SA

In a state first, medical students can now undertake their entire training in rural South Australia, in a bold new initiative by Flinders University to tackle the critical shortage of doctors in rural and regional areas. Starting in 2025, the South Australia Rural Medical (SARM) Program is the first degree of its kind in South Australia, offering medical students the opportunity to study Flinders’ renowned medical program outside the metropolitan area.

A complaint has been lodged against the Adelaide-based chairman of Limestone Coast Local Health Network (LCLHN), Dr Andrew Saies, over his alleged conduct towards SE cancer patients. Among claims against Dr Saies are allegations he comes from a position of privilege by suggesting financial issues confronting SE cancer patients travelling to Adelaide and unable to work for many weeks or months could easily be nullified if they took out income insurance.

A decision last week to establish an inquiry into Australia’s winegrape and processing market has been welcomed by Liberal Barker MP Tony Pasin, who says the current supply and demand imbalance is "devastating" the Riverland. The Senate agreed to refer the issue – which impacts the 2000 wineries and 6000 grape growers across the nation’s 65 wine regions – to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee for inquiry and report by 28 February 2025.

Rachel Hagan. Cleaning up three illegal asbestos dumps on southern Yorke Peninsula will cost more than $300,000. Yorke Peninsula Council had previously allocated this money for strategic projects. At council’s September 11 meeting, elected members unanimously agreed $321,514 of quarantined general rate revenue would be put towards removing asbestos at Marion Bay, Berry Bay and Coobowie.

Health experts are reminding pregnant women and infants to get vaccinated against whooping cough. The reminder follows a wave of the infectious disease, seeing case numbers climb to their highest in the last six years across the state. According to the Department of Health and Wellbeing, South Australia recorded 492 cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, so far this year—more than 10 times the number of cases reported at the same time last year.

The $27.4 million project to rebuild 1,600km of the South Australian Dog Fence, which protects SA’s livestock industry from wild dog attacks, has reached a key milestone with 1,000km of the fence now rebuilt. Stretching 2,150km from the Great Australian Bight to the New South Wales border, the Dog Fence is the longest continuous fence in the world.