This month I’ve been in Canberra with the RACGP and executive team as we launched the 2025 Health of the Nation (HOTN) report at a breakfast with Minister Mark Butler and Assistant Minister Rebecca White, alongside key departmental staff. The HOTN report is our seminal snapshot of general practice in Australia that helps inform our future policy and reform objectives. The team then spent a busy two days meeting with our elected representatives to talk through the findings of the report, with many of our meetings occurring with new MPs, who are keen to learn about Medicare and GPs from those of us working on the ground. 

Following on from the fervour in the capital, it was great to spend a relaxed two days with our President Michael Wright in Hobart at our Member Meetup, followed by an excellent fellowship and awards ceremony. Celebrating the admission of our newest Fellows to the RACGP, we also welcomed a number of new Rural Generalists and Life Members and presented our annual awards to leaders in our profession across Tasmania. As always, it was a joyous occasion, with Dr Lizzie Elliott’s inaugural Professor Peter Mudge Oration a highlight. 

Locally, we’re getting on with progressing ADHD prescribing in general practice, advocating for needle-free flu vaccines and meeting with pharmacy and departmental stakeholders to ensure an ongoing voice at the table as both federal and state governments seek to give greater prescribing powers to pharmacists and other allied health professionals. As our trip to Canberra demonstrated, most politicians are unaware of the complexity of what we manage in general practice every day, and that expanding the scope of practice of non-GPs just fragments care and compromises on quality for the sake of patient convenience.  

There are some big changes coming to Medicare on 1 November, and your College is here to support you every step of the way – because there’s no care like the care you give as a regular GP who knows their patients. We’ve developed resources to help you communicate with patients, manage expectations and navigate these changes. See below for more information on how these changes may affect you and how the RACGP is supporting members. 

Best wishes,
Toby Gardner
Chair, RACGP Tasmania