ACRRM - the story so far...

There's a line that distinguishes Rural Generalists from General Practitioners. It's a line that starts on a map and ends with a deep commitment to providing above and beyond healthcare for diverse communities across rural and remote Australia.

At ACRRM we know about that line because we have continued to follow it for more than 25 years, leading us to where we are today - a College with direction and purpose; a College which inspires, supports and guides its members to a meaningful career which plays an integral role in the vitality and wellbeing of the communities they serve.

ACRRM milestones

  • 1997
    ACRRM established
  • 1997
    President elected
    Dr John W (Jack) Shepherd
    1997-1999
  • 1997-1998
    Ministerial Review of General Practice Training
  • 1998
    Primary Curriculum developed
  • 1999
    President elected
    Lexia R Bryant
    1999-2000
  • 2000
    GP Training is regionalised
  • 2000
    President elected
    Professor Ian Wronski
    2000-2003
  • 2001
    Vocational Training program established
  • 2001
    Professional Development program introduced
  • 2002
    Rural Clinical Guidelines established
  • 2003
    President elected
    Dr Alan (Bruce) Chater
    2003-2005
  • 2005
    President elected
    Dr David Campbell
    2005-2007
  • 2006
    AST program introduced
  • 2007
    Recognised under the Health Insurance Act
  • 2007
    President elected
    Dr Dennis Pashen
    2007-2009
  • 2008
    Rural Generalist pathway recognised by Queensland Health
  • 2009-2010
    Start of International Program
  • 2009
    President elected
    Dr Jeffrey Ayton
    2009-2011
  • 2010
    First IMG on Specialist Pathway
  • 2011
    ACRRM registrars exceed 500
  • 2011
    ACRRM awarded full AMC accreditation
  • 2011
    President elected
    Professor Richard Murray
    2011-2014
  • 2013
    Hosted the inaugural World Summit on Rural Generalist Medicine
  • 2014
    President elected
    Assoc Professor Lucie Walters
    2014-2016
  • 2016
    President elected
    Assoc Professor Ruth Stewart
    2016-2018
  • 2017
    Hosted World Summit on Rural Generalist Medicine
  • 2017
    Hosted the 14th World Rural Health Conference
  • 2018
    President elected
    Assoc Professor Ewen McPhee
    2018-2020
  • 2020
    Took over selection of AGPT
  • 2020
    President elected
    Dr Sarah Chalmers
    2020-2022
  • 2022
    President elected
    Dr Dan Halliday
    2022-Current
  • 2023
    College-led Training implemented

ACRRM Formation

In 1987, the Rural Doctors Association of New South Wales was formed.  Its national counterpart, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) was incorporated in 1991. In that year, RDAA was instrumental in convening the first National Rural Health Conference (NRHC) the recommendations from which, led to establishment of the original Rural Health Training Units, the National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA), and to Government support for a dedicated rural medical training program.

In 1992 the RDAA procured a Government grant to develop a rural medical training pathway to incorporate advanced curricula in the specialist fields of anaesthesia, surgery and obstetrics.  

Following negotiations to secure a ‘Faculty of Rural Medicine’ and a ‘Fellowship of the Faculty of Rural Medicine’ within the RACGP, RDAA in a plebiscite, agreed to hand over its advanced skills curricula to the RACGP to form the basis for a discrete rural training pathway incorporating these skills. 

A series of decisions by the RACGP Council however overturned this approach and resulted in the disillusionment and resignation of many rural RACGP members, eventually including eight of the ten RACGP Rural Faculty board members. In particular, the title, ‘Faculty of Rural Medicine’ was rejected in favour of ‘Rural Faculty’ and the proposed dedicated Rural Fellowship training pathway was replaced with a ‘Graduate Diploma of Rural General Practice’, a 12-month “add-on” qualification on top of the generic RACGP Fellowship. 

In 1995 a second national plebiscite of rural medical practitioners voted by a ratio of 2:1 to establish a separate college to foster Rural and Remote Medicine as a distinct model of medical practice. The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) was incorporated in March 1997.

The ACRRM Primary Curriculum in Rural and Remote Medicine (Edition 1) was published in 1998. Fellowship criteria were advertised to foundation members in 1998 and, in the same year, ACRRM’s rural training pathways and the commencement of a continuing development program in Rural and Remote Medicine were established.