1. Rural-urban health differences and the pattern of need for health care in rural areas
2. Rural health workforce supply, recruitment and retention
3. The provision of sustainable primary health care services in rural areas
4. The evaluation of rural health planning and policies.

John Humphreys is Emeritus Professor in the School of Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University.  John was educated at the University of Melbourne and Monash University, and has worked at several universities in Australia and overseas, including the Ohio State University, the University of London, James Cook University of North Queensland, the Swinburne University of Technology, the Australian National University, the University of New England, and La Trobe University.

John is one of Australia’s leading researchers on health service provision in rural and remote areas of Australia, a field in which he has published widely in both journals and books.  He has undertaken extensive fieldwork in north-west Queensland, the Wimmera-Mallee regions of Victoria, and the Orana, Far West and New England regions of New South Wales.

John has also worked in the Victorian Health Commission and the Commonwealth Department of Health in Canberra where he took a lead role in developing the first National Rural Health Strategy 1994 and later the National Rural Health Strategy Update 1996.  In 1999, John was a facilitator and a member of the Implementation Committee for the Regional Australia Summit auspiced by the Deputy Prime Minister at Parliament House Canberra.  He has reviewed several national rural health programs, including the Rural Undergraduate Support and Co-ordination program in Australian Medical Schools.  John has been a member of numerous reference groups and several Advisory Committees for the Australian Department of Health and Ageing.