A leading doctor has apologised for appearing to downplay the experiences of doctors facing sexual assault, acknowledging his comments may have “undermined” efforts to change workplace cultures.

Dr Tony Sara, president of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation (ASMOF), says he faced “valid criticism” after he was quoted in The Guardian as saying overall incidents of sexual assault in medicine are “not high”.

The article included findings from an ASMOF survey that showed over half of female doctors had experienced at least one sexual harassment incident.

But Dr Sara was quoted as saying the statistics could have been the result of “survey bias” and that the overall incidence of actual assaults might “not be high”, despite agreeing the culture of medicine needed to change.