I hope that you were all able to take a well-earned rest over the long weekend and perhaps even managed an extra hour of sleep when the clocks fell back for the end of daylight savings time.   

The last month has been a very busy one, full of fantastic opportunities to meet and connect with members.  Late March saw a wonderfully successful member meet-up in Newcastle which I enjoyed immensely, despite the rain! It was fantastic to meet with and chat to all who came. I was also lucky enough to see many of our members in action as I visited practices in Adamstown and Maitland. I would like to thank Brunker Road General Practice and The Lorn Surgery very much for hosting our visit and for sharing with us their incredible work.  

I am very much looking forward to our next member meet up in May, which will be held in Canberra the evening before our ACT Fellowship Ceremony. Fellowship ceremonies are one of my favorite events on the calendar as we celebrate the enormous achievement of our peers having fellowed from our college. If you are based in the ACT, please introduce yourself, I look forward to meeting you. 

The last week of March also saw the very successful running of our GPs@Parliament event at Parliament House, Canberra. Several colleagues and I travelled to Canberra for three days of lobbying politicians from all parties to act to fix the nation’s health system.  Amongst our requests was a call for a significant boost in Federal Government investment in the GP workforce to address the critical shortage of GPs. We also advocated strongly for greater investment into general practice registrar pay and portability of entitlements across AGPT and FSP/PEP programs. RACGP trains 90% of the current training workforce across metro, regional and rural Australia, and an investment in training our College registrars will address the shortage of GPs and allow us to continue to work on preventative medicine and care to take pressure off hospitals. Our presence in Canberra was a great reminder to our government that long-term health reform is key.  

The RACGP Board met in Newcastle last month for our annual Strategy meeting where we agreed on our objectives and goals for this year. We have undertaken a review of our advocacy goals for 2024/5 as a response to our member feedback, and reviewed key programs that support our fellows such as the CPD program and a review of the AJGP supporting a redesign towards GP-led research.  

Advocacy efforts are continuing in April with myself and my colleagues attending hearings on Birth Trauma and the Regulation of E-Cigarettes in NSW. I have also continued to hold meetings with various stakeholders to ensure our relationships with fellow health professionals remain strong.  

Amongst our regular activities, April has seen advocacy work for the Single Employer Model in ACT, a meeting with the State Insurance Regulatory Authority in NSW, and a joint medical peak body meeting with Kerry Chant AO PSM NSW Chief Health Officer.  

We also continue to advocate for clarity and a positive outcome from the amnesty on payroll tax. This week I have written again to the NSW Ministers for Health, Ryan Park, and Finance, Courtney Houssos, and sought a further meeting, detailing the impact that payroll tax would have on the viability of the profession. I again ask that you meet with your local state members and discuss your concerns around payroll tax, and the impact that a retrospective and ongoing tax may have on you and your business.  

I look forward to sharing positive outcomes with you soon. 

As we see in the beginning of Autumn and cooler weather, do take care.