RDN 2023-2024 Annual Report: A Message from our Chair Professor Peter O’Mara

The following is an excerpt from RDN's 2023/4 Annual Report which has been published to the RDN website:

Professor Peter O’Mara took up the role of RDN Chair at the end of 2023. He brings vast experience as a rural community General Practitioner (GP) and has held many significant governance positions within the sector. A proud Wiradjuri man, Professor O’Mara is also the first Aboriginal Australian to serve as Chair of RDN.

I have always held a high regard for RDN, and I am happy and proud to be the Chair of this organisation, where the values align so closely with my own.

One of my most important roles is to help RDN navigate the challenging environment in rural health care, including the undersupply of GPs, nurses and other health professionals, alongside limited budgets and resources.

During my working life I have travelled to many communities and met many people, witnessing, time and time again, the trust these communities, health workforces and provider organisations have with RDN, which I refer to as ‘credibility at the coalface’. This trust is so important. RDN waits to be invited into communities and then, and only then, collaborates with each community individually, in a whole-of-life way.

I have seen the positive outcomes of RDN’s ground level initiatives for improved health and social services access in remote, rural, regional and disadvantaged communities. I am determined to help maintain what has always been done well, as well as working on expanding RDN’s services to support more people.

We will do this by strategically broadening our reach and continuing to collaborate and share our research and knowledge, both within Australia and overseas, so that good outcomes can occur for even more people.

I am honoured to announce that Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC Governor of New South Wales accepted our application to become RDN’s inaugural Vice Regal Patron, and we sincerely thank her and her husband for their ongoing strong interest and support for rural and remote health professionals.

I thank RDN’s many partners and stakeholders for their invaluable support — we really value them and their positive contributions to the communities that we are privileged to serve. In addition, I express my gratitude to RDN’s Chief Executive Officer Richard Colbran and his Executive team and staff for their professionalism and drive to continually improve healthcare and social care services for people living in remote, rural, regional and Indigenous communities in need.

I also offer my sincere thanks to our previous Chair, A/Prof John Kramer OAM, for his long-term contribution to RDN, and for his unwavering support in helping me transition to this role. I look forward to serving RDN as we accelerate and extend our impact in improving equity of access to health and social care services for communities.

Professor Peter O’Mara

Chair

Read the Annual Report here.