Dr Joan Lawrence A.M., qualified MB BS at University of Queensland in 1957 and qualified in Psychiatry as the first person to enter the College by examination in 1962. She continues in private practice in Brisbane and has held an appointment as an Assisting Psychiatrist to the Mental Health Court (MHC) in Queensland since 2002. She established the Doctors’ Health Advisory Service (DHAS) in Queensland and has been President of the RANZCP, Queensland Branch of the AMA and President of the Australian Federation of Medical Women. She was awarded Member of the Order of Australia for services to Medicine, in particular Psychiatry, in 1992.