Dr Jess Ison presented information on topics including rates of family violence in rural communities to the specific issues faced by people in regional areas like travel distance and housing insecurity.
"Regional communities are often left out of these discussions because of metropolitan bias," she said.
"I can talk about all of the particulars that rural communities face, but the answers really come from the people who are already there.
"There is already brilliant groundwork being done, it's just about bringing these people together and forming those connections to figure out how we can all work together."
Even in conversations around the often unspoken topic of family violence, sexual violence is left off the table Dr Ison said.
"It can happen within intimate partner relationships but it can also happen outside of that, which is why the focus really needs to be on prevention," she said.
"We have limited knowledge on what works to prevent men, who are the majority of perpetrators, but the change needs to happen at a bigger level.
"Ideally there will be a world where we're safe to be in our homes or on the street but we can't remove what's happening from the impacts of colonisation, and ableism.
"The issue is in our workplaces, relationships, and community.
"Short-term it's calling out bad behaviours, but it's important for everyone to work together to make these bigger, societal changes."
Dr Ison said the point her presentation was about adding knew knowledge as well as sharing existing skills and expertise with others doing the groundwork.
"In an ideal world I'm out of a job one day," she said. "We can dream big."
