Harm Reduction General Practitioner | MD, CCFP, FRACGP.
Dr David Gunn is a Canadian-trained GP with 2 decades of clinical experience spanning emergency medicine, inpatient and long-term care, opioid agonist therapy (OAT), and complex general practice. Based in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, he focuses on patients living with chronic pain, trauma, substance use, polypharmacy, and mental health challenges—often in overlapping ways.
He is an advocate for the emerging role of the Harm Reduction GP: a clinician who combines generalist breadth with deep knowledge of Schedule 8 prescribing, pharmacology, substance use, trauma, and systems of care. These GPs often work with complex, time-consuming patients who fall between the cracks—offering stabilisation, risk reduction, and practical help when specialist access is limited or unavailable. Dr Gunn believes that in a strained healthcare system, harm reduction generalists play a vital role in reducing pressure on psychiatry, addiction services, geriatric services and pain clinics, while delivering meaningful, relationship-based care.
He has contributed to RACGP-accredited education, national prescribing discussions, and the development of a low dose oral cannabinoid medication. He continues to work alongside addiction specialists, internal medicine physicians, and psychologists in a multidisciplinary clinic setting.
A long-time supporter of Harm Reduction Australia, Dr Gunn sees the organisation as a critical voice for policy change, clinical integrity, and human dignity in healthcare. “For clinicians like me working in the grey zone,” he says, “HRA reminds us we’re not alone—and that the work matters.”