Around 7 million people—about 28% of the Australian population—live in rural and remote areas, which encompass many diverse locations and communities (ABS 2019d). These Australians face unique challenges due to their geographic location and often have poorer health outcomes than people living in metropolitan areas. Data show that people living in rural and remote areas have higher rates of hospitalisations, deaths, injury and also have poorer access to, and use of, primary health care services, than people living in Major cities.
Despite poorer health outcomes for some, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey found that Australians living in towns with fewer than 1,000 people generally experienced higher levels of life satisfaction than those in urban areas and major cities (Wilkins 2015).
How is remoteness area classified?
The Australian Statistical Geography Standard Remoteness Structure, 2016 defines remoteness areas in 5 classes of relative remoteness across Australia:
- Major cities
- Inner regional
- Outer regional
- Remote
- Very remote.
These remoteness areas are centred on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia, which is based on the road distances people have to travel for services (ABS 2018a).
The term ‘rural and remote’ covers all areas outside Australia’s Major cities. It is worth noting that Major cities excludes some capital and large cities such as Hobart and Darwin (ABS 2018a). Due to small numbers of people living in some remoteness areas, data have been combined. However, this has been avoided where possible (ABS 2018c).
Age
On average, people living in Remote and very remote areas are younger than those in Major cities. In 2017:
- Remote and very remote areas had a higher proportion of people aged 0–14 (22%) than Major cities (19%) and Inner regional and outer regional (19%) areas
- Remote and very remote areas also had a higher proportion of people aged 25–44 (30%) than Inner regional and outer regional areas (23%) but, was similar to Major cities (30%)
- Remote and very remote areas had a lower proportion of people aged 65 and over (11%) than Inner regional and outer regional areas (19%) and Major cities (14%) (ABS 2018b).
This page provides an overall picture of the health of rural and remote Australians. Poor health outcomes among people in these areas are influenced by the high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in these areas. In 2016, 18% of people living in Remote and 47% in Very remote areas were Indigenous compared with 1.7% in Major cities. However, more Indigenous Australians live in non-remote areas (81% of Indigenous Australians) than remote areas (19% of Indigenous Australians) (AIHW 2019f).
Indigenous Australians have lower life expectancies, higher rates of chronic and preventable illnesses, poorer self-reported health and a higher likelihood of being hospitalised than non-Indigenous Australians. Therefore, differences in health with increasing remoteness could also be explained by the poorer health of the Indigenous population living in these areas (AIHW 2014).
See Profile of Indigenous Australians.
Education
In 2019, people aged 20–64 living in rural and remote areas were less likely than those in Major cities to have completed Year 12 or a non-school qualification. Around half the people living in Inner regional (53%), Outer regional (52%) and Remote and very remote areas (55%) had completed Year 12, compared with three-quarters (75%) of those in Major cities (ABS 2019a).
Similarly, a smaller proportion of people aged 20–64 living in Inner regional (21%), Outer regional (18%) and Remote and very remote areas (20%) had completed a bachelor’s degree or above, compared with those in Major cities (37%) (ABS 2019a). However, people may be more likely to move to metropolitan areas to study and subsequently stay after completing their studies (Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies 2015). The education levels of people living in rural and remote areas are also influenced by factors such as decreased study options, the skill and education requirements of available jobs and the earning capacity of jobs in these communities (Lamb & Glover 2014; Regional Education Expert Advisory Group 2019).
Employment and income
In general, people aged 15 and over living in metropolitan areas are more likely to be employed than people living outside these areas (AIHW 2019f). This may be due to lower levels of access to work outside metropolitan areas and the smaller range of employment and career opportunities in these areas (ABS 2019c; NRHA 2013).
People living in rural and remote areas also generally have lower incomes but pay higher prices for goods and services (NRHA 2014). In 2017–18, Australians living outside capital cities had, on average, 19% less household income per week compared with those living in capital cities, and 30% less mean household net worth (ABS 2019b).
Health risk factors such as smoking, overweight and obesity, diet, high blood pressure, alcohol consumption and physical activity can influence health outcomes and the likelihood of developing disease or health disorders.
In 2017–18, people living in Inner regional and Outer regional and remote areas were more likely to engage in risky behaviours, such as smoking and consuming alcohol at levels that put them at risk of life-time harm, compared with people living in Major cities (AIHW 2019f) (Figure 1).
More recent data for daily tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption levels, including for very remote areas, is available at Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs.