[11][12] However, the AMA lobbied against equitable time-tiered Medicare consultation rebates for different specialists,[13] which was proposed by the MBS Review Taskforce.

[14] Inability to access equitable time-tiered MBS rebates for Sport & Exercise Medicine specialists under Medicare is an important issue for Indigenous Australians.

[22] The Medico-Chirurgical Association of Australia was formed in 1844 aiming to "maintain and secure the dignity and the privileges of the medical and surgical profession in this colony".

[24] In 1858, English-trained physician James Robertson established a body called the Australian Medical Association (AMA), whose members were primarily from Sydney but also included some Queenslanders.

In 1876, Nicholson established a medical section of the Royal Society with the aid of Normand MacLaurin and Philip Sydney Jones.

Many physicians were also prominent in the Royal Society of South Australia, including Joseph Verco, George Mayo and Edward Charles Stirling.

[29] South Australia was the first colony to establish a branch of the British Medical Association, doing so in 1879 with Gosse as president and Thomas Wilson Corbin as secretary.

[30] Several physicians were prominent in the Royal Society of Tasmania, established in 1843, including state premiers James Agnew and William Crowther.

A rival Medical-Chirurgical Association of Victoria (MCA) was established in 1853 by William McCrea, joined by a number of independent bodies in gold rush districts such as Castlemaine, Mount Alexander, Bendigo and Ballarat.

[34] In 1879, Neild resigned from the MSV over its failure to support him in a lawsuit and led moves to establish Victorian branch of the BMA, with surgeon William Gilbee as president.

[35] Due to its small population and distance from the other colonies, no serious attempts to establish a medical association in Western Australia were made until the 1880s.

The Western Australian Medical Association was established in 1897, but lasted less than a year before a local branch of the BMA was set up with Alfred Waylen as inaugural president.

[42] Historically the AMA has tended to oppose "government interference in the practice of medicine" advocating on behalf of the service-providers (doctors) rather than the consumers (patients).

The AMA has been recently criticised for accepting the Australian Federal Government's JobSeeker subsidy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia despite being profitable during 2020.

"[45] Tony Bartone, AMA President, noted that climate change will cause "higher mortality and morbidity from heat stress; injury and mortality from increasingly severe weather events; increases in the transmission of vector-borne diseases; food insecurity resulting from declines in agricultural outputs; a higher incidence of mental-ill health".

[48][49] AMA President Dr Tony Bartone publicly declared his support for pill-testing at festivals, stating that it would provide "an opportunity to try and inform [drug users] about the dangerous consequences and try to get an opportunity to give them education and access to rehabilitation in terms of trying to reduce their drug dependency.

[49] In June 2021, AMA President Omar Khorshid advocated for the construction of “purpose-built quarantine facilities” across each state and territory in Australia, particularly areas with significant international travel.