for where to have your baby may change depending on how your pregnancy progresses.

    If you have a higher-risk pregnancy you may need to go to a hospital in a larger town or city to give birth. Your doctor or midwife can guide you on the safest options for you.

    If you are an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person, to find childbirth options you can ask your local:

    • midwife
    • Aboriginal health service
    • hospital
    • birthing centre
    • primary health network

    Some services will use Birthing on Country (Opens in new tab) models of care. This supports you to have a culturally appropriate childbirth.

    You can read more about maternity services in rural Australia.

    Mental health services

    If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help now, call triple zero (000). You can also call Lifeline on 13 11 14 — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    Mental health issues are common in both the city and the country. It can sometimes be harder to find help (Opens in new tab) in the bush.

    If you need mental health support, the first step is to talk to your doctor (Opens in new tab). They can work with you to build a mental health treatment plan (Opens in new tab). They can also refer you to a mental health professional (Opens in new tab), such as a:

    The National Rural Health Alliance (Opens in new tab) has a fact sheet on rural mental health services (Opens in new tab).

    If you live in rural or remote Australia, mental health programs and services (Opens in new tab) may be provided by:

    In Australia, there are organisations that provide mental health resources (Opens in new tab) and support by phone (Opens in new tab) or online:

    You can read more about farmer health (Opens in new tab) and rural and remote mental health (Opens in new tab).

    Emergency care

    If you or someone with you is having a medical emergency, call triple zero (000) immediately and ask for an ambulance.

    If you live in a rural area, the Royal Flying Doctor Service can help transport you to emergency care. This service is available 24 hours a day.

    How do I choose a health service in a rural area?

    Your healthcare is your choice. This means that it is your decision:

    You have the right to receive healthcare that:

    • meets your needs
    • makes you feel safe and respected
    • values your privacy
    • gives you honest and clear information
    • includes you when making decisions

    If you are choosing a health service or treatment, speak to your doctor or other health professional. They can give you information and talk with you about your options. This way, you can choose (Opens in new tab) the best services for you and your family. This is called shared decision making.

    You can read about your healthcare rights (Opens in new tab) on the Australian Commission on Quality and Safety in Healthcare (Opens in new tab) website.

    An easy read version (Opens in new tab) of these rights is available on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.

    It is important to look at all your options for health services. You may need to consider how far a service is from your home.

    You may also think about costs. Medicare provides rebates (Opens in new tab) for health services, including for:

    To receive rebates for telehealth appointments, you and your service must be at least 15km apart.

    You can check the cost of health services by using the Australian Government's Medical Costs Finder (Opens in new tab). You can read more about financial support for rural families.

    Resources and support

    For more information about accessing healthcare in rural and remote areas, you can visit the National Rural Health Alliance (Opens in new tab) website. They have fact sheets (Opens in new tab) for a range of services available in rural communities, including support for:

    • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
    • carers
    • culturally and linguistically diverse communities
    • defence force and veterans
    • diverse sex, genders and sexualities
    • farmers

    You can find information about telehealth (Opens in new tab) services on the Australian Digital Health Agency (Opens in new tab) website.

    For information about health services covered by Medicare, you can visit:

    The Friendly Faces Helping Hands (Opens in new tab) website has information for rural Australians travelling to health services in New South Wales. You can also use their interactive map to find amenities (Opens in new tab) near some major hospitals in:

    • New South Wales
    • Queensland
    • Victoria
    • South Australia

    If you are an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person, you can:

    Speak to a maternal child health nurse

    Call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby to speak to a maternal child health nurse on 1800 882 436 (Opens in new tab) or video call. Available 7am to midnight (AET), 7 days a week.

    Last reviewed: October 2025

    Need more information?

    These trusted information partners have more on this topic.