rural and regional local health districts have a new statutory duty to ensure residents have appropriate and timely access to in-person primary healthcare services (GP, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, Aboriginal health workers)

accessibility is assessed against two criteria: whether a service is reachable within a 2-hour drive of the resident's home, and whether public transport can get the resident there and back

the six metropolitan Sydney health districts — Nepean Blue Mountains, Northern Sydney, South Eastern Sydney, South Western Sydney, Sydney, and Western Sydney — are excluded from this duty