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Conference

Our conference spreads knowledge, celebrates excellence, and unites the dispersed remote health workforce

Since 1983, CRANAplus has held its annu­al con­fer­ence to bond and unite the dis­persed remote and iso­lat­ed health work­force. The con­fer­ence serves as an oppor­tu­ni­ty for like-mind­ed remote and iso­lat­ed health indi­vid­u­als to net­work, con­nect and share.

Held at a dif­fer­ent loca­tion each year or under­tak­en online, the event brings togeth­er health prac­ti­tion­ers, man­agers, gov­ern­ment rep­re­sen­ta­tives, pol­i­cy mak­ers, aca­d­e­mics and stu­dents into an ener­getic social forum.

Built around a series of high qual­i­ty pre­sen­ta­tions, it pro­vides the ide­al plat­form for recog­nis­ing the out­stand­ing con­tri­bu­tions of health pro­fes­sion­als through CRANAplus awards and fel­low­ships. Dis­cov­er past award win­ners.

2027 Rural & Remote Nursing & Midwifery Conference

The CRANAplus Rural & Remote Nursing & Midwifery Conference returns in 2027, bringing rural, remote and isolated health professionals together for two and a half days of professional development, connection and fun at the Darwin Convention Centre in Garramilla/Darwin from 30 May – 1 June.

The 2027 conference theme, Creating sustainable pathways: Leading and learning together, invites us all to consider how we can contribute to building and sustaining a strong rural and remote health workforce for the future.

We will wrap up the conference by recognising outstanding contributions to rural and remote healthcare at the CRANAplus Australian Remote Health Awards. 

Abstract submissions are now open. Learn more here.

Our prospectus for exhibitors and sponsors will be available soon.  

Registrations will open in December 2026.

Visit our conference website for all the latest information, and join our CRANApulse mailing list to stay up to date with conference announcements.  

For event enquiries, con­tact Con­fer­ence Design at mail@conferencedesign.com.au. 

Over the years

Past Conferences

2026 Remote Nurs­ing and Mid­wifery Con­fer­ence (42nd CRANAplus Conference)

“Distance. Dedication. Difference. The future of remote health.“
Held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Boorloo/Perth, on 11-3 May 2026.

2024 Remote Nurs­ing and Mid­wifery Con­fer­ence (41st CRANAplus Conference)

“Clin­i­cians, change­mak­ers – cel­e­brat­ing inspir­ing peo­ple & prac­tice”
Held at the Crown Mel­bourne on 23rd ‑25th Octo­ber 2024.

40th CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2023

“Build­ing on 40 years of strength for a sus­tain­able, skilled and safe work­force”
Held at the Cairns Con­ven­tion Cen­tre, Gimuy/​Cairns on 10th — 12th Octo­ber 2023

39th CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2022

“Pas­sion. Pur­pose. Influ­ence. Impact”
Held at the Hilton Hotel, Ade­laide on 4th — 6th Octo­ber 2022

CRANAplus Vir­tu­al Sym­po­sium, 2021

“Con­nect­ing across an iso­lat­ed land­scape”
Held vir­tu­al­ly on 17th Sep­tem­ber 2021

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2019

“Embrac­ing Diver­si­ty to Build Stronger Con­nec­tions”
Held at The Crowne Plaza Hunter Val­ley, Lovedale NSW from the 18th — 20th Sep­tem­ber 2019

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2018

“Think Glob­al, Act Local.”
Held at the Pull­man Cairns Inter­na­tion­al, Cairns, QLD on 20th — 22nd Sep­tem­ber 2018

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2017

“The Future of Remote Health and the Influ­ence of Tech­nol­o­gy”
Held at the Cable Beach Resort, Broome WA on the 18th — 20th of Octo­ber 2017.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2016

“GOING TO EXTREMES: How iso­la­tion, geog­ra­phy & cli­mate, build resource­ful­ness & inno­va­tion in health­care”
Held at the Grand Chan­cel­lor in Hobart on the 12th — 14th of Octo­ber 2016. Our Keynote Address Speak­ers were Dr Bob Brown who spoke dur­ing the first day and The Hon. Michael Kir­by AC CMG, who spoke dur­ing the first ses­sion on Fri­day Octo­ber 14th 2016.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2015

“Telling Tales: The Pow­er of the Nar­ra­tive”
The 33rd Annu­al CRANAplus Con­fer­ence was held at the Alice Springs Con­ven­tion Cen­tre — from Thurs­day 15th Octo­ber, con­clud­ing Sat­ur­day 17th Octo­ber 2015. Keynote Speak­ers includ­ed Stephanie Dale and Dr Bud­dhi Lokuge.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2014

“Cre­at­ing and sus­tain­ing diver­si­ty with­in com­mu­ni­ties”
The 32nd Annu­al CRANAplus Con­fer­ence was held at the Pull­man Albert Park — from Wednes­day 15th Octo­ber, con­clud­ing Sat­ur­day 18th Octover 2014. Keynote Speak­ers includ­ed Tim Wil­son and Chris­tine Nixon.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2013

“From the cra­dle to the grave”
The 31st Annu­al CRANAplus Con­fer­ence was held at the Dou­ble Tree by Hilton Dar­win Esplanade in Dar­win — from Wednes­day 25th Sep­tem­ber, con­clud­ing Sat­ur­day 28th Sep­tem­ber 2013. Keynote Speak­ers includ­ed Dr Philip Nitschke, Dr Peter Saul and Dr Yvonne Lux­ford.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2012

“Remote pearls of wis­dom.”
The 30th Annu­al CRANAplus Con­fer­ence was held at the Sebel Hotel in Cairns from Wednes­day 24th Octo­ber 2012 and con­clud­ing Sat­ur­day 27th Octo­ber 2012. The con­fer­ence was offi­cial­ly opened by by Queens­land Assis­tant Min­is­ter for Health The Hon. Chris Davis. Keynote speak­ers includ­ed the Hon. Michael Kir­by AC CMG, Karen Cook, Melis­sa Sweet, Lee Thomas and Dr Mark Wena­tong.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2011

“Sup­port­ing the full spec­trum of remote health prac­tices.”
The 29th Annu­al CRANAplus con­fer­ence was held at the Novotel Lan­g­ley Hotel in Perth, WA from Tues­day 11th to Fri­day 14th Octo­ber 2011. The con­fer­ence was offi­cial­ly opened by the Hon. Helen Mor­ton MLC, Min­is­ter for Men­tal Health and Dis­abil­i­ty Ser­vices WA. The open­ing cer­e­mo­ny also marked a sig­nif­i­cant mile­stone in CRANAplus’ his­to­ry with the pre­sen­ta­tion of the inau­gur­al CRANAplus Fel­lows. The pre­sen­ta­tion was made by Marie Bax­ter, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of Nurs­ing, WA Coun­try Health Ser­vice. The keynote speak­ers at the 2011 con­fer­ence were Pro­fes­sor Colleen Hay­ward, John Mof­flin and Lee Thomas.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2010

“Remote Health – we’re out there… doing it, teach­ing it, sup­port­ing it and research­ing it.”
The 28th Annu­al CRANAplus con­fer­ence was held at the Hotel Grand Chan­cel­lor in Ade­laide, SA from Wednes­day 13th to Sat­ur­day 16th Octo­ber 2010. The con­fer­ence was unique­ly opened at the Ade­laide Zoo­log­i­cal Gar­dens by The Hon­ourable War­ren Snow­don Min­is­ter for Vet­er­ans’ Affairs, Defence Sci­ence and Per­son­nel, and Indige­nous Health. The keynote speak­ers at the 2010 con­fer­ence were Rose­mary Bryant, Mr Greg Cavanagh and John Mof­flin.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2009

The 27th Annu­al CRANAplus con­fer­ence was held at the Alice Springs Con­ven­tion Cen­tre, Alice Springs, NT from Wednes­day 14th to Sat­ur­day 17th Octo­ber 2009. The event was opened with a Wel­come to Coun­try by Pat Ancell-Dodds, per­for­mances by the One Fire Dance Troupe and Drum Atweme and address­es from the Hon. War­ren Snow­don and Greg Rickard from NT Health. The keynote speak­ers at the 2009 con­fer­ence were Dami­an Amamoo and James Charles.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2008

“Australia’s Remote Health Chal­lenge: Is Pri­ma­ry Health Care the Answer?”
The 26th Annu­al CRANAplus con­fer­ence was held at the Novo­tel Rock­ford, Palm Cove, Cairns, QLD from Thurs­day 11th to Sun­day 14th Sep­tem­ber 2008. The keynote speak­ers at the 2008 con­fer­ence were Pro­fes­sor Earnest Hunter, Sabi­na Knight, Janet Mal­oney-Moni and Les­ley Podesta.

CRANAplus Con­fer­ence, 2007

“Sil­ver Jubilee Con­fer­ence — Cel­e­brat­ing 25 years of Achieve­ment.”
The 25th Annu­al CRANAplus con­fer­ence was held at the Bro­ken Hill Enter­tain­ment Cen­tre, Bro­ken Hill NSW from Thurs­day 13th to Sun­day 16th Sep­tem­ber 2008.