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Sharing stories and supporting students is key to success, RDN Chair Peter O'Mara tells ABC
06th November 2025
On Wednesday ahead of the National Rural and Remote Health Awards in Canberra, the ABC Canberra Breakfast with Ross Solly radio program featured an interview with RDN Chair, Professor Peter O’Mara to usher in the celebration.
In the wide-ranging interview, host Ross Solly welcomed listeners to Rural Health Month and asked Professor O’Mara, a proud Wiradjuri man and rural doctor, why it was important to celebrate rural health annually.
“From this kind of event, there's stories that are shared that can be taken to other communities and applied to allow good things to happen,” said Professor O’Mara. “You don't have to reinvent the wheel, but you can utilise the great insight that other people have that you know is working in that community and see if it works for yours as well.”
Asked about incentivising doctors to practise in the bush, Prof. O’Mara said that part of any package must be financial because “your skill set has got to be significantly increased to deal with the demand”, but also effective arrangements for time-off to “rest and recover” were important.
Key to future success was giving health care students a positive experience and sense of purpose in rural areas. “I think that's the part that attracts the right people and if we do that... then we get people with a strong sense of social justice and social accountability and they're the people who stay in communities for a long time and provide amazing service as well,” Professor O’Mara said.
Ross Solly also asked Prof. O’Mara about the growing participation of doctors with Indigenous backgrounds in the health system. “I don't know the exact numbers but maybe I was in the first 20 Indigenous doctors in the country and I believe the last I heard - talking to some friends in the know a few months ago - there's about 750. So that's a real positive,” Prof. O’Mara said.
- Listen to full interview on ABC (listen from 1.10 to 1.16:30)
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