Our History

The Medical Benevolent Fund was established in 1896 ‘’to benefit such members of the profession as may be deemed worthy of assistance”. The fund had 49 members, (approx. 1/6th of the medical men of the Colony), each contributing 5 shillings annually. The funds were used “to afford assistance to any duly qualified medical man, widow or orphan children of such” and gifts “covered the barest necessities of life …to provide a means to return to the medical profession or achieve financial independence through other means.”

Records show that meetings were held irregularly, on demand only. In 1926 The Fund was renamed as The Medical Benevolent Association of New South Wales.

A gift of $2,578 from the British Medical Association (1934) enabled MBA-NSW to start an investment portfolio in Government subscribed stock. In 1936, MBA-NSW was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee and 8 Councillors were elected.

MBA-NSW secured the voluntary help of experienced Almoner’s from both Sydney and Lewisham hospitals “to obtain accurate information about the position of beneficiaries and applicants for aid …and investigate the possibility of securing additional help .. from other sources” (Almoners performed duties similar to current day Social Workers).

Became a registered charity with ATO

Mary Doughty agrees to work as our Almoner / Case Worker on a per hour basis and stays with the organisation for decades, eventually being awarded an AM for her outstanding work in 1997.

Council started meeting monthly to review cases using the AMA-NSW boardroom and business address; The Memorandum and Articles of Association was changed to allow assistance to medical practitioners who were not members of MBA-NSW.

Joined Doctors Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee and helped establish DHAS by financing their operation until it became self-funding in 1995. Gained tax deductible status through the ATO in 1986 and published the first “Take Care” Brochure as well as presented ‘The Impaired Physician’ at the RACP Annual Seminar.

$300,000 was received from the Estate of the Late Drs Rex & Elaine Fraser (1993) which enabled Mary Doughty to be employed permanently. The Memorandum and Articles of Association were changed to increase the allowable number of Councillors to twenty and we began regular discussions with Qld and Victoria MBA’s.

NSW Doctor publishes a full-page article on MBA Centenary and we present at a number of conferences including RACP, RACS and Rural Doctors Association.

Launched first website in 1998 and spoke at the National Doctors’ Health Conference in 1999. The Medical Board made a donation of $10,000 in 2003 in recognition of our work. Dr Andrew Wines was awarded the Churchill Scholarship to look at impairment within the medical profession overseas.

An additional Social Worker (Meredith McVey) was appointed in 2006 and the Council approved clinical supervision of our Social Workers; The Guiding Principle affirmed “to make people independent”. The GFC hit in 2007/8 and significantly reduced our investment income, necessitating the decision to assist beneficiaries on a short-term basis only moving forward; NSW Medical Board donated $50,000 in recognition of the detrimental affect a disciplinary action has on doctors’ mental health and the need for MBA-NSW to support doctors through the process.

Published articles on bullying in MJA and joined the Partners in Recovery Group; At the same time, the economy suffers and our investment income plummets! Council adopts the recommendations that the maximum term of office of the President to be 4 years with 1/3rd of Council, being up for re-election each AGM. President, Dr Chris Dalton, seeks independent advice on the structure needed to move the organisation forward, which resulted in the appointment of a new Executive Officer, from a business, rather than a health background. COVID-19 Global Pandemic hit, resulting in signifiant pressure on doctors, causing a jump in demand for MBA-NSW’s services.

Louise Fallon is appointed Executive Officer and with the help of Council delivers the 3 Year Strategic Review which expands MBA’s work into the preventative, wellbeing space. In the first year they partner to add Financial Counselling.

Major flooding devastated Northern NSW and MBA-NSW responded quickly supporting 45 doctors with emergency funding. This was the “first money to hit the ground”. Over the next 18 months we invested $200,000 ($100,000 from the NSW Government) in flood recovery work to ensure these communities retained their health services. Dr Chris Dalton retires as President and is replaced by Dr Andrew Wines.

MBA continue to expand our preventative work and regularly present at hospitals, conferences and seminars on doctors’ health issues. MBA also added Medical Career Planning to our service provision. MBA add ACT to our name to highlight the fact that we have always assisted both NSW and ACT doctors. In Oct 2023 we presented our learnings from the Lismore flood work at the International WONCA Conference and in September 2024 deliver a series of workshops in Western NSW to help regional doctors in flood impacted areas.