The second half of this year will bring new presidents for the RACGP, ACRRM, AMA and GP Supervisors Australia.
With no less than 64 countries heading to the polls, 2024 is the biggest election year in history; and the medical sphere is no exception.
Over the next six months, there will be a changing of the guard at both GP colleges, the AMA and at GP Supervisors Australia.
RACGP
The first cab off the rank will be the RACGP, with presidential nominations opening on Monday 24 June and closing on Sunday 21 July.
There will be less than a month between candidates being announced and voting beginning on 12 August.
The ballot box stays open for about a week, with the president-elect announced two days after voting closes.
It’s typically a heated race; in the 2022 election, Melbourne GP Dr Chris Irwin won the popular vote but lost on preferences to then-GP Supervisors Australia chair Dr Nicole Higgins.
While the RACGP constitution does not allow for the same person to serve consecutive terms, former presidents can technically serve an unlimited number of non-consecutive terms.
At the last AGM, RACGP members voted to increase the president’s maximum salary to $324,158 in recognition of the time demands of the role.
Board directors receive about $41,000 per year, with an extra $59,000 for board chair.
ACRRM
Rural college ACRRM will also be opening nominations for its presidency on 24 June.
Nominations will close on 22 July.
Two council-appointed board directors and three state councillors will also be decided on this year.
ACRRM leaders are required to have served a minimum of one term on the college council before being eligible to run for president.
If they haven’t been on the council, then six of the 12 current council members must vote in favour of them standing for election.
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It’s not often that more than one eligible doctor puts up their hand; ACRRM has only gone to a vote for president once in its 27-year history.
The president-elect will be announced at the joint ACRRM/Rural Doctors Association of Australia conference in Darwin at the end of October.
Since 2022, Queensland rural generalist Dr Dan Halliday has served as ACRRM president.
The college constitution allows incumbent presidents to extend their term by one year with the agreement of the council.
ACRRM directors – of which the president is one, but not necessarily the council members – are remunerated for their role.
According to last year’s annual report, the eight directors received $130,573 between them.
It’s not clear whether the money is split equally; if it was, then each director received about $16,000 in the 2022-23 financial year.
AMA
Following six months of internal chaos, the federal AMA will be opening nominations for president and vice president on 9 July.
Nominations close on 23 July, with the election itself to take place in early August at the association’s biennial conference.
Current vice president Dr Danielle McMullen – a GP and past AMA NSW president – is reportedly considering running for top banana.
The AMA board is comprised of 11 directors, including the president and vice president.
Last year’s annual report disclosed that a total $2.9 million is spent to remunerate directors and key management personnel.
It’s hard to estimate how much each individual receives, given that the report did not include the number of key management personnel in the mix.
Others
Dr Karyn Matterson’s two-year tenure as GP Registrars Australia president will end this year, with a new leader to be selected by the start of 2025.
More details will be available closer to the date.
GP Supervisors Australia selected a new chair, Dr Srishti Dutta, late last year.
Dr RT Lewandowski III, a GP obstetrician in north Queensland, also took the reins at the Rural Doctors Association of Australia last year.
