In the far north-west of NSW, the community of Brewarrina is part of a monumental shift in remote health care and Angel Flight Australia is proud to be part of the journey.
Seven million Australians live in rural and remote communities, where access to healthcare is often limited and outcomes can be significantly worse. In places like Brewarrina, cardiovascular disease claims lives at rates up to 70% higher than in metropolitan areas.
But change is in the air.
A Decade-Long Commitment to Better Health
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) has launched a landmark ten-year partnership with the Brewarrina community, marking the first step in the national TEN4TEN — Healthier Tiny Towns initiative.
This program is all about flipping the traditional model of healthcare.
Instead of expecting patients to travel long distances to access care, TEN4TEN brings health professionals directly into communities, meeting people where they are, and working alongside them to create solutions that truly fit.
The launch week in March marked the beginning of this journey, with a community health festival and voluntary health checks helping to build a clearer picture of local health needs.
Angel Flight: Connecting Care to Community
Behind the scenes and in the skies Angel Flight is proud to have played a role in making this week possible. Volunteer pilots Patrick Machado, Neville Page, and Darrell Campbell generously gave their time, aircraft, and expertise to transport clinicians and researchers in and out of Brewarrina, making it possible for this important initiative to take flight. A special shout out to, Flight Coordinator Riana Dinham who played a crucial role in coordinating every detail to ensure each flight ran smoothly and everyone’s needs were met.
Without these flights, many of the specialists involved simply wouldn’t have been able to reach the community.
And that’s the reality for so many rural towns.
Angel Flight exists to bridge that gap — to ensure that distance doesn’t become a barrier to care.
As CEO Marjorie Pagani shared:
“Instead of expecting patients to travel long distances for care, initiatives like this bring health professionals into communities like Brewarrina. Angel Flight is proud to help streamline that access by flying clinicians and health researchers into rural towns.”
Community-Led, Future-Focused
This initiative builds on more than a decade of collaboration between researchers and the Brewarrina community, particularly through work led by Associate Professor Kylie Gwynne Research Director, CHRI, UNSW who comments;
“The healthcare system wasn’t built for tiny towns. People in small, remote communities carry a disproportionate burden of chronic disease. TEN4TEN is place-based, community-led, evidence-driven and tech-first — helping tiny towns become healthy places. Brewarrina is leading the way, and what we learn here will be shared to empower other communities right across Australia. Where you live shouldn’t determine if you live.”
As Katrina Ward from the Brewarrina Aboriginal Medical Service puts it:
“Our community deserves the same access to health care as people in the cities… we’re proud to be leading the way.”