Presidents ACMI 2009 – 2012

Dr Jenny Gamble (Sept 2009 – July 2010)

Dr Hannah Dahlen (July 2010 – Dec 2010)

Dr Jenny Browne (Dec 2010 – Feb 2011)

Tracy Martin (Feb 2011- May 2012)

This was a time of change and challenge for the College. A number of Board members during that time held the position of President, each, working with the Board to address the challenges, whilst ensuring continuation of the work, and setting the direction for the College into the future. Whilst the turnover of Presidents impacted on the Colleges continuity of achievements, work continued and much was achieved

· Following the national review of maternity services, ‘Improving Maternity Services in Australia’ undertaken by the Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon, (2008) and the report (2009), work on reforming maternity services commenced in November 2009.

· This saw the passage of a number of Commonwealth Bills into law in 2010, regarding Medicare for Midwives Arrangements & Indemnification Scheme and Collaborative Arrangements for Midwives. These reforms enabled midwives to provide services to women and their families in the community and in hospital, rebated by both the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). These reforms also required privately practicing midwives to have a collaborative arrangement with an obstetrician or a GP obstetrician.

· Following this national review ACMI contributed to:

· NHMRC National Guidance on Collaborative Maternity Care 2010

· Draft National Primary Health Care Strategy, Building a 21st Century Primary Health Care System: Australia’s First Primary Health Care Strategy.

· On 1 July 2010, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) assumed it’s responsibilities as the national regulator for the nursing and midwifery professions in Australia, as part of the new Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHPRA).

· For the first time in Australian history, all midwives are now registered nationally on their own separate register. Also, as a consequence there was the requirement that all midwives hold professional indemnity insurance. The College engaged with both the Commonwealth Government appointed insurers and another company to ensure products and support services being developed met the needs of midwives, especially those providing birth at home.

· Following lobbying a newly constituted Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) was appointed in May 2010 as the national body to undertake accreditation of all nursing and midwifery education courses, leading to registration. In June 2010, Dr R. Donnellan-Fernandez was appointed as the ACMI representative to ANMC.

· The ACM engaged with the Federal Minister to progress issues around homebirth and plans for when the PII exemption expires in 2012, which was extended until 1 July 2013.

· Enhanced liaisons with Australian Nursing & Midwifery Council, Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia and the Australian College of Remote Medicine, strengthening our base for collaboration.

· ACM hosted the 3rd Collaborative ‘Breathing New Life into Maternity Care’ Conference in Alice Springs in July 2010. The next one was planned for Melbourne in 2012.

· In December 2010, Dr Barbara Vernon resigned as CEO, and Avon Strahle acted in the role until the appointment of Ann Kinnear in July 2011.

· ACMI responded to the draft National Antenatal Guidelines and the NMBA Public Consultation for nurses and midwives seeking to re-enter the workforce.

· ACMI developed and interim Homebirth statement and Interim Guidance for Privately Practicing Midwives which went out for consultation until 23 September 2011.

· ACMI lobbied to have maternity care as a separate episode of care in the 2012 development of the Patient Controlled Electronic Health Record.

· There were more than 2,300 midwives enrolled in MidPLUS by October 2010, which increased to 2,400 by September 2011.

· ACMI had 5,365 members in 2011.

· In the 3 years since its launch, Midwifery Practice Review has continued to grow rapidly and has attracted support from several State Governments.

· The number of hospitals achieving Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative accreditation continues to grow.

· Johnson and Johnson was a major sponsor for Australian Midwifery News (AMN), conferences and the Midwife of the Year Awards.

· Sponsorship was secured from Swisse and Huggies to ensure an ongoing income stream for the advocacy work of the ACMI.

· Work commenced in 2012 on the unification of the nine branches to create a single National College.