RACGP Faculty Elections

RACGP Faculty Elections

The RACGP > Elections

2023 Faculty Council elections

Voting in the contested electorates has now closed. All elected faculty council members are listed below.

The 2023 Faculty Elections Notice of Results is now available.

Your local faculty council member will speak up for GPs and patients in your community to help urge our state and federal governments to improves access to high quality care for all Australians.

Faculty Council Chairs announced

Below are a list of our continuing and incoming faculty chairs.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health 
Dr Karen Nicholls (continuing)

GPs in Training 
Dr Rebecca Loveridge (incoming)

New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory 
Dr Rebekah Hoffman (incoming)

Northern Territory 
Dr Sam Heard (continuing, previously interim)

Queensland 
Dr Cathryn Hester (incoming)

Rural 
Associate Professor Michael Clements (continuing)

Specific Interests 
Dr Lara Roeske (continuing)

South Australia 
Dr Siân Goodson (continuing)

Tasmania 
Dr Toby Gardner (incoming)

Victoria 
Dr Anita Muñoz (continuing)

Western Australia 
Dr Ramya Raman (continuing)
 
The RACGP would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank our retiring faculty chairs for their tireless work through the many challenges and wins along the way. 

Retiring Faculty Chairs
Dr Sean Black-Tiong - retiring GPs in Training Chair
Professor Charlotte Hespe - retiring New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory Chair
Dr Bruce Willett - retiring Queensland Chair
Dr Tim Jackson - retiring Tasmania Chair
 

Meet your 2023 elected faculty council members.

Dr Tamsin Cockayne
Professor Neil Spike
Dr Meredith Hansen-Knarhoi
Dr Sam Heard

Dr Kenneth McCroary - South-West Sydney
Dr Rebekah Hoffman - South-Eastern Sydney
Dr Ania Samarawickrama - Western Sydney
Dr Mary Beth MacIssac - Far-West NSW
Dr Maximilion Mollenkopf - Hunter
Dr Michelle Guppy - New England
A/Prof Ayman Shenouda - Murrumbidgee
Dr Mehdi Samari - North Shore & Beaches

Bruce Willett
KK Cheung
Aaron Chambers
Dr Brad Murphy
Cath Hester
Dr Deb Smith
Dr Karyn Matterson
Dr Noela Catherine Whitby AM

Dr Sylvia Nicholls - Western Australia representative

Dr Lawrence (Larry) Owen - Tasmania representative
Dr Kimberley Omond - South Australia representative
Dr Emily Rushton - Australia Capital Territory representative

Dr Ginita Oberoi - Tasmania representative
Olga Ward - Western Australia representative

Dr Alan Leeb
Dr Ramya Raman
Dr Lorin Monck
Dr Emilie Pitter
Dr Damien Zilm

Melanie Smith
David Lam
Emily Kirkpatrick
Clare Keogh
Zak Baig
Dr Sivaranmalingam Sivasuthan
Geeta Trehan
Caroline Phegan
Kay Flynn
Ayaz Aslam

Dr Lester Pepingco - GP Supervisor Representative
Dr Toby Gardner - Bass
Dr Alexandra Seidel - Franklin
Dr Subhasree Datta - Braddon

Dr Majid Naeem
Dr Ahmed Sharif
Associate Professor Malcolm Clark
Dr. Monirul Haque
Chris Hogan
Vahid Masoumi
Dr Eric Hadinata FRACGP
Emmanuel Anthony
Palmyra De Banks
Morton Rawlin
Dr Adam Braithwaite
Dr Geetha Venkatram

Dr Hester Wilson - Addiction Medicine
A/Prof John Kramer – ADHD, ASD and Neurodiversity 
Dr Brooke Ah Shay - Aerospace Medicine
Dr Ka-Kiu Cheung - Antenatal and Postnatal Care
Dr Katrina Tiller - Breast Medicine
A/Prof Joel Rhee - Cancer and Palliative Care
Dr Atef Asham - Cardiology
Dr Catherine Pendrey - Climate and Environmental Medicine
Dr Gary Deed - Diabetes
Dr Sue Hookey - Hospital Medicine
Dr Rebecca Stewart – Medical Education
Dr Navid Nazarian - Musculoskeletal, Sport and Exercise Medicine
Dr Adele Stewart - Pain Management
Dr Cathy Andronis – Psychological Medicine
Dr Sara Whitburn - Sexual Health Medicine
Dr Kuljit Singh - Social Prescribing

The RACGP faculties are established by the RACGP’s Constitution, and governed by the Faculty Regulations. There are State and Territory based regional Faculties, and four specialised National Faculties. 

Each Faculty is governed by its Council, which oversees and advises on activities related to patient care, clinical practice, education, continuing professional development, and research within their Faculty. 

With the exception of the National Faculty of Specific Interests, which is governed by the chairs of its specific interest networks, Faculties have similar compositions and election requirements.

Each Faculty Council must elect its office bearers from among its eligible members. Predominately, among these are the Chair, Deputy Chair(s) and Provost positions.

The Faculty Chair is elected at the first Faculty Council meeting following the Faculty member meeting in which the former Chair retired (which must be held no later than one month prior to the RACGP Annual General Meeting (AGM), or whenever the Council does not otherwise have a Chair. Chairs ordinarily hold office until the close of the second RACGP AGM following their election. By virtue of their election, Faculty Chairs automatically become Directors on the RACGP Board of Directors.

Faculty Deputy Chairs are elected at the first Faculty Council meeting following the Faculty Member Meeting. One or more Deputy Chair(s) may be elected. Deputy Chairs hold office on and from their election until the conclusion of the next Faculty member meeting.

The Faculty Provost is appointed at the first Faculty Council meeting following the Faculty member meeting in which the former Provost retired (no later than one month prior to the RACGP AGM), or whenever the Faculty does not otherwise have a Provost. Provost appointments occur in the alternate year to the ordinary election for their Faculty Chair.

For further information or if you have any queries, please contact your local Faculty.

National Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
Victoria Western Australia
South Australia Northern Territory
Queensland New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory
Tasmania  
 
National Faculty of GPs in Training
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
State-based Council members:
  • Northern Territory
  • Victoria
 State-based Council members:
  • Western Australia
  • South Australia
  • Tasmania
  • New South Wales
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • Queensland
Academic Registrar representative  
Australian Defence Force representative  
Rural representative  
Pre-vocational representative  
PEP/FSP representative  
RVTS Representative  
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative  
 
National Rural Faculty
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
Queensland South Australia
Victoria Tasmania
New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory Northern Territory
  Western Australia
 
Victoria
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
6 positions 12 positions
 
Western Australia
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
10 positions 6 positions
 
Queensland
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
7 positions 8 positions
 
South Australia
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
9 positions 10 positions
 
Northern Territory
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
5 positions 5 positions
 
Tasmania
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
Clark Bass
Lyons Braddon
  Franklin
 
New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
Central Coast Sydney Inner West
North Shore & Beaches South-Eastern Sydney
Illawarra / Shoalhaven Northern Sydney
Southern Western Sydney
Australian Capital Territory Murrumbidgee
Sydney CE Far West
Nepean / BM South-West Sydney
North Coast New England
Western NSW Hunter
 
National Faculty of Specific Interests

Specific Interests operate off a different election process to the rest of the Faculties, due to their Council structure. The chair positions of the following Specific Interest Groups are up for election this year. To nominate, contact gpsi.elections@racgp.org.au for more information.
Even numbered years Odd numbered years (2023)
Abuse and Violence in Families Addiction Medicine
Aged Care ADHD, ASD, and Neurodiversity
Allergy Aerospace Medicine
Business of General Practice Antenatal and Postnatal Care
Child and Young Person’s Health Breast Medicine
Custodial Health Cancer and Palliative Care
Deprivation and Poverty Cardiology
Dermatology Climate and Environmental Medicine
Disability Diabetes
Disaster Management eHealth
Hyperbaric and Diving Medicine Hospital Medicine
Integrative Medicine Medical Education
Military Medicine and Veterans’ Health Migrant, Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health
Obesity Management Musculoskeletal, Sport and Exercise Medicine
Public Health Pain Management
Respiratory Medicine Psychological Medicine
Travel Medicine Sexual Health Medicine
  Social Prescribing
 

Election timetable

Activity Open Close
Faculty nominations open Wednesday 26 July 2023 Friday 18 August 2023
Announcement of nominees Thursday 24 August 2023  
Voting period for contested Faculty electorates Friday 25 August 2023 Tuesday 5 September 2023
Elected Faculty Council members announced Thursday 7 September 2023  
Faculty Member meetings Monday 25 September 2023 Thursday 19 October 2023              
New and continuing Faculty Chairs announced Monday 23 October 2023  
RACGP Annual General Meeting Thursday 23 November 2023  

Important documents

Frequently asked questions

Only Fellows, Members and Registrar Associates can be nominated to be Faculty Council members (with the exception of the National Faculty of GPs in Training).

Only Fellows* and Registrar Associates can be nominated to be National Faculty of GPs in Training Council members.

*Only Fellows with less than five years post-Fellowship qualifications may be nominated.

For RACGP Faculty of Specific Interests (RACGPSI), Chair positions are self-nominated and current elected Chairs can re-nominate. Nominees must be a current Fellow or Member of the RACGP, registered with Ahpra as a specialist general practitioner and a member of the RACGPSI group electing the Chair.

Nominees must have two (2) eligible supporters listed when submitting their nomination form.

Only Fellows, Members and Registrar Associates can support nominations for Faculty Council members (with the exception of the National Faculty of GPs in Training).

Only Fellows* and Registrar Associates can support nominations to be a Faculty Council member.

*Only Fellows with less than five years post-Fellowship qualifications may be nominated.

For RACGP Faculty of Specific Interests: Chair positions are self-nominated via gpsi.elections@racgp.org.au.

Eligible members must complete a Nomination Form and submit this to the RACGP Returning Officer via elections@racgp.org.au.

Before you start your nomination, please read the information on this website, review the RACGP Elections Policy and view the list of current electorates up for election in 2023.

The Faculty’s Fellows, Members and Registrar Associates elect their Faculty Council members. Once elected, the Council members will meet to elect a Faculty Chair who will become a director on the RACGP Board of Directors.

Eligible members in contested electorates will be invited to vote in their Faculty Election from Friday 25 August 2023. Eligible voters will receive an email from the RACGP Returning Officer (email: elections@racgp.org.au) with a personalised unique voting link to the BigPulse online voting platform.

You may receive reminder emails from the Returning Officer during the voting period up until the close of voting on Tuesday 5 September 2023, if you haven’t completed the voting process.

Faculty Chairs are voted for by the Faculty Council members at the first Faculty Council meeting, which occurs after the Faculty member meetings, which will be held between Monday 25 September – Thursday 19 October 2023.

Faculty Chairs are announced to the membership on Monday 23 October 2023. They are officially inducted as Board Directors at the RACGP Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 23 November 2023.

Faculty Council members are supported to attend up to four (4) face-to-face council meetings per year. All other meetings are held digitally. All administrative requirements of the Faculty Council are supported by the Faculty. In some cases, Faculty Council members are offered a small remuneration for specific representations.

Faculty Council members are called upon to represent the membership who elected them. These representations take the form of:

  • providing input in the development of RACGP policies at both the state and national level
  • attendance at Faculty Council meetings
  • advocacy for the Faculty and the RACGP in stakeholder and political engagements at both state and national level
  • acting as a sounding board and key influencer with members and stakeholders around the perception of GPs and general practice within the community.

Do you have any questions?

We’re here to help, so please contact us at elections@racgp.org.au or on 1800 472 247 with any questions.