Defining Rural and Remote

“If you’ve seen one rural town, you’ve seen one rural town.”

As you would expect, there isn’t an agreed definition of rurality or remoteness. If you have been born and raised in an urban area, its easy to make the mistake that a single definition will explain anything outside of a major city. However, as the above quote suggests this is not the case.

So how do you define this quality, especially given the often large differences between relative degrees of rurality and remoteness? One way is to illustrate the set of shared characteristics that may be apparent to varying degrees at individual locations.

These characteristics include:

• Geographic isolation – relative distance to major service centres
• Smaller population – generally decreasing population base
• Greater Indigenous population – higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• Different attitudes and beliefs – rural experience and lifestyle lead to a distinctive shared outlook
• Distinctive occupational and industrial profile – dominated by primary production and resources

Combined, these characteristics reshape the health profile of populations in rural areas, how healthcare may be provided to them, as well as the practice of individual health professionals. 

 
Classifying rural and remote areas

A number of attempts have been made to solve the problem of defining rurality and remoteness. One approach is to quantify the differences in the relative degree of rurality and remoteness. This provides governments with a framework for policies aimed at addressing urban-rural issues. Indeed, many government programs and initiatives are based upon one of a number of classification systems.

A number of systems have been developed to date and are outlined further below:

ASGC-RA
Australian Standard Geographic Classification-Remoteness Areas