Who we are

Council members

^{From left to right — Back row: Dr Ross Kerridge, Margaret Piper AM, Prof. Mark Arnold;

Middle row: Dr Nicole Phillips, Dr Saretta Lee, Dr Jennifer Kendrick AM (president), Dr Geoffrey Brieger;

Front row: Dr Laura Ahmad, Robert Lagaida PSM, Dr Liz Tompsett,(deputy president) Dr John Sammut ,Dr Claire Blizard, Annette Ruhotas-Morgan;

Council members not in photo: Maria Cosmidis, Prof. Isabel Karpin, Dr Brian Morton, Dr Merran Auland, Prof. Cameron Stewart, Dr Amanda Mead.}

The Council comprises 19 members, including 12 medical practitioners and 7 community members including a legal member.

Some Council members are nominated by specialist colleges (9), the Australian Medical Association (2), Multicultural NSW (1) and the Universities of Sydney, New South Wales and Newcastle jointly (1). The NSW Minister for Health appoints a further 6 community members including a legal practitioner.

Current members of the NSW Medical Council

Member	Nominated By
Dr Jennifer Kendrick AM (President)	Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Dr Elizabeth Tompsett (Deputy President)	Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Dr Laura Ahmad	Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Professor Mark Arnold	Universities of Sydney, New South Wales and Newcastle
Dr Merran Auland	Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
Dr Claire Blizard	Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators
Dr Geoffrey Brieger	Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Ms Maria Cosmidis	NSW Minister for Health
Dr Ross Kerridge	Australian Medical Association
Professor Isabel Karpin (community member)	NSW Minister for Health
Robert Lagaida PSM (community member)	NSW Minister for Health
Dr Saretta Lee	Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
Dr Amanda Mead (community member)	NSW Minister for Health
Mrs Annette Ruhotas Morgan (community member)	NSW Minister for Health
Dr Brian Morton AM	Australian Medical Association
Dr Nicole Phillips	Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists
Ms Margaret Piper AM (community member)	Multicultural NSW
Dr John Sammut	Australian College of Emergency Medicine
Professor Cameron Stewart (legal member)	NSW Minister for Health

About our Council members

Meet our Council members: Maria Cosmidis and Dr Geoffrey Brieger

Maria Cosmidis and Dr Geoff Brieger sat down with us to talk about their experience and role as Medical Council members. From their perspective as decision-makers, they share insights about steps doctors can take to avoid a complaint and what to do if they are the subject of a complaint to the Council.

Meet Dr Liz Tompsett, Council member and surgeon

We spoke with Dr Liz Tompsett Council member and current deputy president about giving back to the profession, maintaining work life balance and patient communication, and how she forged a successful career.

Our staff

Our Executive Officer is responsible, as the chief executive officer of the Council, for the management of the affairs of the Council, subject to the directions of the Council. The Council’s Medical Director is an experienced medical practitioner who plays a critical role in assessing the risk to public health and safety posed by practitioners who are the subject of a complaint or notification.

All staff who undertake work for the NSW Medical Council and its delegates, are employed by the NSW Health Professional Councils Authority. This includes providing administrative, legal, and clinical advice, case management and monitoring services to support and implement Council regulatory decisions in response to complaints and the management of doctors who are the subject of conditions imposed on their registration.

Role of the Health Professional Councils Authority

The Authority supports the NSW Medical Council and the 14 health professional councils in NSW through the provision of shared finance, IT, and other services including staffing. You can find out more about the role of the NSW Health Professional Councils Authority here.