Case management in rural Australia: Arguments for improved practice understandings

This article is principally concerned with case management and rurality in the
Australian context. While there is substantial literature exploring case management
across disciplines and across contexts, there remains a substantial gap in knowledge in
relation to the role played by rurality in case management practice in Australia. An
emerging body of knowledge associated with human service delivery in rural Australia
under the stewardship of authors such as Alston, Cheers, and Lonne, offers valuable links
between rurality and human services and draws attention to the specificity of rural work.
However, there remains a gap in knowledge about how rural specificity impacts on case
management practice in the political, cultural, and socioecological context that makes up
rural Australia. Thus, the aim of this paper is to reflect upon contemporary knowledge of
rural case management in the light of current literature and emerging trends, and to
provoke interest in this topic as an area for further discussion and research.