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A Social Return on Investment Evaluation of the Expansion of an Allied Health Student Training Programme in Rural

Louise French¹, Chelsea Lander¹, Elyce Green²

¹Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, Charles Sturt University, Forbes, New South Wales, Australia.

The Australian Journal of Rural Health

|January 30, 2026

Abstract

Objective:

To determine if the establishment of a multidisciplinary allied health training demonstration site, as one part of the expanded Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) programme in the Lachlan region, had a positive social return on investment (SROI).

Methods:

This SROI only reflects the incremental impact of the expanded RHMT programme delivered by one University Department of Rural Health (UDRH), to one additional training demonstration site in the Lachlan region. Scope does not include the well-established ongoing RHMT programme, nor the complete body of work being delivered by the UDRH. This SROI investment referred to the grant to fund the incremental expansion of the RHMT programme to training demonstration sites in more remote settings, in addition to the in-kind and/or cash resources provided by the UDRH. The SROI was based largely on actual data (evaluative) and some future data (forecast). Operational and qualitative data were collected to determine the investment and return of the programme.

Design:

The SROI was conducted over a 3-year time horizon, took a societal perspective, and included consumer feedback in both the design and interpretation of results. A 25% discount to the value of future rural employment was applied for attribution. There was no comparative group.

Setting:

Rural New South Wales, Australia.

Participants:

Multidisciplinary health students who completed a placement at the training demonstration site and their supervisors, host organisations and members of the rural community, including First Nations peoples.

Main Outcome Measures:

Value of the 'investment' required to implement the expanded RHMT programme. Value of the 'social return' generated from the expanded RHMT programme, including the value of the students' intended future rural allied health employment.

Results:

The expanded RHMT programme included 99 students across 422 weeks of placement. For every $1 spent on the expanded RHMT programme, the SROI was $1.60. The intended future rural health employment attributed 65% of the SROI value.

Conclusion:

This study supports ongoing federal government funding into quality rural health student placements, with benefits of value observed for students and their supervisors, host organisations and members of the rural community.

Keywords:

First Nations health economics multidisciplinary rural health workforce recruitment tertiary education

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