The underlying geography and population distribution of Australia leads to disparities in outcomes – in simple terms, where you live can impact how well and how long you live.
Access to services, particularly in the health and education domains, is an issue that persists and presents ongoing challenges to priority setting and the fair allocation of funding.
Although there have been significant advancements in geospatial technologies and associated data over the last 30 years, there has been little or no change in the availability of demographic and health data at fine spatial scales adequate to inform social policy in Australia.
We offer a paradigm shift in the research and understanding of access to services, previously only possible for small parts of Australia. There are three components to the CARA approach.
High resolution time & distance access metrics
The application of advances in computational methods has allowed CARA to develop fast network processing infrastructure that can be applied at the dwelling scale. This allows the calculation of high resolution metrics to education, health and other services across the whole of Australia. This new accessibility data will be used the re-envision the existing Assessibilty/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA).
A more technical description of design and construction of these metrics is available here.
A simulated population
Spatial microsimulation methods have been applied to ABS National Census of Population and Housing data to provide population data at the residential dwelling scale.
The provision of interoperable accessibility data based on a national dwelling location reference
In calculating these metrics for every residential dwelling address CARA has developed a national dwelling location reference frame that can be easily integrated by other organisations who hold data associated with address.
These three research areas form the foundation of CARA and originally stem from a ARC Linkage, Infrastructure, Equipment Facilities grant (LE220100028) composed by Professor Neil Coffee and Mr Marcus Blake.
Deakin Rural Health
Deakin Rural Health (DRH) was established in 2016 and is part of the Deakin University School of Medicine within the Faculty of Health. DRH is a University Department of Rural Health funded through the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program – an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. The RHMT program aims to improve the recruitment and retention of medical, nursing, dental and allied health professionals in rural and remote Australia. Alongside this is an emphasis on research capability and capacity building. In responding to this need, DRH is focussed on producing insights that are both policy relevant and at scale to improve decision-making and resource allocation.
Grampians Health
Grampians Health was established 1 November 2021 and brings together Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital, Stawell Regional Health, Wimmera Health Care Group and Ballarat Health Services. The Grampians Region extends from Bacchus Marsh to the South Australian border, covering some 48,000m2, and is home to nearly 250,000 people.
Grampians Health delivers care across all settings: in hospital and increasingly in the community and people’s homes. It is the largest public provider of residential aged care in Australia. Additionally, Grampians Health is the main teaching, training and research provider in the region and does this through affiliations with its partner universities and teaching institutions.
