The peak body for obstetrics and gynaecology and women’s health in Australia will host an Australian rural women’s health roundtable early next month.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) has been outspoken in advocating for the equitable delivery of women’s health services across Australia, mindful of the unique challenges rural and remote women face when accessing services. While these have taken years to emerge the need for multidisciplinary solutions is critical.

RANZCOG’s roundtable, to be held on 2 May in Melbourne, will focus on current and future workforce and training, and models of care across different jurisdictions, with an emphasis on attracting and retaining staff in rural, regional and remote Australia to help address workforce maldistribution.

The College has reached out to its Members and key stakeholders from government, non-government organisations and other service providers who support rural, regional and remote women’s health, to inform the direction of RANZCOG’s Australian Rural Women’s Health Strategy.

On the day RANZCOG will present findings from its rural, regional and remote mapping project of women’s health services, as well as learnings from current training and education initiatives that have helped strengthen the rural and remote workforce, and current advocacy work that is aimed at addressing inequitable service delivery.

RANZCOG President Dr Benjamin Bopp said: “Potentially there are many things that can be done in order to ensure the best possible care and resources are delivered for women and babies in the bush, and we are hopeful of collecting that knowledge and putting into strategy.”

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