The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA) is deeply saddened by the death of Annie Murdoch in New Zealand on September 22, 2026.
Annie and her husband, Dr Campbell Murdoch, were central to the establishment of RCSWA in 2002. Campbell became the School’s inaugural Director, based in Kalgoorlie, and together they took the first steps in building what would become a pioneering model of rural medical education in Western Australia.
While Campbell led the School in his professional role, Annie was an important and much-loved part of those early years. She opened their home to students, staff and visitors, and provided the warmth, hospitality and support that helped create the strong sense of community at the heart of RCSWA.
We are grateful for the contribution Annie made to the early life of RCSWA and to the many people whose lives she touched. Our thoughts are with Campbell, their family, friends and all those who knew and loved Annie at this difficult time.
Campbell has shared the following tribute to Annie.
Image: Campbell and Annie Murdoch.
ANNIE LAWRIE MURDOCH 1942- 22nd September 2026
Chances are that you’ve never heard of Annie Murdoch, one of the most important people in the history of the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia. She died on Tuesday 22nd September 2026, after influenza complicated by liver disease, in Blenheim New Zealand. She is deeply mourned by me, our children and grandchildren.
Annie and Campbell arrived in Kalgoorlie in early May 2002, and after inspecting a couple of motel units, she found one that was acceptable and decided to stay for at least one night. This was the first application of the “Annie Murdoch Test,” which was later applied to student residences, and led to a high standard being applied. They were joined the next morning by Phil Reid and Rhonda Worthington to have the first meeting of the School. Annie left behind in Dunedin a lovely home because she was married to a young man with a crazy dream about educating medical students in the bush. They were both aged 60 but he had had crazy dreams before, in Dunedin NZ where he was the first Professor of General Practice in the country, in Abu Dhabi, in Ipoh Malaysia and in Winton NZ.
In all these places she built a home, she entertained students, staff and visiting dignitaries, but she thought it was “nothing.” When academics asked her what her career before marriage had been, she answered “nothing.” She laughingly referred to the places they had lived as “God-Awful-Places” in contrast to Ayr in Scotland where she would have preferred to stay.
The University offered Campbell a six-month contract as Acting Head, revealing what they thought were the chances of success. Students were warned by “those in the know,” that they probably would have to repeat 5th Year in 6th Year. After all this guy and his mates thought they could teach Paediatrics without Paediatricians, Obstetrics without Obstetricians and so on-how absurd.
We all know now what transpired but it might not have happened with Campbell as Head if Annie had refused to come, as she probably should have done. There was no official recognition of her role apart from the “Campbell and Annie Murdoch Prize in Rural and Remote Medicine” funded in 1998 from the money received by winning a national award for innovation in educational methods. This was the inspired decision of the second Head of School, Professor Geoff Riley. Her children’s response was: “When were you ever an expert in rural medicine?”
Campbell was, and is still, a poor soul who has this addiction to horizons, always wondering what’s beyond the faraway mountains. He had his reward in this, the best job in his 60-year career. But today we salute Annie Lawrie Murdoch, whose love for a crazy man took her all over the world, and with her all the relatives, friends and administrative staff who have loved and supported this RCSWA family over the past 25 years.