Board

Dr Astha Tomar is the President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. She is the Director Clinical Services at Orygen Specialist Program, RMH, Melbourne.

With qualifications including MAICD, AFRACMA, FRANZCP, MBBS, Dr Tomar's professional journey spans various countries including India, New Zealand and Australia in leadership roles, clinical appointments with significant contributions to mental health governance and system development. She has a strong commitment to mental health advocacy and stays a passionate supporter of equity, diversity and inclusion.

Before assuming the role of President-Elect in 2023, Dr Tomar was the Chair of the Victorian Branch Committee and leveraged this opportunity to reposition the College as a critical stakeholder at the State level. Dr Tomar has been deeply engaged with the College as a member of the Membership Engagement Committee, Gender Equity Working Group, Victorian Branch Racism Awareness Working Group and Members’ Advisory Council (MAC). Whilst President-Elect, Dr Tomar chaired the MAC, Psychiatry Interest Forum (PIF) Advisory Group, and the Awards and Recognition Committee.

Dr Tomar assumed the role of President of the RANZCP in May 2025 for a two-year term.

Dr Astha Tomar can be contacted via president@ranzcp.org

Dr Angelo Virgona has been a psychiatrist since 1990 and has straddled many clinical and administrative roles across settings in a peripatetic career from inner city, outer metropolitan, rural, private, public.

Dr Virgona ran city and rural mental health services and was involved in establishing and running various types of public sector units, two private psychiatric units, Headspace site, and mental health access lines. He has also been in private practice, one way or another (general psychiatry, psychotherapy and medico-legal practice, mainly) since 1990 and a member of various NSW Health committees over the years.

Dr Virgona was a medical superintendent of Ramsay Clinic Macarthur in Campbelltown for 10 years. He is interested in mental health policy, generally. He deplores the current state of mental health funding and service delivery and is interested in exploring innovative models to improve same, including better coordination of the private/public interface. His specific interest is in improving access to psychotherapy services for those with trauma-related disorders.

Dr Virgona is the immediate past Chair of NSW Branch of RANZCP, having served in this role for 6 years, and was a member of the Members Advisory Council and Branch Chairs Forum. He has previously been a member of the Committee for Continuing Professional Development and Telehealth Advisory Steering Group.

Dr Virgona was originally elected to the Board in May 2024 and elected to President-Elect in 2025. His term as President-Elect began on 7 May 2025 and will conclude in May 2027 when he assumes the role as President until May 2029.

Dr Virgona can be contacted via angelo.virgona@ranzcp.org and president.elect@ranzcp.org.

Dr Agnew Alexander is a highly experienced psychiatrist with a distinguished international career spanning over two decades. He completed his MBBS in India before moving to the United Kingdom, where he underwent specialist training in psychiatry and obtained the Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych). In 2006, he relocated to Australia and was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (FRANZCP) in 2008. In recognition of his contributions to psychiatry, Dr Alexander was subsequently conferred the Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych) in the UK and the International Fellowship of the American Psychiatric Association (IFAPA).

Dr Alexander has completed the Australian Mental Health Leadership Program and the Emerging Clinical Leadership Program, further enhancing his expertise in healthcare leadership. He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors' (AICD) Company Directors Course, reflecting his commitment to effective governance and strategic leadership.

He runs a private practice at Robina Private Hospital with a special interest in mood disorders, trauma, personality disorders, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr Alexander has been with Queensland Health for 17 years, where he has held senior leadership roles, including that of Clinical Director. He also serves as a member of the Queensland Mental Health Review Tribunal and the Medical Assessment Tribunal.

In addition to his clinical and leadership work, Dr Alexander is an assistant lecturer at Bond University and an accredited examiner with the Australian Medical Council (AMC). He is also a reservist with the Australian Army, holding the rank of Major.

Since 2009, Dr Alexander has been actively involved with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), beginning as a Local Examination Secretary and later serving as Chief Exam Coordinator for three years. He has held several leadership positions within the Queensland Branch of the RANZCP, including CME Coordinator, Treasurer, and Chair. He has also contributed to various College committees, including the Committee for Specialist International Medical Graduate Education (CSIMGE), the Committee for Examinations, and the Finance Committee.

Dr Alexander led the development of the Faculty of Adult Psychiatry and has served as its Chair since 2017.

Dr Alexander was appointed by the Board to the Director (Casual Vacancy) position for a one-year term, from the 2025 AGM to the AGM in May 2026 and can be contacted via board@ranzcp.org.

Dr Atchison is an Adelaide based private psychiatrist who works with a clinical focus on trauma and military psychiatry. She provides civil medicolegal reports as a treating psychiatrist and as an expert. Dr Atchison owns her practice at Hawthorn in Adelaide and works alongside other psychiatrists there.

Dr Atchison has a long involvement with the RANZCP, initially on committees for training and as an examiner. She was the SA Branch chair for six years. She has been a member of the Adult Faculty committee and currently supports the Adult Certificate trainees in Adelaide. As a Director of Advance Training, Dr Atchison participates in the SA Psychiatry Branch Training Committee and the Australian Government Funded Training Programs Committee.

Dr Atchison has been a strong advocate for private practice within the College and has chaired the Section of Private Practice Psychiatry for some years. She has represented private practice psychiatry on the Membership Engagement Committee and the Members Advisory Council. Dr Atchison has also supported the College’s work through participating on working groups that considered the College’s response to climate and sustainability and the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review, and in 2022 supported College advocacy for an accessible, affordable and equitable telehealth system.

Dr Atchison was elected to the Board in May 2024 for a two-year term and can be contacted via michelle.atchison@ranzcp.org

Dr Ashna Basu is a Psychiatry Advanced Trainee based in NSW, with a special interest in governance and advocacy. Ashna is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors; she has served on multiple boards and co-founded a governance advisory not-for-profit organisation. Ashna also serves as the Chair of the Young branch of the Medical Women’s International Association and sits on the Youth Committee of Julia Gillard’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.

Ashna is the outgoing NSW Trainee Representative on the Binational Committee for Trainees, and has sat on the NSW Branch Committee, NSW Branch Training Committee, Trainees Advisory Council, Committee for Research and the Committee for Educational Evaluation, Monitoring and Reporting. She was previously an Associate Trainee Editor for Australasian Psychiatry.

Ashna has a Master of Health Leadership and Management, and completed an internship with consulting firm McKinsey & Company during medical school. She took a gap year between medical school commencing work as a doctor, where she worked as a freelance strategy consultant for a G08 university.

Ashna’s advocacy has been recognised nationally and overseas. In March 2024, she was invited to speak at the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York by the UN President of the General Assembly and UN Women. Ashna was the 2024 recipient of the ‘Ministry of Health Achievement in Health Award’ at the NSW/ACT Young Achievers’ Awards, a 2023 Finalist for NSW Young Woman of the Year and the 2022 recipient of the Australian Medical Association’s Women’s Health Award.

Ashna was appointed by the Board as the Appointed Director, Trainee, for a one-year term from May 2025 to May 2026.

Ashna can be contacted via board@ranzcp.org.

Dr Alex Cockram is an experienced Board Director in health, home and aged care, government policy and directions, emergency services, and large-scale precinct infrastructure developments. Dr Cockram is currently on the boards of Epworth Healthcare, Silverchain Group, Triple Zero Victoria and New Footscray Hospital, Plenary Health and was formerly Chief Executive of Western Health.

As a government and industry advisor, Dr Cockram has provided expertise for the development of collaborative strategies in health, mental health and ambulance system reform and operations, national disability reform, and development, and developments for the West of Melbourne. In early 2021, Dr Cockram completed a two-year appointment as a Commissioner to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.

Recently, as a member of the Expert Advisory Committee, Acute Health Service Reform, Dr Cockram guided the development of the transformative Health Services Plan to improve health outcomes for Victorians.

Dr Cockram is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has participated in the AICD Chair’s Mentoring Program. 

Dr Cockram was appointed by the Board to the Director (Casual Vacancy) position from 12 February 2025 to the AGM in May 2026 and can be contacted via alex.cockram@ranzcp.org.

Dr Mark Lawrence completed his medical training in Aotearoa New Zealand at the University of Otago school of medicine before receiving his fellowship in 2009. He has whakapapa (genealogical) links to Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri and Ngā Puhi iwi (tribes). He works as a Consultant Psychiatrist in the Bay of Plenty, Tauranga. He is an adult psychiatrist working within an integrated model of care with both Kaupapa Māori (Māori Model of care) and mainstream services at Tauranga public hospital.

He is a recipient of the Henry Rongomau Bennett Memorial Scholarship (in memory of the first Māori Psychiatrist), the inaugural recipient of the RANZCP Pirika Taonga (recognising noteworthy contributions in Māori mental health and addiction in Aotearoa New Zealand), and proudly the 9th Māori RANZCP Fellow.

Mark has been involved in multiple advisory groups including Māori health workforce development, Māori health scholarships and Māori leadership role at Tauranga Hospital, as well as being an Executive for Toi Mata Hauora (Association of Salaried Medical Specialists). His interest includes Māori mental health development, teaching, advocacy, and policy development. He has a particular interest in improving structures and systems to achieve equity.

Mark is a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland School of Medicine teaching and examining the undergraduate students in psychiatry. He is also an Affiliate member for the University of Otago school of Medicine, Wellington campus.

Mark was the chair of the RANZCP’s Te Kaunihera from 2012 to 2015 and completed three terms on the written sub-committee. He was appointed as a Casual Vacancy Board Director to the RANZCP Board in May 2021 for twelve months. Prior to his, he served as the elected chair of the Tu Te Akaaka Roa for five years.

Mark was elected to the Board in May 2022 for a two-year term and was re-elected for a further two-year term in May 2024. Dr Mark Lawrence can be contacted via mark.lawrence@ranzcp.org

Professor Newton is a Consultant Psychiatrist at Peninsula Mental Health Service and Adjunct Clinical Professor at Monash University. He held the position of Clinical Director, Peninsula Mental Health Service from 2017-2021.

Richard is a Director on the Boards of Mental Health Victoria, Wellways Pty, and World Association Psychosocial Rehabilitation Australia. His was previously a Board Director of Butterfly Foundation and Wandi Nerida.

Richard was the Chair of the RANZCP Victorian Branch Committee from 2016-2019. He has previously also Chaired the Supported Decision Making Committee (a joint project of the RANZCP and Vic DHHS), Fellowship Attainment Committee, and Victorian Psychiatry Training Committee; and been a member of the RANZCP Eating Disorders Clinical Practice Guideline Project, and Committee for Training.

In 2021, Richard was awarded the RANZCP College Citation. He is also a recipient of the RANZCP Margaret Tobin Award (2009). He has received various Victorian Public Healthcare Awards for leadership in the fields of eating disorders, health service evaluation, and reducing seclusion and restraint.  

He has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles or book chapters on a range of topics including CBT, treatment of psychosis, eating disorders, psycho-social interventions in mental health services, health service redesign, and homelessness. He trained in Edinburgh, Scotland, completing CBT training in The Cullen Centre, Edinburgh, before coming to Australia in 1992.

Professor Newton was appointed by the Board to the Director (Casual Vacancy) position from 24 September 2024 to 7 May 2025 and can be contacted via board@ranzcp.org.