Abstract
Hello everyone! After more than a month in the College secretariat now, I feel quite at home. This is largely due to the warm welcome that I have received from everyone here and also from those Fellows and other staff members with whom I've had contact so far. I can't even claim the title of newest arrival in the office any more, so it must be time to get down to work.
I thought I'd take this opportunity to provide a brief overview of my role here at the College and to fill you in on some of the activities that I am currently involved with. Since it will be my responsibility to compile the College Affairs section of AP, I'm looking forward to providing regular updates.
As Manager of Communications and Public Affairs, my objective will be to enhance the way in which the College communicates both internally, through its various structures, and externally with its identified target audiences. I will be developing the existing links with the various Branches of the College with a view to ensuring the direct flow of information in to and out of the secretariat. I will be liaising with a number of external bodies, including the media, in order to develop cooperative links.
I will also be looking at ensuring that the College presents a unified and professional image in all of its communication. Work has already been done in designing a strong and prestigious corporate identity for the College and now is the time to review and ensure that it is consistently applied.
As you can imagine, such a task would be impossible on my own. That is why I intend to have the maximum amount of contact with the many and varied areas of the College. By drawing on the wealth of knowledge and experience which exists within the College, together with the culture of fellowship and good will, I am confident that great things can be achieved.
With all that in mind, I am pleased to report that work on the review of College publications is well and truly under way with the revised Code of Ethics due to be distributed very shortly. The production of this new Code has set us on the path to reproducing all the College publications in a more convenient A4 format. We are currently developing the design of the document which will allow for continuity of application in the range of documents the College produces.
Commencing with the February edition, we will be conducting a media pilot with the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Initially targeting print media in both countries, the Journal will be sent to selected health/medical journalists together with a selection of suggestions for stories drawn from the articles contained in that issue. This strategy has been proposed by the Journal Committee as a means by which the College can be more proactive in its approach to the media and hopefully increase the scope of issues being discussed and of voices being heard.
Please feel free to drop me a line at any stage with your suggestions or feedback with regard to communication issues for the College. I would particularly like to hear your comments on this publication and the material it contains. Are you getting too much, not enough or none at all of the information you would like to see? I have some ideas of my own and I would like to hear yours. I can be contacted anytime by e-mail at
NOTICE OF GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday 14 April 1999
Fellows of the College are reminded that the Executive Officers, on behalf of the General Council, will convene a General Meeting of members during the College Congress in Perth. The meeting will be held at 4.00 pm on Wednesday 14 April 1999 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Perth, Western Australia. The purpose of the meeting will be for senior College Officers to report to Fellows and provide an opportunity for Fellows to discuss the affairs of the College.
As previously advised, it is not feasible to hold the College Annual General Meeting during Congress since the earlier dates for Congress do not allow sufficient time for the College and relevant College groups to complete all of the legal requirements for an AGM. The AGM will now be held in Sydney on 12 June 1999, in association with the official opening of the new headquarters of the NSW Branch. See separate notice for details.
NOTA BENE
At its last meeting for 1998, the General Council approved amendments to Clinical Memorandum # 17, ‘Guidelines for Psychiatrists Dealing With Repressed Traumatic Memories’. A copy of the updated document is included as an insert in this edition and is also available in the ‘Members Only’ domain of the College website at http://www.ranzcp.org/members/cm/cm17.htm.
Please discard all copies of the superseded version.