Findings from the thematic analysis were checked for validity through presentations made to staff and GP members at the national office and state faculties of the College. These meetings also included participants from the local University Department of General Practice, and representatives of Divisions of General Practice. The final report incorporated feedback from those meetings.

Results
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We found widespread acknowledgement that the College had an important and leading role to play in enhancing the way the profession addressed health inequalities through its work, consistent with the mission statement of the college. However, the way in which this should be undertaken was often contested. This was true even in areas that Gruen et al defined as areas of professional obligation, such as reducing financial barriers to improve access to care.

Education andtraining
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Most agreement about an appropriate role for the College in addressing health inequality was evident in the area of GP education and training, an area in which the College clearly has a mandate to act and capacity to have direct influence. At the time of the interviews the RACGP coordinated and provided all training to GPs nationally. In 2002, following a government review, an independent body was established to coordinate GP training through regional consortia \[[@B18]\]. Nevertheless, the RACGP retains control over standard setting for training, through its role in development of a national training curriculum and in maintaining the examination endpoint.

Consensus on how the College could assist in defining an appropriate role for the profession emerged from both program documents and interviews. The curriculum documents, for example,