‘Significant impact’ of GPs recognised

A host of GPs have been included on the Australia Day 2023 Honours List for their contributions to a variety of different causes, including general practice, public health, rural and remote medicine, and professional associations.
 
In total, there were 736 award recipients in the General Division of the Order of Australia, all of whom Governor-General David Hurley described as ‘outstanding Australians’.
 
‘The recipients have had a significant impact at the local, national and international level and are, quite simply, inspiring,’ he said.
 
‘They go above and beyond, are from all over the country, and contribute every day in every way imaginable.
 
‘These are the people who see us through good times and bad. They’re the first to show up and the last to leave.
 
‘They’re almost always humble to a fault but I urge recipients, for today, to put aside that humility – it’s important they know how much they are valued.’
 
Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
Dr Sonya Bennett, ACT
For significant service to public health in leadership roles.
 
Dr Bennett is a GP and public health physician with 30 years’ experience working in Queensland Health, the Australian Defence Force, and the academic research sector. She is currently one of Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officers and a member of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.
 
An RACGP Fellow, Dr Bennett also served as Chair of the Communicable Disease Network of Australia from 2019–21 and was a member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) from 2015–19.
 
Associate Professor John Dearin, NSW  
For significant service to medicine, and to community health in Lithgow.
 
Associate Professor Dearin has practised in Lithgow since 2000, where he also provides education for medical students via his position as Head Professor of Lithgow Clinical School at the University of Notre Dame.
 
He has been an RACGP Fellow since 1997, and a Fellow of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) since 2000.
 
Dr Jennifer Delima, SA
For significant service to rural and remote medicine.
 
Dr Delima is a remote GP providing specialist addiction and clinical forensic medical care to remote parts of central Australia, as well as mentoring for training for general practice registrars. She is an RACGP and ACRRM Fellow.
 
Dr Trina Gregory, ACT
For significant service to general practice medicine.
 
Dr Gregory is Clinical Director of The Junction Youth Health Service and a former Chair of RACGP Specific Interests eHealth.
 
Her special interests include but are not limited to HIV medicine and blood-borne viruses, eHealth, transgender health and working with marginalised and disadvantaged people.
 
Professor Helen Milroy, WA
For significant service to public health, and to the Indigenous community.
 
Professor Milroy is a former GP and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a medical doctor. Now a Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Perth’s Children’s Hospital, she is also a Beyond Blue Board member and former President of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.
 
Dr Roger Sexton, SA
For significant service to medical practitioners through health initiatives, and to professional associations.
 
Dr Sexton is co-founder of Doctors’ Health South Australia, where he is a current medical director, while he has also fulfilled numerous committee and advisory roles throughout his career. He achieved RACGP Fellowship in 1991, and ACRRM Fellowship in 1996.
 
Dr Michael Tedeschi, ACT
For significant service to medicine, particularly to people with drug and alcohol
dependency.
 
Dr Tedeschi has worked at the ACT Drug and Alcohol Service since 1993 and is also a Senior Staff Specialist at Canberra Hospital. He has also made a valuable contribution to Australian National University, where he is a clinical senior lecturer, academic supervisor, and part-time GP.
 
Dr Tedeschi has been an RACGP Fellow since 1984.
 
Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)
Dr Bernard Chapman, WA
For service to community health.
 
Dr Chapman is a GP and practice owner, who has volunteered extensively in his community and abroad.
 
Dr Elizabeth McNaughton, Vic
For service to medicine.
 
Dr McNaughton is a GP and medical educator, with a special interest in aged care. A life member of the RACGP, she achieved Fellowship in 1985 and was the recipient of RACGP Victoria’s Inaugural Community Practice Prize in 1977.
 
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Australia Day Honours Medal of the Order of Australia Member of the Order of Australia