Passionate advocate awarded for community health impact

Serendipitous, rewarding, humbling.
 
These are some of the ways Dr Liza Robertson describes her years as a rural GP working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
 
‘It really fulfills a drive to work with communities where healthcare has not traditionally been delivered in an equitable manner,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘I feel fortunate that has been the pathway that I’ve ended up with.’
 
A senior GP at Aboriginal community controlled health organisation Wuchopperen Health Service in Far North Queensland, on Yirrganydji Country, Dr Robertson also works in the emergency department in the Atherton Tablelands one day a week.
 
But her career began in more remote Aboriginal communities and working with the Royal Flying Doctor Service before settling in Cairns.
 
‘To be able to continue those relationships when I moved back down to Cairns with families and people that I’d met up in the Cape or the Torres Strait who had moved or had family that I’d known, was a really lovely progression,’ Dr Robertson said.
 
‘And to provide care to those communities where traditionally there hasn’t been a lot of healthcare is really rewarding, having those relationships within that community.
 
‘It has been a little bit of a serendipitous journey, but I feel really grateful that I work in the space now that I work in.’
 
Dr Liza Robertson accepting the 2025 RACGP Aunty Val Dahlstrom Award for Aboriginal Health Excellence at GP25. (Image: Jake Pinskier)

The dedication Dr Robertson gives to these communities has been recognised, with her receiving the RACGP’s Aunty Val Dahlstrom Award for Aboriginal Health Excellence at the GP25 awards ceremony in November – what she describes as a humbling experience and ‘completely unexpected’.
 
‘It’s lovely to have that recognition from my colleagues,’ she said.
 
‘I’m also aware there are so many amazing GPs who work in this space, and it was really quite overwhelming to think that I’d been selected for this year’s award.’
 
Reflecting on her GP career and being honoured for outstanding contributions to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, Dr Robertson’s message is one that points to an optimistic future led by the next generation and a growing Indigenous workforce.
 
‘This is an area of health that is so rewarding to work in. It’s also challenging to work in, and we really need the best and brightest GPs coming and working in this space with commitment and passion to really deliver good healthcare with the communities,’ she said.
 
‘There are so many GPs already doing this and I’m encouraged by the registrars and younger doctors who I see coming through and really embracing this space.
 
‘It’s an area of medicine that is starting to attract more and more bright young minds and passionate people – it’s a bright future.’
 
One thing Dr Robertson feels ‘particularly satisfied’ about is the growing number of students and registrars helping to build the GP pipeline – with record numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners now working across Australia.
 
‘Having some of those come to work at Wuchopperen Health Service is a really wonderful thing to see and just knowing that around Australia there’s so many people coming out of communities who want to work and give back to their families and communities,’ she said.
 
‘Like so much of general practice these days, this space is so intertwined with politics and policy, and we really need strong advocates and people from communities who can speak about these matters and speak for communities.
 
‘We need a much bigger commitment from politicians and the wider society to improve that side of things. I hope we can advocate for more movement in that space.’
 
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health RACGP awards rural and remote general practice