End of an Era

Dr ArchibaldThanks

Another two years has passed, and with it the end of another ADAWA Presidency. We pay tribute to the tireless work and efforts of Dr Sean Archibald.

Taking on the President’s role at 32 years’ old, Dr Sean Archibald was the second-youngest President (slightly pipped by Dr Kang Kim) in ADAWA history. When Sean took the reins, he had no intention of making any drastic changes, but said he wanted to leave the branch in a slightly better condition than when he started. It was fewer than five months’ later that COVID hit our State. As many would be aware, Sean’s commitment to advocating on behalf of and keeping members updated during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 were admirable. Supported by our CEO and Executive team, Sean spent numerous long nights and early mornings at ADA House – on the phone to the Department of Health and the Chief Dental Officer to get information out to the membership as soon as it was available. He was happy to jump on to social media to instantly share news and the Facebook Live events, facilitated by Sean and David, were very popular and appreciated by the membership.

I think our communications, the way we talk to the members – the tone, the frequency and the transparency – has changed dramatically over the past two years.

Sean believes COVID has resulted in more member engagement in the industry than ever before. “It feels as though we have a tighter community than we did two years ago, just because of what we have all been through. I guess it's like a shared trauma,” he says. For Sean, one of the highlights of his Presidency was procuring three months’ free insurance for members during COVID. “I don’t think anyone would have expected that a branch like ours could make that happen, which is really the power of the group policy,” he recalls.

Aside from his work during COVID, Sean has advocated strongly on behalf of the West Australian dental community – as demonstrated when HBF opened HBF dental practices. “HBF is a very complex scenario with not a lot of Government regulation around it, but I think we are in a very good position with that now,” he says. “We do talk a lot to HBF and there are ongoing discussions there, which from an advocacy point of view is the best that you can ask. We are constantly there, being a voice.” Sean has also been a familiar face within dental circles, giving his time to assist with various events. An active committee member of the New Practitioners’ Program, Sean and the rest of the NPP committee have worked to make the program and Young Dentists' Conference the envy of young practitioners around the country – going above and beyond to help the new generation of dentists thrive in their new profession. For the branch staff, Sean has visited ADA House regularly to update the team on important matters. Fancying himself a bit of a tech enthusiast, he has always been happy to investigate any computer problems and has been on-call for any technical issues at the lecture theatre. “The branch is still stuck with me for two years as the Immediate Past President, so I’ll still fix the computers,” he laughs. “I’ll still be involved in NPP, and I will still be involved in the branch as a member beyond that. I will not be dropping off the radar; this has been a huge part of my life. In a way it is lucky I didn’t have a wife or a girlfriend, because they would not have seen a lot of me in the past two years. “(The Presidency) has been very interesting, challenging – I have definitely enjoyed it. It has pushed me to use a lot of skills and bits of my brain that I have picked up over the years and apply them to what we have been doing. “I think our communications, the way we talk to the members – the tone, the frequency and the transparency – has changed dramatically over the past two years,” he adds. “We are bringing things to the membership earlier now and saying: ‘we are working on this’ rather than waiting until everything is all wrapped up.” As well as his practice commitments, post-Presidency, Sean says he has a few other things on the go. “It’s never hard finding something to do,” he says. “There are still some projects for the branch that I will be involved in, and there are a few not-for-profits that I assist. Personally, I have another house to renovate, so that will be fun. “I am excited to see where we will be two years from now with all of the things we have planned. Knowing what we have on the agenda is exciting.” Does he think he has left ADAWA a little better than when he started? “I hope I have,” he says. “There’s a lot that I feel has changed and I hope the membership has seen that. Not every member is going to have seen everything; I think that is a challenge. The core things we have always done, that David has always done, is building on that work that has always been there. The background support of our members is so important – and the word support comes up a lot. “If we can keep supporting our members and keep everyone engaged as much as we have, then I think we are in a pretty good standing. Delivering to our members is our reason for existence.”