The Centre for Rural Health and Community Development has been charged with the important task of developing and driving research in regional and rural Australia to help create healthy, thriving, sustainable communities.
Regional and remote areas play an important role in the economic health of our state, hosting key industries such as agriculture, aquaculture and mining. However, regional communities often face challenges, including isolation from health and education services, fewer social and cultural outlets, and the threat of natural disasters such as drought, flood and fire.
Our Centre’s research projects span a vast range of topics – from the merit in using shed-based men’s clubs as a way to prevent social isolation and mental health issues, to the transition rural youth must make after their final year of schooling. CRHaCD researchers work locally, nationally and internationally through partnerships with rural and remote communities, industry, other research institutions, governments and NGOs.
Based at UniSA’s Whyalla Campus and Mount Gambier Regional Centre, CRHaCD offers exciting opportunities for post-doctoral, PhD and honours students, as well as consultancy services for external organisations. In 2010 and 2011 CRHaCD hosted international Masters students from IMC University of Applied Sciences, Krems, Austria, in collaboration with Charles Darwin University. These students worked on a range of projects, including the impact of mobility on the homelessness of remote Aboriginal peoples, and the effects of fly-in-fly-out workforce operations on men’s health.