Dr Betty Ge wins Asian-Australian leadership award after $31.5m junior doctor
Dr Betty Xiaoting Ge won the 2026 Asian-Australian Leadership Award for Medicine after helping junior doctors secure a $31.5 million unpaid overtime settlement.
Reported by region.com.au
ShareWhy it matters
Ge's advocacy has concrete outcomes: thousands of junior doctors now receive fairer treatment and pay. Her story highlights both the barriers some Australians face and the power of leadership to change systems.
Key facts
- $31.5 million
- Settlement amount
- More than 2200
- Junior doctors affected
- 2026
- Award year
- Australian National University
- Medical degree from
- Dr Ge worked at Canberra Hospital where some patients asked to see "an Australian doctor" despite her ANU qualification.
- Today she is president of the AMA ACT branch and a vocal advocate for fair treatment.
- As chair of the AMA ACT Council of Doctors in Training, she worked with lead claimant Dr Ying Tham to secure $31.5 million for junior doctors owed overtime pay.
- Junior doctors rostered for eight hours sometimes worked 16, with no record or pay.
- The settlement has strengthened accountability for overtime claims.
- Ge immigrated from northern China in 2009 and studied medicine in Canberra from 2013.
- A survey of Asian-Australian leadership award winners found 82 per cent felt pressure to hide their cultural identity.
- Another 84 per cent believed they had to work harder than colleagues for equal recognition.
