Board members

BMedSc, MBBS (Hons), FRACGP, DipVen, MAICD

Dr Lara Roeske is a GP and practice owner, and has held many senior positions at the RACGP, including Co-Deputy Chair of RACGP Specific Interests, RACGP Victoria Council member, inaugural Chair of the RACGP Specific Interests – Sexual Health Medicine Network, and former Chair of the Women in General Practice RACGP Victoria committee.

With a professional background spanning more than 15 years, Dr Roeske has worked in advisory roles to key stakeholders, on steering committees and guideline working parties, and has represented the RACGP across a range of domains relevant to sexual and reproductive health, cervical cancer prevention and translation of evidence into practice at state and national levels.

MBBS, FRACGP, GAICD

Dr Nicole Higgins represents the depth and breadth of general practice. Growing up in rural Victoria and NSW and now living in Nth Queensland, Nicole is an active GP who is a business owner, director, supervisor, medical educator, and a working parent.

Having previously worked with Tropical Medical Training and RVTS in medical education and training, she has been recognised for her entrepreneurship and innovation in her workspaces. Nicole is the recent ex-chair of GP Supervision Australia and has had directorships from the old days of the Divisions of General Practice through to the PHNs. Nicole regularly talks on Women and Leadership and proudly mentors other GPs.

Nicole understands the challenges faced by GPs and their communities to ensure that their patients have access to quality and timely healthcare.

After 20 years in Mackay, Nicole describes herself as an accidental tourist who never left.

MBBS FRACGP

Dr Bruce Willett is a GP and practice owner in Victoria Point in Redland City, south of Brisbane, who is committed to grassroots general practice and medical education.

He has been on the board of General Practice Supervisors Australia (GPSA) since 2010, was Chair of GPSA from 2015 to 2016, and Chair of the GP Supervisor Liaison Officer Network from 2010 to 2015, and has been an RACGP examiner since 1994.

Bruce has been the Supervisor Liaison Officer for General Practice Training Queensland/Central and Southern Queensland Training Consortium (GPTQ/CSQTC) since 2008 and also worked as a medical educator for GPTQ.

MBChB, BSc(Hons) (Sports Med), FRACGP

Dr Tess van Duuren works in a large group practice in regional New South Wales where, as an experienced supervisor, she provides teaching and training to general practice registrars and medical students.

Tess has previously been a GP in South Africa and New Zealand, and navigated her way through the RACGP Fellowship exams as an international graduate.

Tess has a special interest in medical education and assessment. Since achieving Fellowship, she has served the RACGP and regional training organisations (RTOs) in a number of different roles, including Assessment Panel Chair, Censor, Senior Medical Educator Assessment Progression and Bi-College GP reviewer for the RACGP, and Director of Training and subsequently Director of Supervisor education in two different RTOs.

MBBS, FRACGP, GAICD

Dr Sean Black-Tiong is the Chair of the RACGP National Faculty for GPs in training having previously been the inaugural Deputy Chair when the faculty was established.

Sean was born and raised in South Australia, where he completed his medical degree and GP training including a year spent in a rural country town.

He obtained his RACGP Fellowship in 2020 and works as a GP in Adelaide. In addition to medical education input at the RACGP, he is actively engaged with medical student teaching with both the University of Adelaide and Flinders University.

B.Econ(Hons) MBBS DAvmed MPH MHM FRACGP FARGP FRACMA FACAsM GAICD

Dr Michael Clements is an experienced Townsville based General Practitioner and practice owner with a background in health leadership and clinical and corporate governance.

Dr Clements has accrued a wide variety of skills and special interests in his time with the Royal Australian Air Force and then with QLD Health as Director of Medical Services at Ingham Hospital before opening his private practices in Townsville while concurrently working for the QLD Rural Generalist Training Pathway as an advisor.

Having worked in rural, remote and overseas clinical environments during and after his fellowship training Michael now gets his ‘rural fix’ by flying himself and other clinicians to remote towns in the Gulf of Carpentaria delivering GP clinics. Clinical interests include veterans’ health, mental health, chronic disease and palliative care.

BMedSci, BMBS, MRCP, DRCOG, FRACGP

Dr Siân Goodson is a GP originally from the UK, who has practiced in the Northern suburbs of Adelaide for over 10 years. She has experience as a GP within the NHS, as a practice owner in Australia and is now working within a corporate group with a clinical leadership role.  

Siân is passionate about high quality medical education. She previously worked at the University of Bristol, UK coordinating and delivering Primary Care teaching for fourth year medical students. She is now a clinical supervisor for GPs in training.  Siân was the conference convenor for GP19 in Adelaide. 

Siân completed the RACGP Future Leaders Course in 2018, and this was the start of her involvement with the College. She was Deputy Chair of the SA Faculty Council, prior to becoming the Chair in 2022, and is also the inaugural chair of the SA Women in General Practice Committee.  

Siân remains convinced that general practice is the best career in medicine. 

FRACGP

Dr Sam Heard is a GP who has a wealth of experience from inner city London, Darwin urban practice, remote locums, semi-rural practice at Coolalinga, 24-hour urgent care at the Palmerston Super Clinic and most recently in Central Australia working in an Aboriginal community-controlled health service.

Sam remains passionate about the GP profession and his patients but recognises that practice needs to be efficient and achieve the most benefit for the most people, which inevitably leads to focusing on areas of need and proven prevention.

Since 2017, Sam has been the Medical Director at the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, which has a staff of 400 across 11 clinics in Central Australia. In 2018, he took on the part-time role of Medical Director of the Central Australian site of the Flinders Remote Training Hub as part of the Congress appointment, in an Associate Professor role.

MBBS (Hons) FRACGP DCH (Lon) GCUT  FAICD

Prof Charlotte Hespe is a GP and owner of an inner-city Sydney practice where she has worked for the last 20 years. Charlotte is a general practice supervisor and her practice functions as a teaching practice for medical students and general practice registrars.

Charlotte also works as Professor, Head of General Practice and General Practice Research for The University of Notre Dame, Australia, School of Medicine, Sydney.

She has been involved with the RACGP since achieving her FRACGP, serving as an examiner, NSW Co-Assessment Panel Chair for four years, and National OSCE Facilitator for two years before becoming RACGP NSW&ACT Deputy Chair  in 2012.

She was also a member of the RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care 2016–17.

BMBS, MRCP, DRCOG, DFFP, MRCGP, FRACGP

Dr Tim Jackson has over 30 years’ experience as a Hobart based general practitioner, group practice owner and Supervisor. He has extensive clinical and corporate governance knowledge. He is passionate about the sustainability of general practice as the cornerstone of the Australian health system.

Tim has extensive experience in Australian General Practice Training. He is a past Board Member and previous Chair of General Practice Training Tasmania. He is an experienced Supervisor of general practice registrars and medical students and has been the Supervisor Liaison Officer for GPTT and a member of General Practice Supervisors Australia (GPSA).

Tim is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a board director of the Hutchins School in Hobart.

MAICD

Scott is a professional Non-Executive Director with over 15 years’ experience and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Scott has a professional background as a qualified chartered accountant and has spent over 25 years in an executive role working with Board within the Financial Services Industry.

He is currently on the Board of the National Affordable Housing Consortium and is the Chair of Board Audit and Risk Committee. He has a vast experience in assisting board and management teams through periods of change whether it be of a strategic nature or areas of ever-increasing regulatory change.

B. Med, FRACGP, Dip Child Health

Dr Karen Nicholls is the current Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Faculty.

M.B.B.S (Hons), FRACGP, Grad Cert Clin Teach, MPH, GAICD

Anita Muñoz is a GP in private practice in Melbourne's CBD, and has a dedication to evidence-based medicine, lifelong learning and promoting the role of general practice in the health of patients, communities and in public health.

Dr Muñoz worked as a clinical editor and clinical advisor for six years with North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network, where she developed a passion for health system improvement, innovation, sustainability and equity. She sees general practice as the key to a rational health system that produces better outcomes for patients and practitioners.

Dr Muñoz has held advisory positions with Better Care Victoria and Safer Care Victoria, and has been a medical educator for over 10 years. She is particularly preoccupied with the wellbeing and experience of GPs in training, and in the development of a high-quality general practice workforce for the future.

MBA, FAICD

Michael began his professional career as a medical doctor in Sydney, doing his training at UNSW. After three years as a hospital doctor, Michael moved into hospital management, completed his MBA at Macquarie University, and was granted specialist status with the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the RACGP.

Michael worked in executive roles in large health care service providers for 33 years, twenty-three of which were in Group CEO roles. The organisations Michael led included two of Australia’s largest public hospital networks (in Victoria), the ASX listed Australian Hospital Care and St John of God Health Care, which Michael built up to being the 3rd largest private hospital group and 18th largest private company in Australia.

Having held various non-executive director roles since 1994, Michael elected to change his career direction in 2018 and became a professional non-executive director. Those roles include: ASX listed companies Healthscope, Virtus Health and Australian Clinical Labs, a NZX and he currently chairs the boards of two major For Purpose organisations (Diabetes Australia and genU). Michael’s pro bono work includes chairing the Investment Committee for the Save the Children Australia Impact Investment Fund.

Michael has extensive networks and understanding of the healthcare ecosystem and very significant commercial experience. Michael was awarded the WA Citizen of the Year (Industry and Commerce) in 2010 and an AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in 2018. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

FRACGP, MBBS, Dip Child Health, BSSc (Psych)

Dr Ramya Raman is a Perth-based GP. Originally from Orange NSW, Ramya completed her medical training at the University of Notre Dame (UND), Fremantle. In 2020, Ramya was the recipient of the RACGP WA GP of the Year award. 

Her specific interests are in women’s and children’s health particularly on perinatal health and wellbeing. In 2020, Ramya was awarded the Aspire Award (City of Fremantle) to present her work on postnatal recovery at the WONCA Asia Pacific Conference. 

She is passionate about the provision of high-quality clinical care and believes training & education are essential components of GP development. To support this, Ramya is a Clinical Academic and Senior Lecturer at the School of Medicine, UND and has been a Medical Educator at Western Australian General Practice Education and Training (WAGPET). Ramya is a clinical supervisor for both GPs in Training and medical students. 

Ramya is actively involved with the RACGP, currently as the WA Faculty Chair and prior Deputy Chair. She has served as an examiner for the College and is a Medical Lead for the Education Committee RACGP WA.