President’s Update - Healthcare on the agenda

Healthcare on the agenda

With the 2026 South Australian election on the horizon, constructive, evidence-based advocacy remains as vital as ever. In the months ahead, AMA SA will engage with the state’s healthcare leaders to champion policies that prioritise patients, support doctors and strengthen the future of healthcare in South Australia.

I was pleased to hold my first meetings as President of AMA SA with Health Minister Chris Picton and Shadow Health Minister Ashton Hurn. I was joined by AMA SA Vice President Dr Louis Papilion and CEO Nicole Sykes at each meeting.

Our discussion with Minister Picton on Thursday 26 June focused on several critical areas where AMA SA members are seeing real challenges, including:

• Workforce mapping and planning
• Access to care
• Delivery of the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and the essential role of clinician input in shaping its design and service profile
• Payroll tax implications for medical practices
• Community pharmacy scope of practice, with a focus on clinical governance and patient safety.

While we may not agree on every issue, I was encouraged by the Minister’s commitment to ongoing engagement with us. Meaningful improvement to our health system depends on collaboration between government and the medical profession.

Our meeting with Ms Hurn on Monday 7 July provided an opportunity to discuss these same challenges. We welcomed the Opposition’s commitment to exempt GPs and non-GP specialists from payroll tax if elected – a step we believe is vital to protecting general practice and specialist care, especially amid rising patient demand and cost-of-living pressures.

We also discussed the importance of strengthening access to after-hours GP services, particularly in regional South Australia. We welcome the Opposition’s proposal to incentivise after-hours care and we emphasised the need for practical, system-level support to make it a reality.

AMA SA is committed to working with all sides of politics who will listen, engage and understand our work.  With your support, we retain our seat at the table. 

Coordinated advocacy 

My commitment to fostering strong collaboration extends to all stakeholders who share AMA SA’s goal of delivering the best possible care for South Australians. That includes representatives of the specialist medical colleges.

On Monday 7 July, Louis and I met with Dr Bernard Carney, Chair of the State RACS Committee, and RACS policy advisor Mark Morgan. We discussed how we can work together to address some of South Australia’s most pressing surgical system challenges, including:

• Surgical workforce planning: Improving access for regional and rural patients through specialist-informed modelling
• Elective surgery outsourcing: Replacing fragmented contracting processes with consistent, system-wide frameworks 
• Infrastructure and service planning:
  o    Delivering a much-needed hybrid operating theatre at CALHN
  o    Ensuring equitable access to robotic surgery across the state
  o    Embedding clinician input into the design of the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, especially around outpatient capacity.

I look forward to continued engagement with RACS and members of other medical colleges who I hope to connect with in the weeks ahead. 

What a night!

Finally, I’d like to thank the members, partners and guests who joined us at the ‘Reimagine AMA SA Gala’. It was a celebration of the profession and a reaffirmation of why we do what we do, and your support is essential as we begin a reimagined, new chapter together.