Out of cycle election

Transgender and Gender Diverse Healthcare Specific Interest Group Chair position

The RACGP > Elections
Last updated 24 September 2026

Represent your GP community and influence RACGP advocacy: Nominate for your Transgender and Gender Diverse Healthcare Specific Interest Group Chair election.

Faculties play an important role in providing a forum for general practitioners to identify emerging issues, share health information, tackle health challenges and collaborate to prevent and control diseases. 

Nominating to join the Specific Interests faculty council as Chair of a Specific Interest Group is a powerful way to influence your College to shape our profession and ensure the views and voice of your general practice community are heard. 

As a Specific Interest Faculty Council member, you will represent the views of your Specific Interest Group members and speak up for GPs and patients in your community, helping urge our state and federal governments to improve access to high quality care for all Australians. 

There really is no better opportunity to contribute to the future of Australian general practice than by joining the Specific Interests Faculty Council.

Election timetable

Activity

Open

Close
Transgender and Gender Diverse Healthcare Specific Interest group chair nominations open Thursday 24 September 2026, 12.00 pm AEST Thursday 22 October 2026, 12.00 pm AEDT
Announcements of candidates Friday 30 October 2026
Voting period if contested Friday 30 October 2026, 12.00 pm AEDT Wednesday 11 November 2026,
12.00 pm AEDT
Elected council members announced Thursday 12 November 2026
RACGP Annual General Meeting Thursday 19 November 2026

Important documents

Notice of election
→
Specific Interests group Chair nomination form
→
RACGP Constitution
→
RACGP Faculty Regulations
→
RACGP Elections Policy
→
RACGP Member Code of Conduct
→
RACGP Social Media Policy
→
RACGP Spokesperson Policy
→

Specific Interest Group chair position for election

Transgender and Gender Diverse Healthcare
This position will hold office until the 2029 faculty elections.

The role of the SIG Chair is to support and represent the members of the group with education, advocacy and collegial support. The SIG Chair will survey their members to determine the educational needs and advocacy requests of the group and then works with the Specific Interests team to develop these activities. 

The SIG Chair is also a member of the Specific Interests Faculty Council which meets between 5 and 6 times annually and is expected to report to the Council on activities being undertaken by the SIG.

The RACGP faculties are established under the RACGP Constitution, and governed by the RACGP Faculty Regulations. There are seven state and territory based regional faculties and four specialised national faculties. 

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

Unlike the other faculties, the RACGP Faculty of Specific Interests is governed by the Chairs of the Specific Interest groups who make up the Specific Interests Faculty Council along with the Faculty Chair, the Deputy Chair and the Provost.

Each faculty council must elect its office bearers from amongst the council’s eligible members. Predominantly among these are the Chair, Deputy Chair(s) and Provost positions. 

The faculty chair is elected at the first council meeting following the faculty’s annual members 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 chair position of the council becomes vacant. Chairs can hold office until the close of the third RACGP AGM following their election. By virtue of their election, faculty chairs automatically become directors on the RACGP Board of Directors. 

The faculty Deputy Chair(s) are elected at the first council meeting following the faculty’s annual members meeting. Up to two Deputy Chairs may be elected to hold office from their election until the conclusion of the following annual members meeting. 

The faculty Provost is appointed at the first faculty council meeting following the annual members meeting in which the former Provost retired, or whenever the Provost position of the Council becomes vacant. Provost appointments occur in the alternate year to the ordinary election of the Faculty Chair. 

For further information on any of the council roles, please contact your local Specific Interest Faculty team.

Important information for the nomination process

If you’re considering nominating for the Chair, Transgender and Gender Diverse Healthcare Specific Interest Group in the Specific Interest Faculty Council, thank you. Below are all of the key requirements for submitting a complete and valid nomination. 

Before you start your nomination, please read the information on this website, review the RACGP Elections Policy, RACGP Faculty Regulations and view the list of positions available for election in 2026.   

Nominations and supporting material must be received before Thursday 22 October 2026, 12.00 pm (AEDT). Submissions received after this time cannot be accepted.

Only Fellows and Members can be nominated to be the Specific Interest Group (SIG) Chair and nominees must be a member of the SIG they are nominating for.

In addition to requirements outlined under the FAQ for ‘Who can be nominated’, the following roles are ‘exempt roles’. Members employed or contracted to these positions are eligible to nominate for a position as a member of faculty council (but not for the Chair of the faculty council) in accordance with the RACGP Elections Policy - Appendix 2, Section 2. Nominations)

 
  • Registrar Liaison Officer
  • Registrar Medical Educator
  • Standard Setters
  • AJGP Editorial Fellow Academic Post
  • GP Researcher
  • GP Lead
  • Associate Medical Educator
  • Medical Educators (with various titles)
  • Medical Editor
 
  • Censors – for Specific Interest Group only
  • Deputy Regional Director of Training
  • Head of Training – Medical Education
  • National Assessment Advisors
  • Medical Advisor
  • National Lead Medical Educators
  • Advisor
  • Senior Academic Advisor
  • Senior Medical Educators
  • Supervisor Liaison Officer

Candidates must have two eligible supporters when submitting their nomination form. 

Only Fellows and Members can support nominations for faculty council members.

To nominate, candidates must:

  • complete a Specific Interests Chair nomination form
  • have the form signed by two eligible supporters, and
  • countersign the form.

Candidates must also confirm that they:

  • meet the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) requirements for Responsible Persons
  • are not on the ASIC register of banned and disqualified persons
  • are compliant with their CPD obligations for medical registration
  • have no restrictions, conditions or addenda on their medical registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulations Agency (Aphra).

To help members make an informed choice, candidates may wish to supply the following supporting materials with their nomination form:

  • a candidate statement not exceeding 2000 words
  • a colour photograph in high resolution (minimum 600px) in a jpeg format satisfactory to the RACGP.
  • a curriculum vitae of no more than 2000 words for placement on the RACGP website.

All supporting materials must be submitted electronically and comply with the RACGP Elections Policy. Statements must be submitted in a Word doc format. Only new candidate statements and CVs submitted for this election will be published, not previous versions from other elections on file, to ensure information is current.

 

**Please note that CVs will be publicly available on this elections website. Candidates are requested to remove any information they deem too sensitive to be made public such as home addresses or personal phone numbers.

If there are multiple nominations for the chair position, there will be a vote by electronic ballot.  The ballot will open at midday Friday 30 October 2026 at 12.00 pm (AEDT) and will close on Wednesday 11 November 2026 at 12.00pm (AEDT).

If a ballot is necessary, voting instructions including a unique voting link to a secure voting website will be distributed to eligible members at their email address registered in RACGP records. During the voting period, you may receive reminder emails from the Returning Officer if you have not submitted your vote.

Any questions about the voting process can be directed to the Returning Officer at elections@racgp.org.au.

Only eligible members of the Transgender and Gender-Diverse Healthcare Specific Interest Group are eligible to vote in the Chair election.

All ballots are determined on a standard preferential voting basis. This video explains the voting process at the RACGP in further detail.

OGL Group has been appointed as the Returning Officer for the RACGP in 2026. 

The Returning Officer is responsible for the administration of all ballots and must work with the RACGP to ensure the integrity, accuracy, and transparency of the election process. 

The RACGP is responsible for ensuring the Returning Officer’s powers and duties are clearly defined, understood and sufficient to administer all aspects of the elections.

Specific Interests Council members are supported to attend one face-to-face Council meeting each year, held in conjunction with the RACGP GP Conference in November. All other Council meetings are conducted online.

Administrative support for Council activities is provided by the RACGP Specific Interests team. Where a Council member is already attending the GP Conference, the RACGP may cover the cost of an additional night's accommodation to enable attendance at the face-to-face Council meeting.

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

  • providing input into the development of RACGP policies at both a 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 levels.
  • acting as a sounding board and key influencer with members and stakeholders around the perception of GPs and general practice within the community.