About
The Chair of the Governance Working Group Dr Kate Duncan AM seeks expressions of interest to increase the membership of the Governance Working Group as it addresses governance within AFMW and its processes.
Previous governance experience is preferred although, this is also an opportunity for members who wish to gain some skills in this important area and are welcome to participate.
Relevant Resources
AFMW Constitution (194kb pdf)
Not-For-Profit Governance Principles (Australian institute of Company Directors)
Charities registered with ACNC (ASIC)
Expressions of Interest
Please forward your expression of interest to:
Dr Kate Duncan AM, Chair of the AFMW Governance Working Group at [email protected].
Please use the email Subject ‘Governance Subcommittee’.
(Read more about Dr Catherine ‘Kate’ Duncan AM)
NB: Council Meeting, Monday 9th May 8pm AEST
The Council Meeting for AFMW will be held Monday 9th May 8pm AEST. Members are welcome to attend as guests.
Dr Kate Duncan AM, will be leading discussion about the nomination for President Elect MWIA, submitted by Dr M Simonis.
Please see attached MWIA recent release of the personal statements of all the candidates for MWIA 2022-2025
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.
