From the President September 2026

September has been a month that has brought many aspects of our College together. Across our training programs, our lived and living experience, rural and governance work, there is a shared focus on how we create a College that listens carefully and continues to adapt to the needs of our profession and the communities we serve. It’s also a time to recognise important contributions, promote research and service innovations, and invest in the future of psychiatry by getting involved in the College’s annual awards program. I am pleased to introduce two new awards, the RANZCP Gender Equity and Private Practice awards, applications and nominations for both awards will be open from 1 October to 30 November and I encourage you to apply or nominate a colleague. 

The establishment of the RANZCP Rural Training Support Program, which will commence in 2027 and take forward the remaining work of the Rural Psychiatry Roadmap 2021–31, is an important milestone. It enables us to build on the progress already made and responds to the independent review’s recommendation that these gains be sustained through continued investment and stronger integration across the College. Rural training and practice are central to the future of our profession, and I look forward to seeing this work develop further.

Our commitment to strengthening training is also reflected in the release of new supervisor development learning modules. Good supervision has an enduring influence on the experience and development of psychiatrists throughout their careers. The five self-paced modules provide practical support in areas including remote supervision, effective feedback and culturally safe supervision. I encourage Fellows involved in supervision to make use of these resources and to continue sharing your experience of how we can better support trainees to learn and progress.

Hearing directly from trainees is essential to understanding how the College can strengthen its supports, and I thank everyone involved in making this forum possible.

Listening to members, staff and community voices is equally important for our Lived and Living Experience Strategy implementation. The findings form our organisation-wide lived and living experience survey earlier this year show encouraging progress. It has also identified areas where we need to improve how this expertise informs our work and how visibly lived and living experience contribution is reflected in College decision-making. This is as an important part of our continuing work to build meaningful partnerships and ensure that lived and living experience is recognised as a distinct form of expertise.

Listening to the expertise of our members and community is also at the heart of our governance reform consultation. College governance can sometimes feel distant from the everyday work of psychiatry, yet it has a direct influence on how decisions are made, how member expertise influence those decisions and where accountability lies across the College. Over the coming months, we will be hosting targeted discussions and drop-in sessions for members of committees, Branches, Faculties, Sections, Networks and other stakeholder groups. I encourage all members to consider the proposed framework and help us test how it could work in practice and where further refinement may be needed.

The contribution of our members is evident across every part of our profession, and I am pleased to recognise some of that work. I would like to congratulate Dr Fiona Wilkes, recipient of the ACT Branch 2026 Teresa Foce Award and Dr Virginia McAndrew, recipient of the 2026 ACT Branch Meritorious Service Award. Congratulations also to Dr Shiang Liew and Dr Steph McLennan, recipients of the RANZCP Foundation’s 2026 Psychotherapy Research Grant for their pilot study exploring how people perceive AI-generated psychotherapeutic responses and whether artificial intelligence may someday replace clinicians.

I’m pleased to see new opportunities to recognise the contributions of members whose work continues to strengthen psychiatry. The introduction of the RANZCP Gender Equity and Private Practice Awards is an opportunity to celebrate work that may take many forms and extend over many years. I encourage members to consider applying or nominating a colleague whose work deserves to be recognised.

I am grateful to all our members who continue to make time for College activities alongside other professional responsibilities. Your involvement helps ensure that our work remains connected to the realities of psychiatry across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dr Astha Tomar
President