The Kimberley, the northernmost region of Western Australia, is still largely an empty wilderness. About twice the size of Victoria, it has a permanent population of some 22,000. Since 1987, the Health Department of WA has provided a psychiatric service to the region, but the practice of psychiatry in such a vast and remote area has proven to be very different from that in larger centres. This paper summarises three years' clinical experience in the region.
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