Extensive Experience. Trusted Leadership. Strength of Character.
This page reproduces my official RACGP Presidential Candidate Statement submitted for the RACGP 2026 President election.
I am a GP just like you. I’m still in the room with you.
I am a GP just like you. I’m still in the room with you. Every day I’m balancing complexity against time, navigating red tape that suffocates good care, and seeing clinical judgement undermined by policies designed by people who have never done our job. Like you, I am frustrated by the lack of respect shown to general practice by governments, the media and too often the broader community.
These pressures haven’t changed for years, and neither has my determination to do something about them. I know strong, united advocacy can change this, because I’ve seen it happen.
Over the past six years, I’ve worked to turn those frustrations into results as Chair of RACGP Victoria and an RACGP Board Director, from legislative reform and funding wins to building relationships across government that continue to deliver outcomes. Our profession deserves leadership that never loses sight of what it means to be a practising GP, a practice owner, a registrar, or an IMG.
Why I’m Standing
I’ve spent 25 years as a GP, medical educator and healthcare leader. I am a practice owner and have spent the last six years as Chair of RACGP Victoria and a Board Director of this College. In that time, I’ve learned through experience what actually moves government.
General practice faces one of the most consequential periods in a generation. Medicare funding remains under pressure. Scope of practice reforms are reshaping primary care. Workforce shortages continue, while increasing regulation threatens the viability of general practice as a business.
“It’s not slogans, but sustained, evidence-based advocacy backed by the relationships I’ve built over years.”
I believe the College now needs a President who understands how government works, has earned trust across the political spectrum, and has demonstrated she can deliver outcomes for members.
These are the four priorities that will guide my leadership as President, each building on work I’ve already delivered for members.
My Priorities
1. Fair funding, Self-determination and Real Recognition For GPs
Proven Results:
▶ $23m GP Respiratory Clinics
▶ $54m Priority Primary Care Clinics
▶ $32m GP registrar grants
▶ Payroll tax protections
▶ Funding outcomes through trusted advocacy
Medicare funding has not kept pace with the cost and complexity of modern general practice. Practices are on their knees trying to make their businesses work with less funding and more complex regulations, standards and financial imposts.
Together with colleagues across the profession, I led the advocacy that helped deliver $23 million for GP respiratory clinics and $54 million for pandemic-era Priority Primary Care Clinics in Victoria.
That advocacy also secured $32 million in Victorian Government funding for GP registrar grants, a model the Federal Government has since adopted nationally.
I negotiated retrospective payroll tax liability protections that safeguarded practice viability across Victoria. That action saved Victorian practices from shutting their doors. I have also secured a commitment from the Victorian Liberal and National Parties to introduce a full payroll tax exemption should they form government in 2026.
As President, I’ll bring the same direct, evidence-based approach to the Federal Government, fighting for MBS funding that reflects the complexity of modern general practice, reducing unnecessary regulation and restoring respect for expert generalism as the foundation of Australia’s healthcare system.
2. Keeping the GP at the Centre of Patient Care
Proven Results:
▶ Kept GPs at the table in major health reforms
▶ Opposed pharmacist and nurse-practitioner scope creep
▶ Represented GP interests against role substitution
Quality, continuity and patient safety depend on GPs remaining central to primary care and determining how best to serve their local communities. We must be the ones to design our future- not allow that future to be delivered to us by groups who do not understand what we do.
Scope creep, pharmacist, nurse practitioner and paramedic prescribing, role substitution, and the fragmentation of care that follows, are concerns I hear every week, and I share them.
My record shows I can win these arguments. I’ve successfully represented general practice in major health system reforms, ensuring GPs kept a seat at the table instead of being designed out of it.
Modernising general practice doesn’t mean replacing GPs. It means equipping GPs with the tools, technology and support they need to deliver high-quality care in a changing healthcare environment, while protecting the continuity, clinical judgement and trusted relationships that define our profession.
Nationally, I’ll make the strongest possible evidence-based case against scope creep with the same rigour I’ve applied to funding fights, backed by evidence and by the trust I’ve built with health ministers and departments across the political spectrum.
3. Leadership that Gets Results
Proven Results:
▶ Six years RACGP Victoria Chair
▶ Secured commitment to place a GP on every rural hospital board
▶ Founded GPs@Parliament
▶ Chaired GP22 & Practice Owners Conference
▶ National media spokesperson
Effective advocacy delivers real outcomes for members. Real change happens when thousands of GPs speak with one voice. Achieving those outcomes depends on trust, credibility and following through.
Over six years I have built trusted working relationships with State and Federal Health Ministers, Treasurers, and members of parliament across every party, and engaged directly with the Department of Health on behalf of the profession.
I founded the Victorian GPs@Parliament initiative, now a standing annual advocacy event. I also chaired the RACGP’s GP22 Conference and the 2025 Practice Owners’ Conference and have been a regular media spokesperson for general practice since 2020.
GPs@Parliament has shown what’s possible when members engage directly with decision-makers.
“Advocacy is strongest when the profession stands together.”
I secured a commitment from the Victorian Government to place a GP on every rural hospital board in the state in recognition of the need to rebuild respectful relationships between hospitals and GPs in our state.
That’s the advocacy model I’ll bring to the national stage, prioritising a smooth handover to the President-elect so the College’s advocacy never loses momentum.
4. Supporting Today’s GPs and Tomorrow’s Workforce
Proven Results:
▶ Led GP registrar grant advocacy
▶ 15+ years GP educator & examiner
▶ Registrar Grant scheme adopted nationally
▶ Advocated for workforce reform
GPs tell me they are under growing pressure from workforce shortages, administrative burden and the rising cost of staying in the profession. From training pathways and regulatory complaints to the financial viability of practices, too many doctors are questioning whether general practice remains a sustainable career.
I’ve spent more than 15 years as a GP medical educator and examiner, helping train the next generation of GPs. I also led the advocacy behind Victoria’s registrar grants scheme, which has since been adopted nationally and is now supporting record numbers of GP registrars.
Our future workforce also depends on recognising the enormous contribution of international medical graduates. IMGs strengthen our profession, our practices and our communities. I will continue advocating for policies that welcome, support and value IMGs throughout every stage of their careers.
My focus as President will be on reducing red tape, ensuring fair treatment of GPs under regulatory review, strengthening support for practice owners, and creating training pathways that make general practice the first choice for new graduates again.
I will stand against policies that undermine the autonomy and viability of general practice, because our profession must remain one where independent practices can thrive.
I want general practice to once again be recognised as one of the most rewarding, respected and sought-after careers in Australian medicine.
A Record You Can Verify
Every commitment I’ve made here is grounded in work I’ve already done on behalf of our profession.
I can’t promise every battle will be easy, but I can promise I will bring the same preparation, persistence, integrity and determination that has guided my work as a Chair, Board Director, practice owner and practising GP.
To learn more about my vision for the future of general practice, my policy priorities and my record of advocacy, I invite you to visit www.dranitamunoz.com.au
If you believe our profession deserves experienced leadership, trusted advocacy and someone who is still in the room with you, I’d be honoured to have your support.
I’m still in the room with you.
Please vote and encourage your colleagues to do the same.
