The Rural, Regional and Remote Clinical Trial Enabling Program expands access to clinical trials across rural, regional and remote NSW and the ACT, making it easier for people to participate closer to home.
The Program builds local capacity by strengthening the health workforce, improving infrastructure and raising community awareness. Doctors, nurses and health teams are supported to develop the skills needed to plan and deliver trials to international standards. This creates more opportunities for trials in local hospitals, community health centres, general practices and Aboriginal Medical Services.
NSW Health and the ACT Government have partnered to deliver the Rural, Regional and Remote Clinical Trial Enabling Program, supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Medical Research Future Fund.
Geographical clusters
The Program is led locally led by three geographical clusters: Northern Cluster, Western Cluster and Southern Cluster.
The Clusters are a collaborative network of local health districts and Canberra Health Services.
The structure ensures research reflects the needs of local communities and gives people access to trials closer to home.
Together, the Clusters are building a sustainable clinical trial ecosystem across rural, regional and remote areas by combining expertise in trial operations with strong partnerships across the health and research sectors. The goal is to create scalable service models that respond to local needs.
Each Cluster hosts a Clinical Trial Support Unit to:
- facilitate trials across all therapeutic areas
- support trial start-up and close-out
- coordinate participant recruitment
- build a skilled workforce
- nurture local research leadership
- provide business development support
- strengthen investigator-initiated trial capacity through academic partnerships.
More information
- NSW Health clinical trial workforce: request access to the Program’s SharePoint site for useful resources and assets to support your work