Rebecca Keeley's sister inspired her to become a speech pathologist when they were young girls living on a rice farm in a tiny rural town.

Ms Keeley said her younger sister Yasmin was a late talker and she loved playing with the games her speech pathologist had left behind.

"When she finally started talking, it sounded a little quirky, to say the least," Ms Keeley, now 32, told ACM.

Though her family would later spend the rest of her childhood "sweating it out" in Darwin, memories from those early days on the farm in Coleambally in the NSW Riverina stayed with her.

At university, Ms Keeley studied speech pathology and completed a range of regional placements.

Those placements highlighted the inequalities in the health system, including long wait times.

"When I was in Griffith running

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