Australia and New Zealand Psychiatrists with International Qualifications Committee

The ANZPIQ Committee reports to the RANZCP Board via the CEO, and provides formal representation for all overseas trained psychiatrists and especially Affiliate Members within the College organisational structure. The ANZPIQ Committee consists of overseas trained psychiatrists from each Australian State/Territory and New Zealand. Only members of the College, both Affiliates and Fellows, can be appointed as committee members.

What we do

Some of the ANZPIQ Committee's main goals include supporting and ensuring fairness for psychiatrists with international qualifications, and improving our marketing and communication.

Fairness is about pass rates exams, how psychiatrists with international qualifications are treated by the RANZCP, AHPRA, AMC, Department of Immigration etc. The Substantial Comparability pathway needs to be set up fairly; the Competency Based Fellowship Program too.
Support is about helping psychiatrists with international qualifications as a group and as individuals. Support in passing exams, maybe developing or supporting an exam preparation program. The Committee communicates regularly with all psychiatrists with international qualifications to identify possible avenues of support.
Marketing and communication is not a goal in itself, but a way to reach the first two goals.
Our mission is to ensure fairness for, and to support all, internationally trained psychiatrists.

Responsibilities

facilitating local support networks for psychiatrists with international qualifications
representing the Committee on other College standing committees pursuant to the regulations of any such committee and be consulted in the recruitment and endorsement of PIQ representatives on such committee
recommending individuals for consideration for involvement on other key College committees, project teams and working parties from time to time
providing advice on such initiatives that might assist psychiatrists with international qualifications in their work experiences, acculturation and preparation for examinations for admission to Fellowship
providing advice on potential representation by Affiliate Members on key committees and project teams
facilitating forums to collect and disseminate information, to encourage debate and to promote the needs of psychiatrists with international qualifications generally
monitoring all activities across the College that are of relevance to psychiatrists with international qualifications, to promote both coordination of those activities as well as efficient communication.

A Jurisdictional Member of the Committee will also hold the ANZPIQ Committee Representative position on the respective Branch Committee.

Chair

The Chair of the ANZPIQ Committee is Dr Ajay Vijayakrishnan.

Members

ANZPIQ Committee members for 2024 - 2027:

Dr Ajay Vijayakrishnan	Chair and VIC Representative	piq.vic@ranzcp.org
Dr Emma Crampin	Deputy Chair and WA Representative	piq.wa@ranzcp.org
Dr Dharshanie Gunaratne	ACT Representative	piq.act@ranzcp.org
Dr Sachin Rai	NSW Representative	piq.nsw@ranzcp.org
Dr Samuele Manfrinati	NZ Representative	piq.nz@ranzcp.org
Dr Suman Kumar Sinha	NZ Representative	piq.nz@ranzcp.org
Dr Gagan Deep Garg	NT Representative	piq.nt@ranzcp.org
Dr Varuni De Silva	SA Representative	piq.sa@ranzcp.org
Dr Hammad Mahmoud	TAS Representative	piq.tas@ranzcp.org
Dr Shavindra Dias	QLD Representative	piq.qld@ranzcp.org

Meeting frequency

The Committee typically meet 5 times per calendar year:

1 face-to-face meeting (6 hours in duration)
4 videoconference meetings (1 to 2 hour duration per meeting).

A committee member may also be required to respond to emails between formal meetings.

Get involved

To have a more powerful voice in the RANZCP and to be able to reach our goals, the ANZPIQ Committee needs as many internationally trained psychiatrists as possible to be involved in the activities of the RANZCP.

Become an ANZPIQ representative. Look out for the call for nominations early in the year and nominate as an ANZPIQ representative.
Become a RANZCP Affiliate Member
Respond to polls, surveys and requests for feedback
Contact the committee directly
Ensure your contact details are up to date with the College.

Resources

The Distribution Priority Areas (DPA) for GPs and Districts of Workforce Shortage (DWS) for specialists are updated every year to ensure the latest available data is used to accurately target distribution. The DPA and DWS systems facilitate placing medical practitioners with location restrictions (International Medical Graduates and Australian Bonded Doctors) into communities of greatest need across Australia. Further details about these classification systems can be found at the Department of Health website.

Contact

You can contact the ANZPIQ Committee on piq@ranzcp.org