Rural Health Support, Education and Training Program (RHSET): where to now?

The Rural Health Support Education and Training (RHSET) Program is a Commonwealth Government grants program established in 1990 to enhance the access to rural communities to effective health services. The emphasis has been on professional workforce issues. Up until December 1997, 431 applications for funding had been approved and close to $37 million allocated. This article considers the grants awarded in that period according to their main topic of interest within three broad groupings: policy and tertiary service provision; health discipline-specific groups; and special interest groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and community organisations. Each subgroup is introduced and its contents outlined. It also suggests that despite heightened government interest in rural and remote health, a niche can still be found for RHSET. It further argues that the time has come for a major evaluation of project activity to ensure non-duplication and to develop performance indicators for evaluating projects addressing rural and remote area workforce issues.