Kerryn Lyndel Phelps (born 14 December 1957) is an Australian medical practitioner, public health and civil rights advocate, medical educator and former politician. She was the first woman to be elected president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA). In 2001, she was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate ...

for services to health and medicine. In 2011 she was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian ...

for her service to medicine, particularly through leadership roles with the AMA, education and community health, and as a general practitioner. She is Conjoint Professor in the National Institute of Complementary Medicine at the

Western Sydney University Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...

. Phelps was elected to the Council of the City of Sydney on 10 September 2016 as a member of the Clover Moore

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

s Team, and was then appointed as Deputy Lord Mayor of the council. She resigned as Deputy on 26 June 2017 and is now an independent politician. On 16 September 2018, Phelps announced she would run as an independent candidate in the

2018 Wentworth by-election A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Wentworth took place on 20 October 2018 after the parliamentary resignation of the former Prime Minister of Australia and incumbent Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull. The seat was won ...

, occasioned by the resignation from Parliament of

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull gra ...

following his removal as Prime Minister. She was elected with a majority of 1,851 votes (1.2 points in two-party-preferred terms), constituting a 19-point swing in what had been a safe Liberal seat, and was the first independent candidate to win the federal seat of Wentworth. However, on 20 May 2019, she was defeated in the 2019 federal election by the Liberal candidate Dave Sharma. Phelps is also a keen sportswoman, and in 2014, was appointed to the board of

Hockey Australia Hockey Australia is an organisation that formed from the merger of the Australian Hockey Association and Women's Hockey Australia in 2000. It is the national body responsible for the promotion, development and administration of field hockey in A ...

. She is also an ambassador for Barnardos Australia.

Early life

Phelps was born at

Manly Hospital Manly Hospital provided medical services to the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Australia before the transfer of services to Northern Beaches Hospital. ThNorthern Sydney Local Health Districtmanaged Manly Hospital. History Manly Hospital was ...

on 14 December 1957, and grew up in the Pittwater region of Sydney. Her father, George, was a refrigeration mechanic, and her mother, Shirley Phelps OAM, was a Councillor for

Pittwater Council Pittwater Council was a local government area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It covered a region adjacent to the Tasman Sea about north of the Sydney central business district. The area is nam ...

(1995–2002) and Deputy Mayor (1996–1997). Shirley Phelps was a recipient of the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

(OAM) in 2013 and George Phelps was a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2002.

Professional life

Phelps graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

in 1981 and completed postgraduate training at the

Royal North Shore Hospital The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and has over 600 beds. It is the p ...

in Sydney, and at the

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is the professional body for general practitioners (GPs) in Australia. The RACGP is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and r ...

. She started working in health communications in the mainstream media in 1985, bringing messages about healthy lifestyle to the attention of the general public. Her television credits include ''EveryBody'', '' Good Morning Australia'', the '' Today Show'', a documentary on the

Kokoda Track campaign The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what was then the Australian Territory of Papua. It was prima ...

and Last Chance Surgery. She has been the subject of stories on ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

'', ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 2 ...

'' and ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

''. Phelps has presented a variety of health and fitness programs on radio and has been a regular newspaper and magazine columnist. In 1992, she was a regular on the sex education program ''Sex'' on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television ne ...

. In 1999, Phelps was elected president of the

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branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMA). The following year she was elected federal president of the AMA, where she served the maximum term of three years. Some of her more significant successes involved working with Australian State and Federal Governments on resolving an emerging medical indemnity crisis. The unresolved medical insurance issue threatened

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surg ...

and

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and ...

in particular, and was exacerbated by escalating

medical malpractice Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. The neglige ...

claims. She was also instrumental in establishing an advisory committee on Indigenous health in Australia, and promoting debate on the importance of the public health system in response to the

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the sa ...

threat. Phelps' major areas of interest included integrative medicine, public health, and human rights issues. As AMA President, she convened an expert advisory committee and pioneered the AMA's first position statement on complementary medicine. She was also the first AMA President to publicly state the effects of climate change on public health, and raised awareness of issues such as Aboriginal health problems, and the medical workforce shortage. Phelps's time as AMA president was marked by a public clash with the federal Minister for Health, Michael Wooldridge. He publicly claimed that she had no specialist medical qualifications. In rebuttal, Phelps contended that general practice is itself a medical specialty. The minister later issued a public apology. While President of AMA Phelps was also chairperson of pink media and property company Satellite Group. She resigned as chairperson of the troubled company in August 2000. Between 2009 and 2012, Phelps was President of the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association. She is founder and principal clinician at Sydney Integrative Medicine and Cooper Street Clinic in Sydney and Conjoint Professor in the National Institute of Complementary Medicine at the

. She is a regular speaker to health professionals and the general public on health and well-being, as well as leadership and strategy for professional organisations. She has been the health writer for ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

'' since 1991. She is a regular commentator on general practice, public health, medical politics and human rights issues. Phelps is the co-author, with Craig Hassed, of the textbook ''The Integrative Approach'' published in 2010; and has published on general wellness, cancer and on a range of other general health and health communication issues.

Local government politics

Phelps is currently an independent Councillor for the City of Sydney. Elected to the Council of the City of Sydney on 10 September 2016 as a member of the Clover Moore Independent Team, Phelps was elected Deputy Lord Mayor of the council. However, membership of the Clover Moore team was short-lived. Phelps resigned to sit as an independent from 27 June 2017, after being told by Moore that she would not support Phelps' bid to continue as deputy lord mayor.

Federal politics

Phelps ran as an independent candidate in the

. When announcing her campaign, she urged voters to "put the Liberals last". She later published how-to-vote cards giving the Liberals a higher preference than Labor. Phelps became a prominent candidate in the by-election and has stated that her campaign cost around $300,000. Reports suggested that, if Phelps won, she might provide

confidence and supply In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house. A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of par ...

to the government. Phelps stated that, if elected, she would continue as a member of the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842 ...

Council and to work as a GP; she said that she has received legal advice that these would not disqualify her under Constitution section 44(iv) and (v) respectively, although she has refused to release the advice. On 5 November, she was declared elected with a majority of 1,851 votes (1.2 points in two-party-preferred terms), constituting a 19-point swing in what had been a safe Liberal seat. She immediately stated that she would seek an urgent briefing on possible referral of Minister for Home Affairs

Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician who has been leader of the opposition and leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. He has represented the Queensland seat of Dickson in the House of Representatives sin ...

and Liberal MP Chris Crewther to the High Court under Constitution s 44(v). Upon getting elected Phelps became the seventh Jew serving concurrently in parliament, the most since federation. Phelps was sworn in as a member of parliament on 26 November 2018. Upon arriving in Parliament, she proposed amendments to government legislation which gave greater authority to doctors to allow the medical evacuation of asylum seekers to Australia from

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in K ...

and

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles ...

. The government, which did not have a majority on the floor of either the House of Representatives or Senate, opposed the amendments. Phelps' amendments were able to pass the parliament with the support of the Labor Party,

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

and most of the other crossbenchers in the House. Human rights advocates hailed the legislation, with one reflecting on its passage a "tipping point as a country", in relation to the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. On 20 May 2019, Phelps conceded defeat in the 2019 federal election to the Liberal candidate Dave Sharma.

Personal life

Phelps is married to Jackie Stricker-Phelps, a former primary school teacher. They were united in a religious ceremony in New York on 4 January 1998, and later returned to New York City in 2011 for a legal marriage. From her first marriage with Michael Fronzek, Phelps has a daughter and a son. Phelps and Stricker-Phelps have an adopted daughter, and were the first same-sex non-kin couple to adopt a child in NSW. Phelps has a younger brother, Australian TV actor Peter Phelps. In 2009, Phelps was named one of the 25 most influential lesbians in Australia by readers of the website samesame.com.au. During the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey period, Phelps appeared in an advertisement for the "Yes" campaign, and was a high-profile figure in the debate. Stricker grew up in a liberal European Jewish household and Phelps converted to Judaism. In December 2022, Phelps said that she and her wife suffered from injuries related to the Covid-19 vaccine.

Honours

Phelps was awarded the

in 2001 for service to Australian society and medicine. On 13 June 2011, she was appointed a

for her services to medicine, particularly through leadership roles with the Australian Medical Association in education and community health, and as a general practitioner. In 2008 Phelps, a proponent of integrative medicine, was awarded a

Bent Spoon Award Australian Skeptics is a loose confederation of like-minded organisations across Australia that began in 1980. Australian Skeptics investigate paranormal and pseudoscientific claims using scientific methodologies. This page covers all Australi ...

by the Australian Skeptics for lending her name to a clinic offering various unproven " alternative" remedies. Phelps and Stricker-Phelps have been ambassadors for Barnardos Australia's Mother of the Year Award since 2013. In 2014, Phelps was awarded a Doctor of Letters ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

'' by the University of Western Sydney. In October 2019 she was named winner of the Public Policy category in ''The Australian Financial Review's'' 100 Women of Influence awards in recognition of her efforts in advocating for asylum-seeker health and lobbying Parliament for the Medevac law. In February 2020, it was announced she would be the NSW award winner of the Australian Award for Excellence in Women's Leadership for her leadership on issues of city governance, inclusiveness, social justice and community wellbeing.

Selected published works

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