2023-24 RDN Annual Report: A Letter from our CEO

RDN has published its 2023-2024 Annual Report, providing a great snapshot of the many ways RDN works collaboratively to build greater health access for remote, rural, regional and Indigenous communities around New South Wales, Australia and beyond. You can view and download a full copy of the Annual Report on the Annual Report & Corporate Publications page of our website.

_{The following excerpt from the 2023-24 RDN Annual Report was written by RDN CEO Richard Colbran}

KNOWING RDN’S PAST TO DRIVE  POSITIVE IMPACT IN THE FUTURE 

The famous doctrine of ‘not being able to know where you are going until you know where you have been’ rings true for those who carry the stewardship responsibility of Rural Doctors Network (RDN). RDN is known as ‘the honest broker’ by its non-Indigenous and Indigenous stakeholders. What a privileged position. You can only imagine what it has taken to engender such a reputation by paid and voluntary RDNers over many decades. In today’s fast-paced and transactional world, such trust could be easily lost.

A short form summary cannot do justice to the depth and intricacies of the RDN movement, which began in the seedlings of the NSW Rural Doctors Dispute of 1987. This period of time is recognised as the foundation of the Australian rural health industry. History shows that what drove the rural medical professionals was their concern that metro-centric policy  and decision making was diminishing the viability of high-quality rural health care.  Sound familiar?

Today, RDN’s methods underpin our service offerings. A capstone project of our 35-year anniversary in 2023 revisited the origination of RDN’s methodologies and reimagined their application for RDN’s future efforts. The foundations of our methods are found in the legacy of those before us. They are science-based and framed by the concept of social accountability, which emanated from the work of the World Bank, The Network of Networks: Towards Unity for Health (TUFH), and the WONCA Working Party on Rural Practice (RuralWONCA).

Social accountability is the antithesis of self-interest. It seeks effective and sustainable development by strengthening links and accountability to communities and citizens. To their credit, the world’s medical education institutions made a commitment to this philosophy. RDN made a similar commitment. These commitments still stand today. This is leadership  in action.

To complement social accountability, the theories of community-based development and implementation science reinforce RDN’s service design, while the Partnership Pentagram Plus and the ‘breathing and weaving’ formula for appreciative inquiry, ensures all relevant stakeholders have seats at the table, and power and decision making are distributed equally.

Systemic social challenges can take decades to improve, and the work of social change can only move at the pace of trust. Learning from our history is critical to understanding what is needed for better futures. Meaningful progress also requires steadfast vigilance.

Today’s RDNers take our stewardship responsibility seriously. We commit to evidenceinformed practice, and value science-based methodologies which help create time and trust for social change to take hold for positive impact. Our purpose remains to enable the best health outcomes for all — no matter where they live.

- Richard Colbran PhD  

RDN Chief Executive Officer

Read the Annual Report here.

Read more:

• 2023-24 RDN Annual Report: Chair's Message