A message from federal AMA President Dr Danelle McMullen on QLD AMA
2 December 2025
This week AMA Queensland (AMA QLD) officially announced through a media release that it is leaving the AMA federation.
I am deeply saddened by this announcement. A united AMA is a strong AMA — one with exceptional representation at both state and federal levels.
As federal AMA Board Chair A/ Prof Andrew C Miller and I wrote to you on Monday, we remained hopeful that ongoing negotiations would lead to a continued conjoint membership.
The announcement from AMA QLD that it is leaving the federated AMA and going it alone will leave its members without the strength, resources and benefits of coordinated state and federal memberships and advocacy.
The power of the AMA lies in unity with our state and territory bodies advocating on local issues and the national AMA advocating on federal issues. All other state and territory AMAs understand and recognise this and remain committed to a strong and unified national voice for doctors through the AMA.
In a health system spread across federal, state, and local governments; across private and public sectors; across a myriad of specialties; across primary care and hospitals; preventive health and aged care — if the AMA is to be effective in representing members where it matters, we must be united.
As an AMA QLD member myself, I am shocked and saddened by this decision. I know first-hand through representing you just how much the federal government shapes, controls, funds and determines what our work looks like. To abandon influencing those critical issues is a huge concern to our profession based in Queensland.
There is not a Queensland-only Medicare, a Queensland-only private health system, aged care system, national regulation or legislative framework. These are national programs. My role is to take the voices of all doctors working right across the country and amplify them in Canberra where national decisions are made. I’ve been very proud to share on-the-ground experience from QLD over the past 3 years – experience gathered from my own work in Townsville and Ipswich, and from the many of you I’ve been fortunate enough to meet, as well as through strong collaboration with AMA QLD leaders.
Our experienced federal staff and doctors meet with decision makers regularly on behalf of all our members. In the first nine months of this year alone we represented you at 440 meetings with policy and political decision makers, including key politicians and their staffers. We also lodged more than 50 submissions, launched national campaigns on Medicare and the hospital logjam and published several significant reports including on public hospitals, private health insurance and immunisation. This is all just a fraction of what the federal AMA does for you.
I would like to reassure you all that we are looking at options that will allow you to remain members of the federal AMA and continue to have all the strength, resourcing and benefits that membership provides, along with key services like the AMA Fees List. I will update you on these options as soon as I can.
We also continue to believe that our best work is done when we are united, and so we remain open to any future conjoint membership arrangements, should AMA QLD decide to reverse their decision.
If you have questions about possible future federal AMA membership options or anything else please contact our membership team at memberservices@ama.com.au
Your sincerely
Dr Danielle McMullen