About the Rural Kids GPS Project
For families raising children with complex health needs in rural and remote areas, navigating the healthcare system can feel overwhelming. Specialist care is often far away, services don’t always talk to each other, and parents are left to coordinate it all. This can delay diagnoses, increase stress, and result in children missing out on the care they need to thrive. The Rural Kids GPS Project is here to change that.
Rural Kids GPS is a collaborative initiative focused on improving care coordination for children with chronic and complex conditions living outside Australia’s major cities. It aims to build local, family-centred pathways of care by connecting hospitals, general practices, community services, schools, and families themselves.
Why It Matters
Rural families often travel hours to access the care their children need.
Parents must frequently coordinate between multiple specialists and services on their own.
This leads to gaps in care, extra stress, and poorer outcomes for kids who already face higher health risks.
By streamlining services and building stronger local support systems, Rural Kids GPS is helping families spend less time navigating care—and more time focused on what matters most.
Connecting the dots in rural health care—for children who need it most.
What We’re Doing
Rural Kids GPS helps create a support map around each child, tailored to their individual health needs. Here’s how:
Care coordination teams work alongside families to develop shared care plans and ensure services are aligned.
Telehealth and digital tools are used to link local providers with metropolitan specialists, reducing the need for travel.
Integrated care pathways help rural children move smoothly between services—whether that’s between hospital and home, school and clinic, or GP and specialist.
The goal is to bring services together so that children get the right care, at the right time, close to home.
Goals
The Rural Kids GPS Project aims to:
Reduce the burden on families by simplifying care journeys.
Improve the health and wellbeing of rural children with complex needs.
Strengthen local services and partnerships to deliver more coordinated, efficient care.
Ensure that rural families are not left behind in system-level health reforms.
What’s Next?
The insights from Rural Kids GPS will help inform how coordinated, community-based models of care can be scaled across rural Australia. The project is working hand-in-hand with families, health services, and policymakers to ensure the system meets the real needs of rural children and their communities.
Where It’s Happening
The project is focused on several rural and regional areas across New South Wales. It builds on existing networks and local partnerships, including hospitals, schools, Aboriginal health services, and Primary Health Networks.