This Thursday, 8 March, is International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Give to Gain”, a campaign that encourages a mindset of generosity and collaboration and emphasises the power of reciprocity and support. The International Women’s Day website highlights that “giving is not a subtraction, it’s an intentional multiplication. When women thrive, we all rise.”
Below are some practical actions that can be taken within the rural and remote health workforce (the give), and their outcomes, highlighting reciprocity, sustainability, and shared benefit for all (the gain).
Give time = gain connection and retention. Time is one of the scarcest resources in rural and remote health, yet it is also one of the most powerful. Intentionally investing small, protected amounts of time in people reduces burnout and isolation, and improves workforce connection and retention. Some ways to do this could be:
- Offer 30-minute check-ins for early-career women, internationally trained staff, or locums.
- Build a ‘buddy system’ or peer support pairs across towns, communities, or services to reduce isolation and build connections.
- Prioritise and protect time for supervision or reflective practice, as women tend to put everyone else’s needs above their own.
Give flexibility = gain sustainability. Flexibility is often misunderstood as a special arrangement or concession, when in reality, it helps keep experienced people in rural and remote practice longer. Flexibility should be normalised and embedded, as it enables services to maintain continuity and build experience. Look into:
- Normalise non-linear career paths, accounting for factors such as parenting, caring, cultural obligations, and the impacts of natural disasters such as drought.
- Advocate for flexible rostering, job-sharing, or phased returns after leave (e.g. maternity leave).
- Trial hybrid leadership roles (e.g. face-to-face and work-from-home) or tele-supervision to keep skilled women in the local workforce.
Give voice = gain better decisions. In rural and remote health settings, decisions are often made under pressure with limited resources, yet they have significant consequences for both the workforce and the community. Listening to diverse perspectives leads to more practical, community and culturally responsive solutions, which could include:
- Actively include women, including First Nations women and culturally diverse staff, in decision-making forums, and create safe spaces for all to speak up.
- Call out gendered expectations and double standards. Women are often expected to be more accommodating and collaborative, whilst assertiveness in a woman can be judged more harshly than in a man. Calling these out helps ensure that women’s contributions are heard and not discounted.
- Rotate meeting facilitation/chairing to prevent senior or metropolitan voices from dominating. This can also help broaden the decision-making lens and provide critical insights into work on the frontline.
Give recognition and learning opportunities = gain confidence, capability and leadership. Recognition builds confidence and encourages leadership pathways, whilst upskilling the local workforce reduces staff turnover and improves service continuity. Try:
- Make invisible work visible by publicly acknowledging women’s contributions in often invisible work and services, such as mentoring students, supporting colleagues, or responding to incidents beyond their normal role descriptions.
- Nominate rural and remote women for awards, scholarships, and leadership programs that signal belief in their potential and highlight what the workforce offers.
- Share local success stories in team meetings, community forums or newsletters. This reinforces local expertise and validation, building professional identity and pride.
- Share skills across disciplines (e.g. psychologists, nurses, midwives, and GPs learning together).
- Offer or create local place-based learning or study support so that women’s learning is not contingent on them leaving town.
- Encourage reciprocal learning by identifying what you can learn from each other, and support this to happen. Recognise that expertise flows in all directions (up and down, and left to right).
Give allyship = gain equity. Equity improves team function and workforce stability.
- Men and leaders of any identified gender can actively sponsor women’s careers, not just mentor. Provide opportunities on high-visibility projects or assignments, introduce them to your professional network, provide insights into the organisation’s internal workings, and advocate for their advancement.
- Challenge sexism, stereotypes and inequitable workloads as they appear.
- Ask yourself, “Who is at the table, and why?” and more importantly, “Who isn’t at the table and should be?”
When we respect, support, and provide a voice to women in our rural and remote health workforce, we help create more sustainable communities and workforces by improving service delivery in ways that build connection, capability, and care. Women make up around 74% of Australia’s health workforce,¹ so let’s mindfully listen to what is brought to the table.
Be kind,
Dr Nicole Jeffery-Dawes
Senior Psychologist, Bush Support Line
- Health workforce report – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Aihw.gov.au. Updated 02 July, 2024. Accessed 23 February 2026. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/workforce/health-workforce.
