The RACGP president-elect will step down from his role with the indemnity provider in November.
Avant has announced the imminent departure of chief medical officer Dr Michael Wright, who has spent two and a half years in the role.
Last week, Dr Wright was elected president of the RACGP, a position he will take up at the college’s annual general meeting on 21 November.
Avant cited the inherent conflict of interest in holding the two roles as the reason for Dr Wright’s departure.
His last day with the indemnity firm will be 14 November, and applications for his replacement have already opened.
Dr Michael Clements, who narrowly lost the RACGP election to Dr Wright last week, has returned to his substantive role as college vice president and rural chair.
The RACGP vice president is appointed from the board at its first meeting post-AGM each year; unlike the AMA, regular members do not vote someone in.
College board members all receive a $41,500 director’s fee each per year, and the vice president, finance chair and culture chair all get an extra $21,000 on top of that.
The board chair, meanwhile, gets $59,000 on top of the director fee and the RACGP president receives the $41,000 plus a variable amount dependent on the number of hours they’ve worked in the role.
For 2023, the president received $324,000, including super.
ACRRM president Dr Dan Halliday welcomed Dr Wright’s election last week, acknowledging the collaborative work between the two colleges over the transition to college-led GP and rural generalist training.
“ACRRM and RACGP are working together on important bi-college projects including recognition of rural generalist medicine as a specialty within the specialty of general practice, the continued delivery of cultural education and cultural mentorship through the Joint College Training Services, and the new Advanced Skills Training placement project,” Dr Halliday said.
Voting for ACRRM’s new president – the second election in the rural college’s history – closed on Monday.
A winner will be announced shortly.
