ACRRM warns against fragmented care as pharmacist prescribing proposal expands
ACRRM has raised serious concerns about proposals to expand pharmacist prescribing, warning the changes could fragment care and compromise patient safety in rural, remote and First Nations communities.
In its submission to the Pharmacy Board of Australia on the draft Endorsement for scheduled medicines for pharmacists, ACRRM argues that while pharmacists play an important role in medication dispensing, safety and patient counselling, prescribing requires broader clinical training, diagnostic expertise and the ability to manage complex health conditions over time.
ACRRM President Dr Rod Martin says Australians benefit from a healthcare system built around comprehensive, whole-person care delivered by Rural Generalists and General Practitioners (GPs).
Training post spotlight: Wunan Health and Well-being Centre, Kununarra
If you're looking for a training post that offers strong supervision and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact, Wunan Health & Well-Being Centre in Kununurra should be on your radar.
Located in the heart of Western Australia's East Kimberley region, Wunan Health is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) delivering comprehensive primary healthcare to Kununurra, Wyndham, Halls Creek and surrounding communities.
As part of the Wunan Foundation, the organisation operates as a social enterprise, meaning its work extends beyond healthcare to support Aboriginal community empowerment, employment and long-term social change.
For Rural Generalist (RG) registrars, this creates a training experience that is both professionally rewarding and deeply connected to community. Read more
The RMA26 program is now live
Across Australia, Rural Generalists deliver care where it is needed most. They lead, innovate, advocate and make a lasting difference to the communities they serve.
At RMA26, we are shining a spotlight on these contributions through our conference theme, The Rural Advantage – Generalist Medicine in the Spotlight.
Featured topics include:
Choosing rural practice and growing the future workforce
Exploring portfolio careers and expanded scope opportunities
Strengthening the voice of rural medicine through advocacy and leadership
Supporting thriving communities across rural and remote Australia
Your ACRRM membership for 2026–27 is due for renewal at the end of this month. You’re part of a community of more than 7,000 members working together to improve health outcomes across rural, remote and First Nations communities.
Renewing your ACRRM membership keeps you connected to your profession, supports your professional development, and strengthens advocacy that delivers real outcomes for rural healthcare.
Renewing is easy, log in to MyCollege to view and pay your invoice.
Dr Lynne Davies and Dr Alex John awarded RDAT Rural Doctors of the Year
The College extends its congratulations to FACRRMs Dr Lynne Davies and Dr Alex John who were jointly awarded as RDAT Rural Doctors of the Year for 2025.
ACRRM-endorsed New Stroke Clinical Care Standards have been released by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare. The goal of the Stroke Clinical Care Standard is to improve the assessment, management and transitions of care for patients with stroke to increase their likelihood of survival and recovery while reducing their risk of another stroke. Explore the new standards here.
Support at Home resources for RGs and older patients
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has developed resources to assist RGs and their older patients.
Support at Home Program
Support at Home is a program to help older people remain at home as they age. It improves access to services, products, equipment and home modifications to help older people to remain healthy, active and socially connected to their community.
Support at Home replaced the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme on 1 November 2025. More information on the program can be found on this flyer and in this video explainer.
End-of-life Pathway
The End-of-Life Pathway is a short-term pathway under the Support at Home program. It supports older people who have been diagnosed with 3 months or less to live and wish to remain at home, by providing more funding to access in-home aged care services. More information can be found here.
Sponsored: Patient information disclosure to police costs GP
When police asked a GP whether her patient might be psychotic, she answered. That one choice later cost her $6,500 in compensation.
The Privacy Commissioner accepted the GP had acted in good faith. However, the GP was found to have failed to consider her privacy obligations and whether disclosure was necessary before sharing the patient's personal information. There was also no warrant, subpoena or legislation requiring disclosure.
This case is a valuable reminder that good intentions aren't enough when police come asking questions.
Read on to learn when you can, and can't, share patient information without consent.
New RG Life Hacks podcast episode - AI vs the Rural Generalist: Threat or tool?
In the newest episode of RG Life Hacks, Dr Emily Moody speaks with Dr Amandeep Hansra, GP and Chief Clinical Adviser at the Australian Digital Health Agency, about artificial intelligence in general practice and whether it represents a threat, a tool, or something in between for Rural Generalists.
The episode explores how AI is being used for tasks such as ambient scribing, referral letters, patient education, evidence searching, recall systems, and practice administration. It also examines the opportunities, limitations, and responsibilities of using AI safely, including protecting patient privacy, validating outputs, and maintaining clinical judgement.
A valuable listen for registrars and rural doctors interested in practical, safe applications of AI in healthcare.
This webinar will focus on registrar and supervisor wellbeing, self-care, psychological safety, and supporting one another within training environments.
This is a free webinar open to ACRRM registrars and supervisors.
ACRRM registrars based in South Australia gather in Glenelg this week for their two-day face-to-face workshop.
The workshop gave registrars the chance to network with their peers and regional team, as well as to get hands-on education and training in splints and slings, procedural skills, corticosteroid injections, joint aspirations, and more.
ACRRM Online Learning
This Men’s Health Week (15–21 June), strengthen your understanding of the key health issues affecting men in rural and remote communities with ACRRM’s Clinical Bytes – Men’s Health course.
This practical, CPD-accredited online course explores the physical, social, emotional, and cultural factors that influence men’s health, as well as the barriers that can prevent men from accessing care.
You'll learn to:
Understand the determinants of health impacting rural men
Identify barriers to healthcare access
Recognise the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in men
Identify appropriate screening and preventive health measures
Build your confidence in supporting better health outcomes for men in your community by enrolling today.
Duration: 2 hours (self-paced online) CPD: 2 hours (Educational Activity and Performance Review) Cost: Free for members
$161.6 million over 5 years from 2026-27 to deliver digital initiatives under Thriving Kids.
The Federal Government has announced the following digital health initiative in the Budget 2026-27.
$76.1 million over three years from 2026–27 to deliver the National Digital Child Health Record for children aged 0–8 years. The record will give families and carers convenient access to their child’s health and developmental information, while enabling health and care professionals to identify and respond to emerging concerns.
This initiative will be delivered in stages:
The first stage will establish the new National Digital Child Health Record functionality in My Health Record, with an initial focus on 3-year-old health assessments.
By 2029, the Child Health Record will include all health assessments and developmental checks.
From front desk to final claim: Practical AI for rural and remote practice
Tuesday 30 June at 7:00pm AEST
Join us for a practical, demo-led webinar exploring how AI tools can support rural and remote general practice across the full patient journey — from bookings, triage and recalls, through to My Health Record integration, document sorting, clinical scribing, decision support and MBS item selection.
Presented by Dr Casey Going, Co-Director of MBSPro and rural GP, this session will demonstrate how connected AI tools can help reduce administrative burden, improve access to key patient information, support better billing accuracy and give clinicians more time with patients.
The webinar will also briefly cover relevant 2025–26 updates to MyMedicare, bulk-billing incentives and PBS authorities.
ANZCA is looking for anaesthetists who are interested in joining the Court of Examiners for the Advanced Certificate in Rural Generalist Anaesthesia (AC-RGA).
Examiners would be expected to attend a question-writing workshop in March-April, and examine at the online RGA-SSSA exam twice a year in June and November.
ACRRM acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the custodians of the lands and waters where our members and staff work and live across Australia. We pay respect to their elders, lores, customs and Dreaming. We recognise these lands and waters have always been a place of teaching, learning, and healing.
You are receiving this email notification because this email address is listed as the contact email address with ACRRM. Change your preferences or Unsubscribe
.png?upscale=true&width=520&upscale=true&name=ACRRM-MREC-JUNE%20(1).png)
.png?upscale=true&width=520&upscale=true&name=image%20(9).png)
.png?upscale=true&width=376&upscale=true&name=image%20(8).png)