From familiar faces to emerging voices, each awardee has made a unique contribution to the field.
A plethora of clinicians were recognised by this year’s AMA awards, running the gamut from South Australia’s first female specialist urologist to trailblazing rural generalists.
All awards were presented at the 2026 AMA national conference in Melbourne on 28 and 29 August.
GP Dr Kerrie Aust, the immediate past president of the AMA ACT, won the 2026 AMA Women in Medical Leadership award for her dedication to her peers’ wellbeing.
Dr Aust is also the medical director of Drs4Drs, a network of doctors’ health advisory and referral services providing free, confidential support for doctors and medical students.
“I’ve worked with lots of amazing leaders in politics, in the AMA and in not-for-profit organisations, and I’ve had the privilege of seeing what women bring to these roles and our very different styles of advocacy when we get to just be ourselves,” Dr Aust told delegates.
“One of the most important roles that we have, though, is mentoring.
“As leaders, we really need to be looking into the future. I see all these amazing doctors in training [here today, and] they bring so much to public life.
“We need to support them to have the confidence to continue to advocate for their positions, to teach them that it’s okay to not know, to be humble and to ask others for help, and to always ask for more evidence for the positions that we’re going to advocate for.
“Because I think that’s actually the most important thing that we as doctors bring to the table.”
Dr Daniel Byrne, a GP for over three decades, was awarded the 2026 AMA Excellence in Healthcare award for his significant contributions to general practice.
Based in Happy Valley, SA, Dr Byrne founded the ‘GP in Hospital Program’ in 1994, prompted by a consult where he only learned, a month late, that a patient’s husband had died. It’s now the forerunner of nationwide GP Hospital Liaison services.
He also pushed for iron infusions in general practice, which were eventually rolled out across Australia from 2015.
Former RACGP president Adjunct Professor Karen Price was elected a fellow of the AMA in recognition of outstanding services to the profession.
WA-based rural generalist registrar Dr Thomas Drake-Brockman was awarded the 2026 AMA Diversity in Medicine award for their outstanding contribution to advancing diversity, equity and inclusivity.
As President of the Rural Doctors Association of WA and former AMA WA Doctors in Training co-chair, they have championed issues affecting doctors with disability, IMGs, and LGBTQIASB+ doctors and patients.
Dr Drake-Brockman has also held advisory roles with the WA and Australian governments on LGBTIQA+ policy.
In their acceptance speech, Dr Drake-Brockman reflected on the moment where a senior radiologist had reached out to offer support during their medical student years.
“That moment of a senior clinician reaching out to say, ‘you’re going to be fine, you’re going to be welcome here, you can do the things you need to do to be yourself, to be comfortable, so that you’re not focusing on how uncomfortable you’re feeling and you can actually spend some time learning and, later on, looking after people’ – it was so deeply valuable to me,” they said.
“I’ve had an amazing series of mentors and colleagues and friends in the profession.”
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Dr Dayna Duncan, a final-year ACRRM registrar, received the 2026 AMA Doctor in Training of the Year for her advocacy for doctors in training and her work developing trainee-led education models.
She is a medical education registrar with NT Health, whose educational models have been introduced into Royal Darwin Hospital’s training program, and is also the vice president of AMA NT.
Dr Duncan also works part-time at Danila Dilba Health Services, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health service.
Dr Amandeep Hansra, a Sydney-based GP and chief clinical adviser in medicine at the Australian Digital Health Agency, took home the 2026 AMA President’s award for her leadership in digital health, medical innovation, the care of vulnerable communities and doctors’ wellbeing.
Dr Hansra is also the founder of Creative Careers in Medicine and has an interest in First Nations, homeless and refugee health, as well as occupational and travel medicine.
Dr Sarah Lee, a Victoria-based anaesthetist at Eastern Health, was awarded the 2026 AMA Excellence in Healthcare for her achievements in anaesthesia education.
In 2022, she founded the ADVANCE platform, which has since been recognised by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and the College of Intensive Care Medicine for CPD.
Her goal is to use ADVANCE survey data to create a registry and research program to benchmark Australian anaesthesia practice and inform evidence-based education and guidelines.
Dr Samantha Pillay OAM, South Australia’s first female urologist and the first nationally to sub-specialise exclusively in female and functional urology, received the 2026 AMA Women’s Health award.
She is also the founder of Continence Matters, and helped to developed the RACGP’s first accredited online continence course.
Dr Pillay has been a women-in-STEM advocate, a member of the International Women’s Forum, and a best-selling author of the Inspirational Careers for Kids picture book series.
AMA Victoria Council member Professor Cassandra Szoeke took home the AMA’s Gold Medal, the association’s highest and most prestigious honour, for her pioneering research, clinical leadership, and health policy leadership in women’s health and ageing.
Principal investigator of the Women’s Health Ageing Project and author of Secrets of Women’s Healthy Ageing, Professor Szoeke is an internationally recognised consultant neurologist and expert on sex-specific medicine, including dementia.
Her work has informed major national and international policies, including at the WHO, and she has also previously held government advisory roles with the Department of Health and CSIRO.
Two future doctors were also awarded the AMA’s Indigenous Medical Scholarships, which currently provide $11,000 each year for the full duration of a medical degree.
Ms Emma-Kate Thornley, a proud Palawa woman, spent more than 25 years working as a paramedic, educator and primary care clinician. She is studying medicine in hopes of working in community-based primary care and rural health settings.
Fourth year medical student Ms Shay-Lee Coulson, a proud Bundjalung, Saami, South Sea and Torres Strait Islander woman, hoped to specialise in ophthalmology to improve access to specialist eye care and reduce preventable vision loss in First Nations communities.
