New round of funding available to join the Rural Health Education Foundation’s Satellite Network
June 21, 2005** NOTE: Applications for this second round of funding have now closed. **
The Rural Health Education Foundation has a new round of subsidies available for rural and remote health organisations that wish to join the Rural Health Satellite Network.
This network currently consists of more than 590 locations in every state and territory of Australia. Utilising the funding, 42 new sites have been established in the last 6 months including 12 remote sites in the Northern Territory, 8 in Western Australia, 7 in Queensland, 6 in New South Wales, 3 in South Australia, 3 in Victoria, 2 in Tasmania and one in Norfolk Island.
Each site enables medical and health professionals to view the Foundation’s satellite health and medical educational television broadcasts.
Call for subsidy applications
With support provided by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DHA), the Foundation is now expanding its network and calls for applications for subsidy from qualifying organisations.
Subsidies explained in online video
Dr Norman Swan explains this subsidy scheme in a 90-second online video:
Application and evaluation process
Each application to become a Rural Health Education Foundation site (see below) will be individually evaluated, and will depend on the site size and medical services located in and around the community. In many cases the Foundation will be able to offer full or partial funding for each new site developed in the 2005-2006 financial year.
Note that applications for this second round of funding will close on Monday 1st August 2005.
Funding priority
Organisations will receive priority for funding if they fall into one of the following two categories:
a) Remote communities (with a special emphasis on communities with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander populations) with at least one full-time health professional and no existing satellite access; and
b) Rural communities where:
- there are significant number of health professionals
- there is no Foundation site within a reasonable distance
- there is a willing institution to host the site according to Foundation guidelines
(A ’site’ means a location with satellite reception dish and decoder that is properly working and is properly configured to receive broadcasts over the Foundation’s Satellite Network.)
More information
For further information about the requirements, responsibilities and opportunities of being a Foundation satellite site, please ring Belinda on (freecall) 1800 646 015 or email her at operations@rhef.com.au
Note that in your application for financial subsidy, the questions which we will ask you to answer are:
- What is your organisation? What does it do?
- Where will the proposed site be located? To the best of your knowledge, where is your nearest Foundation site? (Refer to our list of current Foundation site locations).
- Does your organisation currently have any functioning satellite dishes, and if so, which satellite/s do they pick up signals from? What else can you tell us about your telecommunications infrastructure (telephone lines, etc.) that will help us to assess the need in your area?
- Why does your organisation wish to become a Rural Health Satellite Network site?
- How many health and medical professionals are located or work in your community, including General Practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, allied health workers (please specify), Aboriginal Health Workers and health service managers?
- Do you have a suitable building which will accommodate satellite dish on the roof?
- Exactly what room will the programs be viewed in?
- Are you able to provide a television and VCR? (Note: VCRs are recommended, but not absolutely essential. However, your organisation will be expected to provide a TV, although a very limited subsidy may be available for purchase of a television for communities with special needs and extremely limited resources.)
- The Foundation will require each organisation to identify a site coordinator who can be contacted via email, telephone and Australia Post (contact us for more information). Have you identified who this will be? Please provide details.
Please note:
In your application for funding, we will ask you to indemnify the Rural Health Education Foundation in the installation and operation of the site at your facility.
As the key funder of this site expansion, the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing may be consulted in the decisions made for site subsidies.