The RFDS is one of the largest and most comprehensive aeromedical organisations in the world, providing extensive primary health care and 24-hour emergency service to people living, working, and travelling in regional, remote, and very remote Australia. Services are delivered across vast distances, harsh landscapes, and in challenging conditions.
HealthQ were appointed by Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) in 2025 to undertake a detailed and systematic assessment of the health and services needs across the six RFDS Sections and Operations to present a uniform national comprehensive three-year Needs Assessment Plan.
The Needs Assessment supported alignment in service planning, coordination, and delivery between the different Government funded service providers/organisations and to ensure that healthcare delivery is tailored to the specific needs and gaps of each region.
A mixed-methods approach was adopted for this Need Assessment, combining qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Key data sources included RFDS internal data on aeromedical and primary healthcare services, publicly available data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), and stakeholder feedback from consultations and surveys.
A critical feature was the completion of broad consumer and stakeholder engagement over the last 12 months. This has ensured broad inclusion of RFDS primary healthcare consumers, co-located services (including ACCHOs), all relevant state government LHNs and the 11 relevant HNs. As a result, 583 consultations informed the review.
HealthQ in collaborating with the RFDS (the Federation and each Operation and Section) produced
The locations and populations analysed for the Needs Assessment represented some of the most remote and inaccessible locations in the country. In the context of healthcare delivery, these locations are considered thin markets beyond the normal medical infrastructure available to metropolitan populations.
The remote health service delivery environment is extremely complex and presents consumers with many barriers to accessing quality and timely healthcare. The needs assessment presented the 18 key priority areas for future action to improve health access and equity for these communities.
We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians of the Country on which we live, work and play and honour their connection to Country and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
