Medical Training Review Panel 19th Report

Remoteness Area

The Remoteness Area (RA) Structure within the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) is produced by ABS.

RAs are based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA), where the remoteness index value of a point is based on the physical road distance to the nearest town or service in each of six population size classes based on the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. These classes are:

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  Major cities;
  
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  Inner regional areas;
  
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  Outer regional areas;
  
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  Remote areas;
  
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  Very remote areas; and
  
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  Migratory.
  

A new classification system, the Modified Monash Model (MMM), was launched in early 2015. The MMM is based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Australian Statistical Geography Standard – Remoteness Areas, with locations in Inner and Outer Regional Australia being further classified by the local town size.

To recognise that larger towns have a functional service area wider than their town boundaries, “buffer zones” have been used to define a large city’s area of influence. The “buffer zones” are based on road distance calculations provided by the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre. The sizes of the “buffer zones” were agreed to by the Rural Classification Technical Working Group, which comprised key stakeholders and technical experts.

The resulting classification ranges from MM1 to MM7. Further information can be found on the Doctor Connect website.