The annual AFMW President’s award’s were delivered in person by AFMW President Magdalena Simonis during the 2023 AGM held recently in Melbourne. Congratulations to the following recipients.
President’s Award 2023
Dr Marjorie Cross OAM
President’s Award for Excellent Service to the Health of the Nation through numerous roles and to the Australian Federation of Medical Women.
Dr Cross’s acceptance speech emphasised the importance of women doctors supporting one another and, viewing health within the bigger context of the financial environment.
President’s Honour 2023
Dr Anne Myers
President’s Honour In recognition of excellent contribution to the health of women and the community.
Dr Myers elucidated on the difficulties women faced accessing sexual and reproductive health services in her day as a sexual health physician and how working as a sexual health physician was work few doctors actually wanted to do. Dr Myers described that although it was the only work she was offered as a woman doctor and as a non-Australian doctor, she enjoyed it thoroughly and worked until the age of 86 years.
Young President’s Award 2023
Dr Katrina Harris
President’s Young AFMW Award In recognition of excellent contribution to Victorian Medical Women’s Society and AFMW
Dr Harris spoke about the challenges women in training face and the benefits of being involved with a supportive group like ours at AFMW.
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
