The RANZCP has the following binational Special Interest Groups:

• Leadership and Management
• Philosophy and Psychiatry
• Rural Psychiatry
• Suicide Behaviour
• Trauma

A number of other interest groups also exist within the Fellowship, often at Branch level. Meeting dates and contact details for these are usually posted in Branch newsletters.

Binational Special Interest Groups

Special Interest Group in Leadership and Management

Established in 2004 to promote leadership and management issues within the College, in particular to promote and support the development of training in Leadership and Management and to advise the RANZCP on issues related to training and education in Leadership & Management.

Chair – Dr Sean Jespersen (VIC)

Special Interest Group in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Established in 1996-7 to foster the intellectual growth of interested Fellows and to increase the collective knowledge and expertise of the College in matters of great importance to the practice of psychiatry such as ethics, the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of science.

Chair - Dr Jeanette Martin (NSW)

Special Interest Group in Rural Psychiatry

The Special Interest Group in Rural Psychiatry was initially proposed at the Directions in Rural Psychiatry conference at Uluru in 2000 and inaugurated in 2002.

Its aims are to:

• To promote and support the development of mental health services to rural, remote and provincial areas of Australia and New Zealand;
• To develop and promote initiatives to recruit and support psychiatrists working in rural, remote and provincial areas;
• To promote and support education and training in rural, remote and provincial mental health;
• To collate and disseminate information on rural, remote and provincial mental health; and
• To promote and support research in rural, remote and provincial mental health.

The group has approximately 170 members, mostly College Fellows, who work in rural, regional or remote areas. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in rural psychiatry, including psychiatry trainees and non-Fellows.

Visit the Rural Station Website.

Special Interest Group on Suicide Behaviour

Established in 1995 to focus interest within the College and among its members on the clinical and social issues associated with suicide prevention and behaviour.

Chair - Dr Simon Hatcher (NZ)

Special Interest Group on Trauma

Established in October 1996 to focus interest in trauma within the College and among its members and to provide an opportunity for communication and support in this area of interest. For the purpose of this interest group, trauma includes PTSD, dissociative disorder, personality disorder and other trauma-related nosological categories.

Chair - Dr David Crompton (Qld)