Council news: reform, growth, advocacy
Council considered a range of issues shaping AMA SA's future at its 30 July meeting, including governance reform, membership growth and major advocacy campaigns.
A revised and approved AMA SA Constitution provides stability and confidence for the Council and Board, President and Board Chair A/Prof Peter Subramaniam told Council at its meeting on 30 July.
A/Prof Subramaniam told Council the Constitution now provides a secure platform and confirmed dates for changes to the composition of the Board, scheduled for November 2026 and after the annual general meeting in May 2027.
Board and Council member Dr Emily Kirkpatrick said the Board and its nomination committee had introduced changes aimed at identifying gaps and clarifying roles on the Board. She said the Board includes four Council-appointed roles for clinical specialists, in addition to the AMA SA president and vice-president and two independent directors.
The Council also heard how innovative membership attraction and retention strategies will boost the organisation’s financial stability in coming years. CEO Simon Jones said the Board had agreed that a new approach, currently being discussed with the Federal AMA, was based on a value proposition that helped explain to non-members – and especially junior doctors – the mutually beneficial relationship between the AMA and its members.
The meeting’s consideration of advocacy campaigns included A/Prof Subramaniam outlining the rationale behind the AMA SA position paper on pharmacy prescribing, which reinforces doctors’ opposition to the State Government expanding the scope of practice of pharmacists, without evaluating the effect on patient safety, and a new position paper on organ donation.
Council endorsed the pharmacy prescribing paper, in which AMA SA highlights how the absence of a governance framework and evidence-based evaluation protocols poses risks to individual patients and does not address the community’s access to GP care, while doctors continue to voice concerns about the amount of training pharmacists are receiving and the long-term ramifications for global antimicrobial resistance.
Council will continue to monitor the prescribing program while exploring how universities are working with governments and regulators to provide pharmacists with accredited prescribing training and future professional development.
A/Prof Subramaniam also noted that at he had joined Health Minister Blair Boyer in signing a letter seeking amendments to the Federal Criminal Code to allow voluntary assisted dying to be accessed via telehealth. The request aligned with recent Federal AMA advocacy focusing on the importance of telehealth access for rural patients seeking VAD services.