In this article, originally posted by St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, the Minister for Women, Gabrielle Williams, announced the inductees to the 2021 Victoria Honour Roll of Women.
Dr Skye Kinder [AFMW member], Psychiatry Registrar at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, was recognised as an Emerging Leader at the annual awards for her clinical and advocacy work for rural and other marginalised patients and their communities in addressing health inequality.
St Vincent’s has a commitment to working with the disadvantaged and marginalised, which aligns with Dr Kinder’s drive to providing exceptional care to these communities. This drive came from years of watching her father travel to Melbourne from regional Victoria, which was about two hours away, for specialist medical appointments.“I don’t do advocacy for the accolades, but to receive recognition is an honour,” said Dr Kinder
Another exceptional achievement
This accolade will stand beside Dr Kinder’s other prestigious awards for her advocacy work including, 2019 Victorian Young Australian of the Year, AFR’s 100 Women of Influence in 2020, Victoria’s Junior Doctor of the Year in 2017 and Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30.
Dr Kinder’s nomination came from two organisations that she hasworked extensively with, the Rural Doctors Association of Victoria and the Western Region Centre Against Sexual Assault. Her nomination was selected by the Minister for Women, and she joins more than 700 women who have been honoured since the program began in 2001.
A positive role model for young women
“Becoming an inductee shows young women from rural and marginalised backgrounds that they can achieve their goals and be recognised in a significant way,” said Dr Kinder.
This honourable award celebrates exceptional women across Victoria who have made a powerful contribution to their community. Coming from a regional area herself, Dr Kinder hopes that receiving this accolade will act as a platform for other aspiring young women from rural and marginalised backgrounds who feel unrepresented.
Photo and source: St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne
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. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
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.
