This narrative review evaluates current epidemiological trends, transmission pathways, and effective prevention strategies for Buruli Ulcer in Australia.

This review investigates strategies to improve access to primary healthcare for Indigenous Australians rural and remote hospitals. Despite national efforts to address health disparities, significant gaps remain in service access, continuity, and cultural safety for Indigenous populations. These gaps contribute to avoidable hospitalisations and poorer long-term health outcomes.

A structured database review was conducted, applying the Levesque et al. access framework to assess five dimensions of healthcare access: perceptions of need, healthcare seeking, reaching, utilisation, and consequences. This methodology allowed for a comprehensive analysis of barriers (e.g., geographical isolation, health literacy, transport, economic disadvantage) and enablers (e.g., culturally safe care, Indigenous staff, Telehealth, transport services).

The findings informed a set of evidence-based recommendations tailored to remote contexts. These include embedding services within communities, employing Indigenous staff, providing cultural competency training, integrating care with existing Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, and improving transport and outreach capacity.

The implications of this work are far-reaching: it highlights the importance of culturally responsive, community-led models of care in closing the health gap. The review provides a practical roadmap for rural health providers and policymakers seeking to strengthen preventative care.

Australians living in rural areas experience significant healthcare inequities. Clinical trials are essential to addressing these disparities, yet rural communities have limited access. The PARTNER Network aims to bridge this gap by establishing a national rural practice-based research network, embedding clinical trials within rural primary care. This presentation will detail the network’s collaborative model, highlight key findings including challenges and opportunities, and discuss implications for sustainable rural health research.

Workforce shortages in rural and remote WA continue to impact the delivery of culturally safe and consistent healthcare to Aboriginal communities. Aboriginal Medical Services are vital in providing holistic, community-led care, yet many face ongoing challenges in securing GPs, particularly during periods of leave, staff transition, or peak demand.
In response, Rural Health West delivers a dedicated GP Locum GP Placement Program that supports AMSs across WA by sourcing, preparing, and placing experienced locum GPs in short-term roles. This poster presentation will outline the structure and delivery of the program, highlight key partnerships, and showcase outcomes achieved in collaboration with AMSs.
We will present:
• An overview of the placement process, including engagement with health services and locums
• Program reach, including number of placements, repeat participation, and geographic distribution
• Quantitative data illustrating locum coverage trends over time
• Qualitative feedback from AMS staff and participating GPs
• Challenges encountered and lessons learned in delivering the program
Importantly, this poster will demonstrate how locum GP placements contribute to sustaining access to primary care in Aboriginal communities, while also supporting culturally safe service delivery and building long-term relationships between locum GPs and AMSs.

Improving the screening process for Streptococcal infection in an Aboriginal Health Clinic

Dr. Lorin Monck MBBS FRACGP
Senior Medical Officer

Bega Garnbirrungu Health Service provides health services through health clinic, mobile clinic, support services and workforce development. It services a large area, from Esperance in the south to Laverton in the north
Group A streptococcal infections remain a significant health issue effecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
The health clinic uses a team approach for the diagnosis and management for Group A streptococcal infections, with a combination of Point of Care Testing (POCT) nd clinical symptoms. Currently the clinic guidelines for screening are being reviewed.
An audit was conducted to observe the clinical presentation of clients who undertook Point of Care Testing in previous 3 years , and the clinical treatment for clients
with either a negative and positive test result.
A total of 240 encounters was identified
The data was used to identify which subgroups of patients benefit from this screening process including different clinical presentations and age groups. Information about whether
POCT assists in clinical decision including antibiotic prescribing was also obtained.
Challenges to screening include annual device maintenance, and quality test costs.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital technologies are transforming primary healthcare but present unique challenges, including cultural safety and data sovereignty, within regional, rural, and remote Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS). Understanding rural health service provider perspectives is crucial for effective implementation. This study explored the experiences and attitudes of healthcare providers regarding AI and digital tools in an AMS in rural South-East Queensland to inform culturally responsive strategies.
Using co-designed, decolonising methods (yarning sessions, interviews) with 24 diverse health service providers (Indigenous and non-Indigenous), the study employed thematic analysis with Indigenous governance oversight. Participants shared experiences and expectations, highlighting past challenges and the need for sustainable, responsible, patient-focused technology integration.
A key finding was the emphasis on technology limitations; providers stressed the irreplaceable nature of human interaction for delivering quality, culturally safe healthcare, especially for Indigenous patients. The study concludes that successful AI and digital health adoption in rural AMS requires co-designed, context-aware approaches that prioritise patient needs and cultural safety, ensuring technology serves as a support rather than a hindrance to equitable care. Future research should explore solutions to barriers and limitations, while leveraging enablers and innovations, to ensure AI and digital health technology effectively support equitable healthcare delivery.

This poster presents the establishment and ongoing work of a Domestic and Family Violence (DV/FV) Working Group at Katherine Hospital, a small rural hospital in the Northern Territory. Formed in late 2024, the group emerged from the collective frustration of frontline professionals—doctors, nurses, and social workers—who were repeatedly witnessing high numbers of DV/FV-related presentations to the Emergency Department, with limited support structures in place.

The multidisciplinary group has since collaborated with local and national charities to provide practical, emotional, and legal support for survivors. Key initiatives include lobbying for a culturally safe, trauma-informed space within the ED, implementing staff training in trauma-informed care, and conducting ongoing research to gather data that can guide future funding and service development.

This poster highlights what is possible when a small, committed team acts with courage and creativity. It is a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and advocacy in rural healthcare—and how meaningful change can begin from the inside out.