The RACS Foundation for Surgery held its inaugural fundraising gala dinner on Friday 2 May, 2025 at Pier One, Sydney Harbour. 

With views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Luna Park as the backdrop, guests enjoyed an evening of great food, bid on highly contested auction items, and listened to Duke—one of Sydney’s most coveted bands. The dinner raised much needed funds and will be used to support the RACS Global Health program and its requirements. This includes purchasing and upgrading surgical equipment and costs associated with deploying visiting medical teams to the Indo-Pacific nations.

Guests also heard from two inspirational speakers, Dr Esther Apuahe and Professor Harshita Pant. 

Dr Apuahe, a neurosurgeon from Papua New Guinea, provided an insight into the challenges of being a surgeon, particularly as a woman, in her country and limited resources. She shared how, through the Foundation for Surgery and the RACS Global Health program, she and other surgeons from Papua New Guinea have benefited including being recipients of the Rowan Nicks Scholarship. 

Professor Pant is an Otolaryngologist Head and Neck surgeon based in North Adelaide. She also leads the ENT Visiting Medical Team to Fiji.

She spoke about growing up in Fiji, where access to surgical care was limited. Her journey to becoming a surgeon was shaped by these early experiences. Today, she leads a team of specialists through the RACS Global Health program.

Professor Pant shared how donations to the Foundation of Surgery directly support this work—funding RACS Global Health initiatives and sending expert teams to where they’re needed most.

Thank you to Dr Richard Grills for serving as our MC, and to everyone whose generosity made the evening a resounding success.