CFAs: Rural and Remote Community Support Grant in Australia

Deadline: 1-Oct-25

The ACRRM Rural Practice Community Support Grant provides remote, rural and regional communities in MMM 4-7 locations across Australia the opportunity to access funds for a broad range of healthcare related initiatives that directly and clearly benefit local communities.

Focus Areas

This grant supports a wide range of innovative, community-driven activities, prioritising areas of workforce need. They’re looking for projects that directly improve local healthcare delivery and support for doctors, particularly those completing ACRRM Fellowship training. They welcome applications for projects focusing on:
- Education and training:
  - Initiatives enhancing the support within a community. Examples include (but are not limited to):
    - Supporting the establishment of childcare or schooling support where local services are limited
    - Developing programs to attract supervisors and registrars to communities with limited GP services, potentially including roving models.
  - Principles:
    - Targeted at increasing the level of education support for ACRRM registrars in the community
    - May include activities that foster communities of practice for training
    - Must have a direct positive impact on the education and/or training delivered to an ACRRM registrar
    - Must be sustainable
    - Must align with Fellowship program requirements.
- Recruitment and retention:
  - Projects designed to attract doctors to a community and support them to stay long term. Examples include (but are not limited to):
    - Providing or securing suitable accommodation for doctors where housing shortages hinder recruitment
    - Creating community orientation programs for medical students or doctors in training to showcase local life and opportunities
    - Conducting community needs analysis to identify specific barriers to recruitment/retention and propose evidence-based solutions.
  - Principles:
    - Targeted at rural generalist and multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals
    - Must have a direct positive impact on the capability or capacity of healthcare that is provided to the community.
    - Must directly relate to increasing the workforce of healthcare professionals within the community or maintaining the workforce of healthcare professionals within the community.
- First Nations support:
  - Initiatives specifically aimed at improving healthcare delivery, training, or workforce within Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS). Examples include (but are not limited to):
    - Developing multidisciplinary education programs relevant to local health needs
    - Piloting regional rotational pop-up clinics to extend service reach
    - First Nations sporting club sponsorship as an avenue to address community health issues.
  - Principles:
    - Must have a direct positive impact on the capability or capacity of healthcare that is provided to First Nations people in the community.
    - Must be directly linked to an Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) or an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS)
    - Must be sustainable
    - Must show consultation with First Nations people on development of the proposal
    - Targeted at multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals.
- University partnerships and training pathway development:
  - Collaborative projects addressing barriers to Fellowship and strengthening pathways from university into Rural Generalist training. Examples include (but are not limited to):
    - Establishing medical scholarships for school students with rural intent
    - Funding university programs that address Fellowship entry barriers, support selection, and directly increase the local healthcare workforce in areas of need.
  - Principles:
    - Targeted at universities who deliver programs that address barriers to section to fellowship and support opportunities and transition to selection
    - Must directly relate to increasing the workforce of healthcare professionals within the community.

Funding Information

Grants of up to $50,000 are available for a broad range of rural generalist community-led initiatives that directly and clearly benefit ACRRM registrar rural generalist training and recruitment in their rural and remote communities.

Eligibility Criteria

ACRRM invites applications from organisations passionate about building a sustainable local healthcare workforce in areas of need. You may be eligible if you are:
- An ACRRM accredited training post
- A community group located in a town with an ACRRM-accredited training post
- A health service operating in an eligible rural/remote area
- A Rural Clinical Hub involved in local training and workforce development
- A Rural Generalist proposing community-focused initiative
- An Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) or an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) that is an ACRRM-accredited training post.
Education and training:
- Funding proposal must be aligned to the education and/or training delivered to a ACRRM registrar
- Must be an accredited training post or community group in the same town as the accredited training post.
Recruitment and retention:
- Funding proposal must be aligned to the recruitment or retention of a registrar or a staff member directly related to a registrar’s progression on the Fellowship Training Program
- Must be linked to an accredited training post.
First Nations support:
- Funding proposal must be aligned to improving the healthcare provided to residents in a community that an AMS or ACCHS supports
- Must be an accredited training post
- Must include an evaluation model to demonstrate the effectiveness of the grant opportunity.
University partnerships and training pathway development:
- Funding proposal must be aligned to increasing the number of students who could apply to be selected on the Fellowship program.

For more information, visit ACRRM.