No-one is Responsible for O&G in Australia – Right?
- NASOG
- Mar 27
- 4 min read
If you are an obstetrician or gynaecologist in Australia, there has never been a more important time to decide where your professional home sits. That decision now carries a practical benefit: NASOG has launched a Life Membership option that includes ongoing access to AMA CPD Home, giving specialists a long-term CPD solution through their professional association.
And in Brisbane last week, the future started to take shape.
The first Insight Series event on 21 March brought together clinicians, leaders and stakeholders across obstetrics, gynaecology and fertility in a way that felt both overdue and deeply energising.
What was immediately clear was this: the appetite for alignment across public and private practice is strong and the opportunity to reshape the system is real.
We deliberately built a program that reflected the breadth and depth of modern O&G practice. From Deb Bland’s highly practical work on structured protocols for complex caesarean wound complications, through to Dr Michael Costello’s updates on PCOS and unexplained infertility guidelines, the clinical content was rigorous, contemporary and directly applicable. Dr Costello’s insights into the evolving international standards for guideline development highlighted something important for all of us, that the bar for evidence, transparency and methodological integrity is rising and obstetrics and gynaecology must meet it.
Dr Anita Cairns brought a powerful perspective from paediatric neurology, reminding us that the decisions we make in reproductive screening now carry profound implications downstream. Her update on spinal muscular atrophy reframed carrier screening not as a test, but as part of a continuum of care that requires preparedness, clarity and responsibility.
Dr Sameer Mathur’s session on menopause, sexual health and testosterone therapy anchored the program in evidence-based practice, cutting through an increasingly commercialised and fragmented landscape.
What followed was one of the most important conversations we have had as a profession.
Our panel, representing public hospital leadership, midwifery, private sector governance and frontline clinical care, engaged in a candid discussion about regional workforce pressures, service sustainability and the intersection between public and private maternity models. There was no illusion that the challenges are simple. But there was also no doubt that solutions will only come from working together, not in silos.
Under our ACCC class exemption, we then held structured discussions on the economic realities of practice, examining the impact of fees, costs and system design on both clinicians and patients. We also worked through the NASOG model for reimagining private obstetric funding in Australia. The response was not just positive, it was engaged, considered and forward-looking. There is a clear readiness within the profession to move beyond commentary and into reform.
What makes this moment different is not just the ideas, but the work that has already been done.
In the past six months alone, NASOG has engaged across every level of the healthcare system. Federal and state health departments, ministerial offices, MBS compliance, private health insurers, hospital executives, workforce groups, AMA representatives, rural services and national leadership bodies. We have contributed to policy discussions, responded to parliamentary processes and worked directly with those responsible for shaping the future of healthcare delivery in this country.
Internally, we have rebuilt the organisation to support that ambition. Our constitution has been updated, governance strengthened and we are working towards registration as a charity.
We have partnered with AMA CPD Home to develop a Lifetime Membership, inclusive of CPD. This model is designed to remove one of the most persistent administrative burdens specialists face- the annual renewal.
NASOG’s initiatives are not about replacing existing structures. They are about offering a contemporary approach to representation that is aligned with how specialists work and where they want to go.
The Brisbane Insight Series event also reminded us of something very fundamental. Every private maternity unit in Queensland was represented. Public hospital leadership was present. Colleagues travelled from across the country. That level of engagement is not incidental. It reflects a profession that understands the stakes.
Women’s health and obstetrics and gynaecology, is more than just one discipline. It is a complex of systems. And systems only function when the people within them are connected, informed and willing to act.
NASOG exists to support that connection. To advocate with credibility. To bring evidence and data into the centre of the conversation. And to ensure that the voice of the specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist remains strong, constructive and unified.
We are building something that is broad, inclusive and purposeful. A place where clinicians across all models of care can contribute, challenge and collaborate. A place where advocacy is not abstract, but active and ongoing.
Our next Insight Series event will be held in Sydney on 2 May, alongside our inaugural O&G Practice Managers Conference.
The Practice Managers Conference is nearing capacity and reflects another critical piece of the system, the teams who enable our practices to function safely, efficiently and sustainably. The conference program will cover MBS and practice compliance, financial management, data security, AI, operations and leadership and will finish with a gala dinner to celebrate the partners and managers who support our work every day.
This is the direction we are moving in. Integrated. Practical. Forward-looking.
To our members, thank you. Your engagement, your willingness to contribute and your commitment to the profession are what drive this work.
To those not yet involved, the invitation is open.
Join us. Engage with us. Bring your voice.
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