New President for AMA Northern Territory
Associate Professor Robert Parker has been elected as the new President of AMA NT.
He replaces Dr Peter Beaumont, who has served in the role with distinction for the past two years.
Dr Parker, a leading psychiatrist and Indigenous health authority, said today he is honoured to lead the AMA in the Territory, and looks forward to being a strong advocate for doctors, their patients, and the broader community.
“It is a critical period for health care provision at both the Territory and Federal level at the moment,” Dr Parker said.
“There is constant pressure on our hospitals to meet the demands of an ageing population with chronic and complex health conditions.
“There is also a lot of conjecture about reforms in financing and service delivery in primary care, especially general practice.
“The AMA will lobby long and loud to ensure that patients continue to have easy and affordable access to quality health services at both the general practice and hospital levels.
“In the Territory, my priorities will include improving Indigenous health and mental health services and outcomes, and ensuring a quality medical workforce in the right numbers to meet health care demand.
“Public health is a big issue and the AMA will work hard to curb the harms of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and obesity in the local population.
“I look forward to making the Territory a healthier place to live for healthier Territorians,” Dr Parker said.
Dr Parker has a long association with the Northern Territory and the NT Branch of the AMA.
Dr Parker initially came to the NT in 1977 after completing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology.
He subsequently worked as an Aboriginal Art and Craft Advisor on the Tiwi Islands for three years before doing a Medical degree at the University of Newcastle.
Dr Parker did resident training over four years at Royal Darwin Hospital before training in psychiatry. He has been a Consultant Psychiatrist since 1999 and is currently the Director of Psychiatry for Top End Mental Health Services in addition to being the Consultation Liaison Psychiatrist for Royal Darwin Hospital.
Dr Parker is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry with James Cook University and the Northern Territory Clinical School. He has authored or co-authored more than 30 articles in respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and mental health, including three chapters in the just-released, revised edition of the textbook, “Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice”.
Associate Professor Parker has a long involvement with the AMA NT, having been Vice President of the NT Branch since 2007.
His long clinical involvement with general health and mental health issues in the NT along with his involvement in the AMA has given him a significant insight into the challenges facing medical and other practitioners who provide health services to the NT population.
Dr Parker has also been a member of the AMA Indigenous Health Task Force since 2007.
30 April 2014
Media contact:
Fiona Thomson
AMA NT Executive Officer
08 8981 7479
0419 827 350