Happy New Year and welcome back after what I hope was a refreshing summer break. I also hope you had an enjoyable time over the festive season and that you had time to steal a moment for yourself; to rest and relax at the end of a busy year. The beginning of a new year is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the successes of the past year and to put plans in place for all that you might want to achieve in 2024.
Next month, the faculty council will be meeting to reflect on our last year and put in place our strategic objectives for 2024. The NSW&ACT Faculty Council is your key representative and advisory body on matters of: advocacy, CPD, education, training, quality care, research and the local issues affecting general practice in NSW and the ACT. The faculty council are here to represent you and to support your needs, so I encourage you to reach out to
the faculty if there is something you would like the council to consider for your local area.
We are still working hard to secure a favorable outcome for payroll tax. In ACT, we will keep pushing for governments to commit to the no retrospective collection of payroll tax liabilities and advocate for a full exemption from payroll tax for independent practitioners, or an amnesty until the federal government finalises its health funding reforms. In NSW we are working to secure a follow-up meeting with the ministers for health and finance. We will reiterate our need for clarity on contracts and continue to advocate for payroll tax exceptions during the amnesty.
The heat and humidity looks as though it’s here to stay, so please take care of yourselves and your patients this summer. The RACGP
Summer Planning Toolkit is a fantastic resource to support you in managing heat-related disease as well as other means to support your practice in warmer weather.