It is my great pleasure to announce that I am the new Chairperson of the Board for DEA.
I am humbled and honoured to have been granted this opportunity and I will endeavour to work hard for our organisation and the greater good.
I live and work on Kaurna Yerta (Adelaide). I am a GP and my interests beside climate include First Nations Health, Women’s Health and Transgender Medicine.
I have been a member of DEA since 2016. In the last few years I have facilitated our AfterHours webinar series, worked with the campaigns committee and been a member of the Research, Education and Advocacy Committee (REAC). I was elected to the board in 2021 and served as deputy chair last year.
I would like to thank Dr John Van Der Kallen, who stepped down as chair at our last Board meeting, for his excellent work over the past two years. John has been a hard-working and effective leader, who has always shown kindness and compassion for DEA and our members. He has been very supportive of me and I am glad that he will continue to provide his knowledge and understanding of DEA and our work, in his role as immediate past-chair.
DEA’s outstanding work makes a valuable contribution to climate health action in Australia. Over the last twenty years we have influenced the development of climate policy in the political and health arenas and we should be proud of our history as advocates and change makers.
But, there is still a long way to go.
Here we are in 2023 and emissions are still rising. Extreme weather events are increasing and biodiversity continues its steep decline. All of us as doctors can see the health impacts on our communities and the need for our profession to step-up and make a positive impact. We must keep going.
I want to thank all our members and our DEA friends for your commitment to climate health advocacy. Let’s continue to work together for a society that supports a healthy environment, knowing that we need a healthy planet if we are to have healthy people.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Kate Wylie
MBBS BHSci FRACGP DCH