Indigenous-led quality remote healthcare

The NT Remote Locum Program implements a culturally safe program in partnership with remote health services in the NT, including:

  • The community
  • Health services
  • Health professionals
  • the NT Remote Locum Program's clinical, cultural and workforce teams.

Through the program, remote NT clinics can access a pool of healthcare professionals from urban areas who have completed a thorough cultural safety orientation to ensure a culturally responsive workforce.

Communities and clinics self-identify their needs. The NT Remote Locum Program team works with them to deploy and support health professionals they need to strengthen access to quality healthcare.

The NT Remote Locum Program is available to remote and very remote NT communities.

Partnering with the NT Remote Locum Program team

Remote NT Aboriginal clinics can access support through the NT Remote Locum Program.

If you request a partnership with the NT Remote Locum Program, you get the benefits of the NT Remote Locum Program's expertise in health workforce solutions and experience.

The program works because of the team’s commitment to Aboriginal people and communities and their commitment towards outcomes aligned with Closing the GAP reform:

  • strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership
  • long and genuine relationships in the NT
  • detailed knowledge of remote community and clinic placement
  • quality selection of health professionals and rigorous background, skill and qualification checking
  • high levels of service and support for health professionals, including a Remote Educator for those who haven’t worked in a remote setting before
  • reduced administration for health services to pay health professionals on time
  • ongoing professional development for NT Remote Locum Program health professionals.

Find out about partnerships with the NT Remote Locum Program

Self-determined remote health needs and solutions

Our community partners are in control of decisions for their communities. They identify their needs and we work together on a way to fill workforce shortfalls and support sustainability. the NT Remote Locum Program is not a recruitment program.

The program involves:

  • General Practitioners
  • Registered Nurses
  • Oral health professionals (Dentists, Dental Assistants and Dental Therapists)
  • Audiologists
  • Allied health professionals

Healthcare professional placements are for 3 to 12 weeks at a time.

Funded to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health

The Australian Government Department of Health funds the program under the Indigenous Australians Health Program. The NT Remote Locum Program helps to meet Closing the Gap health targets:

  • Close the gap in life expectancy within a generation, by 2031.
  • Halve the gap in mortality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children under 5, within a decade.

In line with the National Agreement for Closing the Gap, the program works for Priority Reforms 1 and 2:

  1. Formal Partnerships and Shared Decision Making.
  2. Building the Community-Controlled Sector.