Northern Territory rural and remote health services

There are around 250,000 people living in the Northern Territory (NT).

The term 'rural and remote' covers all areas in the NT outside the major cities.

Most of the NT is seen as remote or very remote, except for Darwin and nearby Palmerston. Many people live on cattle stations, in mining towns or in Aboriginal Communities.

Use the healthdirect Service Finder to find your nearest health services. It includes:

• GPs
• dentists
• pharmacies
• hospitals
• opticians
• psychologists

Health services are not always easy to find if you live in rural and remote areas. Some communities don't have easy access to hospitals or doctors.

Services are provided at health clinics and primary health care sites located in regional and remote areas of the NT.

The NT Government (Opens in new tab) has information about the services available in different health areas.

You can often learn about health services by going to community centres (Opens in new tab) or talking to local people.

If a service is not offered where you live, you may be eligible for the Patient Assistance Travel Scheme (Opens in new tab) (PATS).

Hospitals

In the NT there are 6 public hospitals and one private hospital (Opens in new tab).

The main public hospitals are in Darwin and Alice Springs. There are also smaller public hospitals in Nhulunbuy (called Gove), Katherine and Tennant Creek.

Specialist outreach services

Specialist outreach services (Opens in new tab) are available to people in remote NT with visiting doctors, care at hospitals and telehealth (Opens in new tab) appointments. Find out when your next specialist service is visiting (Opens in new tab). You might need a referral from a GP so it's good to try and see one beforehand.

Remote area nurses provide important health care in the NT. Nurse practitioners are nurses with extra training. They can help in emergencies, make diagnoses and prescribe medicine.

Mental health and wellbeing

There are many online and telephone support services to help at different times in your life.

Healthcare for babies and toddlers

The NT Government has information on pregnancy, birthing and child health (Opens in new tab).

Read about maternity services (Opens in new tab) in remote NT.

If you are pregnant, or a parent of a young child, call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby to speak to a maternal child health nurse on 1800 882 436 or video call (Opens in new tab). Available 7am to midnight (AET), 7 days a week.

Healthcare for children

Kids Helpline — offers telephone and online counselling for young people aged 5 to 25 years, call 1800 55 1800.

Healthcare for teenagers

Headspace (Opens in new tab) provides mental health support for people aged 12 to 25 years. You can:

• visit their website
• call them on 1800 650 890
• make an appointment at your closest headspace centre (Opens in new tab)

Kids Helpline offers phone and online counselling for people aged up to 25 years, call 1800 55 1800.

ReachOut.com (Opens in new tab) is a youth mental health service. Visit their website for online help.

Learn more about sexual health.

Healthcare for older people

You can learn about aged care services on the My Aged Care (Opens in new tab) website. You can also call them on 1800 200 422.

Carers NT (Opens in new tab) provide support if you are caring for someone.

Call the Mental Health Line (Opens in new tab) on 1800 011 511 if you are worried about an older person's mental health.

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people make up about 1 in 3 people living in the NT. There are many small Aboriginal Communities in the NT.

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health workers and doctors support people with medical care, as well as providing health education.

City hospitals have Indigenous liaison workers to help Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients while they are in hospital.

Culturally responsive services are available through Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.

Find an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (Opens in new tab) (ACCHO) near you.

The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (Opens in new tab) (AMSANT) is the peak body for ACCHOs in the NT.

Accidents often happen in farming (Opens in new tab) communities. These can impact both workers and their children.

The National Centre for Farmer Health (Opens in new tab) has information on health and wellbeing.

Taking care of your mental and physical health is important. Find out more about how to keep healthy (Opens in new tab).

The Patient Assistance Travel Scheme (Opens in new tab) (PATS) may help pay for some travel and accommodation costs.

It can help cover your:

• return fares to and from appointments
• accommodation
• public transport — taxis and buses
• private vehicle use

If you need help, talk to your local health service, Aboriginal health worker or closest hospital.

Learn more about health and wellbeing (Opens in new tab) services offered in the NT.

Read about remote health (Opens in new tab) in the NT.

BushTel (Opens in new tab) has information about remote communities in the NT to help with planning and informed decisions.

Learn more about the Patient Assistance Travel Scheme (Opens in new tab) (PATS).

The Carer Gateway (Opens in new tab) provides services and support for carers.

NTcommunity has a directory of community services for mental health and suicide prevention (Opens in new tab).

Find out more about rural and remote health.

You can also call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.