Poor access to medical services ‘drives rural health crisis’

National report points to higher mortality rates among Australians in remote areas

Australians living in rural and remote areas have shorter life expectancies, higher levels of disease and injuries, and reduced access to health services compared with city residents, government agency research has found.

They are also 24 times as likely to be hospitalised by domestic violence as those living in cities and have higher levels of “risky alcohol consumption”.