The Rural and Remote Pharmacy Workforce Development Program (RRPWDP) was established in 1999 in recognition of fact that there is currently a serious maldistribution of pharmacists in rural and remote areas of Australia. This shortage comes at a time when the health of rural Australians has been identified as worse than metropolitan communities, with relatively poor access to health services cited as one of the major causes of this inequality. The aim of RRPWDP is to implement strategies to strengthen and support the rural and remote pharmacy workforce in Australia. As part of the Australian Government's Regional Health Strategy - More Doctors Better Services, the 2000/01 Commonwealth Budget provided $11.47 million to expand the RRPWDP by funding a range of new initiatives. The RRPWDP is now one of the most comprehensive rural pharmacist support packages in the world, and has been based on the successful implementation of a range of recruitment and retention programs for medical and other health practitioners. This presentation will focus on the interim evaluation of all of the elements in the RRPWDP, including continuing education scholarships for rural pharmacists, rural pharmacy curriculum for pharmacy undergraduates, the national pharmacist recruitment database, scholarships for students from remote areas wishing to study pharmacy, specific scholarships for indigenous pharmacy students, an emergency locum placement service, rural and remote pharmacy infrastructure and support grants, internship scholarships for undergraduate students, and placement of pharmacist academics in rural areas. The success of the various program elements will be discussed, as will the relevance of the program to the International pharmacy and health workforce.