Welcome to the Victorian Rural Human Services Strategy home page

The Victorian Rural Human Services Strategy is being developed by the Victorian Department of Human Services, Policy and Strategic Projects Division. The Strategy will provide a framework to plan the delivery of sustainable high quality human services in rural and regional Victoria from 2002 - 2007. The Government's ongoing commitment to investing in rural and regional communities is reflected in the Principles and Objectives of the Strategy.

To highlight the importance of the Strategy and to demonstrate commitment to integrated service delivery for rural and regional Victoria, a cross-portfolio approach has been adopted. The Hon Bronwyn Pike MP, Minister for Health, has been nominated to coordinate and ensure ongoing input to the development of the VRHSS on behalf of the Minister for Community Services, the Hon Sherryl Garbutt MP, the Minister for Housing, the Hon Candy Broad MLC, and the Minister for Aged Care, the Hon Gavin Jennings MLC.

An expert Project Advisory Board has been appointed to ensure detailed oversight of the Strategy.

What's New

Transport Connections Project Grants

The Government has established Transport Connections, a program of grants to support inclusive flexible transport projects in remote, rural and regional areas of Victoria. It is being introduced jointly by the Department of Human Services, the Department of Infrastructure, and the Department of Education and Training

Nine local Transport Connections projects have been funded from the inaugural funding round. Click here for details.

Rural Pharmacy Project

The Rural Pharmacy Project was established to respond to issues of access to pharmaceutical products and pharmacy services in rural and regional Victoria. In order to address these access issues, the Rural Pharmacy Videophone Program will be implemented. The aim of the program is to provide an improved and cost effective level of healthcare service, through the use of videophones, to rural pharmacy consumers who are currently disadvantaged by the lack of full pharmacy services.

The Minister for Health has announced that the Government will offer funding to install videophones in pharmacies and depots. Additional funding will be provided for necessary infrastructure changes and training requirements. Click here for details of the Program.

Bush Nursing Centres Project

The report of the Bush Nursing Centres Project has been released. Click here for details.
A copy of the report can be downloaded by clicking here. [pdf / 2.6mb]

Context For Change
The VRHSS Document; Context for Change [pdf / 1.23mb] is available for download in pdf format.

Healthstreams
The Victorian Rural Human Services Strategy is pleased to announce the release of the Healthstreams Evaluation Final Report. This report provides a detailed analysis of the Healthstreams Program and provides recommendations for future service delivery.

Healthstreams Evaluation Final Report    [pdf / 1.50mb]
Healthstreams Evaluation Appendix         [pdf / 795kb]
Healthstreams Evaluation Summary        [pdf / 57.7kb]

Small Rural Health Providers: New service & funding approach, - Discussion paper has also been released. This Discussion Paper was developed as part of the Healthstreams Evaluation and provides the conceptual basis on which the future development of a service and funding model for small rural health and community services providers may be based. The paper identifies:

• The principles on which a model should be based
• A rationale for change to the current model
• Agencies that could be incorporated into a new model
• An outline of different models with accompanying advantages and disadvantages for each model
• Key implementation issues for each model.

The paper is intended to be starting point for formal consideration of what a new model for small rural communities could include. It is expected that the concepts and core components of a model will evolve over the next few months following consultation with various stakeholders. The report can be downloaded as a PDF file.
Small Rural Health Providers: New service & funding approach, - Discussion Paper [pdf / 628kb]