Abstract
Minutes of the 2003 Annual General Meeting of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists held in the James Hay Theatre at the Christchurch Town Hall on Wednesday 12 May 2004 commencing at 4.00 pm.
Present
Professor Phillip Boyce (President in the Chair), Dr Johanna Lammersma (Honorary Secretary), and approximately 200 Fellows. Ms Sharon Brownie (CEO), Mr Paul Loughran (Director of Education) and staff of the College were in attendance to assist with the meeting.
Professor Boyce noted that the electoral roll would count as an attendance record.
1. Apologies
The following apologies were received:
Dr Donald Scott-Orr, Dr Russell Pargiter, A/Prof Norman James, Dr Ronald Field, Professor Robert Kosky, Professor Margaret Bashir, Dr Darryl Bassett, Dr Ian Atkinson, Dr Peter Eisen, Dr John Parkinson, Dr Winston Rickards, Dr Barrie Kenny, Dr Louise Newman, Dr Michael Greenbaum, Professor Ross Kalucy, Dr Barbara Simons.
2. Obituaries
The President announced the death of the following members since the last Annual General Meeting and Fellows stood in respectful silence:
Dr Michael J Craft(QLD)
Dr Peter A Zavattaro (QLD)
Professor Pierre Beumont (NSW)
Dr Bernice Beatrice Eldred (NZ)
Dr Paul Merory (NSW)
3. Minutes of the 2003 Annual General Meeting
The Minutes of the 2003 Annual General Meeting of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, held in Hobart on 14 May 2003, as printed in Australasian Psychiatry, September 2003, pp 360–363 were taken as read.
4. Reports of officers of the College
4.1 Report of the President
P Boyce read the following statement:
Over the last year the Executive Officers have become aware of significant longstanding problems within the Secretariat. These problems relate to financial control systems and human resource matters. The nature of these problems interfered with the good governance of the College.
The Executive Officers took the stance that we wanted to fix the system and not apportion blame. Over the last year, working with the CEO we have been doing this and made substantial progress — but there is still a long way to go.
I would like to reassure the Fellows that at no time was the College at financial risk.
At General Council I provided a detailed and confidential briefing to Councillors (Directors of the College) of the extent of these issues. Council accepted a proposal to clarify and enhance the reporting systems from Boards and Committees to increase transparency and accountability and ensure the College is fully aware of all areas of risk.
We are also reviewing our governance structure of Council to ensure that the College is able to improve communication between the Fellowship so that Fellows’ needs are met.
P Boyce referred the meeting to his written report as President as published in the 2003 Annual Report previously circulated by post to all members.
P Boyce moved that his report be accepted. This was seconded by J Rodney and carried by the meeting.
4.2 Report of the Honorary Secretary
J Lammersma referred the meeting to her written report as Honorary Secretary as printed in the 2003 Annual Report previously circulated by post to all members.
J Lammersma moved that her report be accepted. This was seconded by N Prior and carried by the meeting.
4.3 Report of the Chair, Fellowships Board
Professor Pete Ellis referred the meeting to his written report as Chair of the Fellowships Board as printed in the 2003 Annual Report previously circulated by post to all members.
A formal apology was made by P Ellis to Dr Alexander Starr and Dr Ivan Safranko in relation to the College awards ceremony.
P Ellis noted that it would be the last report he would be presenting as Chair of the Fellowships Board. P Boyce proposed a vote of thanks to P Ellis for all his hard work and dedication.
P Ellis moved that his report be accepted. This was seconded by J Lammersma and carried by the meeting.
4.4 Report of the Chair, Board of Practice Standards
Dr Nigel Prior referred the meeting to his written report as Chair of the Board of Practice Standards as printed in the 2003 Annual Report previously circulated by post to all members.
N Prior moved that his report be accepted. This was seconded by J Lammersma and carried by the meeting.
5. Annual accounts
Dr Jim Rodney referred the meeting to his report as Honorary Treasurer and to the Audited Financial Report for the year ended 31 December 2003. He advised that the College was in a robust financial state despite recording an $8000 surplus. J Rodney advised that a modest increase in subscriptions and examination fees was approved for 2004 to meet anticipated cost increases attributable to inflation.
The Treasurer was thanked for providing share transaction advice in his report.
The Treasurer was asked if a financial statement could be provided for rank and file members of the College. J Rodney advised that a full financial statement appears in the Annual Report for 2003. He advised that the College was in a robust financial state with a profitable share portfolio and assets worth in excess of $8,000,000.
J Rodney moved that the financial report for 2003 be accepted. This was seconded by J Lammersma and carried by the meeting.
6. Business arising
6.1 Ballot
P Boyce acknowledged the withdrawal of the resolutions relating to Articles 13 and 71 due to typographical errors and a number of concerns raised by Medical Board and Medical Council members.
Voting procedures and the rules of debate were outlined in relation to the proposal for the change to the Articles of Association, which would allow direct election of the President-elect.
J Lammersma outlined both sides of the argument in relation to the election of the President-elect. She spoke firstly about the direct election model and then the model where General Council elects the President-elect.
Professor Sid Bloch, as proposer of the change to the Articles of Association, which would allow direct election of the President-elect, advocated for participatory democracy in order to counteract apathy within the College Fellowship. He referred to bodies representing psychiatry in Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA that currently employ the direct election method.
S Bloch used a series of overhead slides to demonstrate the cost effectiveness and efficiency of a ballot run by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The slides showed the announcement of the election, the position being voted on, and statements made by each of the candidates, and the ballot paper.
S Bloch believes 0.8% of the Fellowship elects the President-elect. He contended that the President-elect would not necessarily come from New South Wales or Victoria each time the position was voted on under the direct election model and pointed to examples of appointments made by the Royal College.
S Bloch concluded by arguing that the RANZCP is mature enough to adopt the direct election model.
The meeting was then opened up for discussion on the resolution. Six Fellows spoke against the resolution and seven spoke in favour of it. A number of other Fellows chose to comment on the resolution without speaking for or against it.
Sid Bloch concluded by summing up his argument.
6.2 Other business
P Boyce called for any other business. There was no other business raised.
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm to allow time for the ballots to be cast and then counted.
6.3 Ballot outcome
The meeting reconvened at 6:00 pm for the announcement of the poll results, which were as follows:
Number of votes cast — 591
Number of votes in favour of the resolution — 237 (40%)
Number of votes against the resolution — 354 (60%)
P Boyce declared the motion lost.
P Boyce thanked members for their attendance and declared the meeting closed at 6:03 pm.
New Fellows and Affiliates elected to College
The General Council elected the following candidates as Fellows of the College on 8 May 2004.
New South Wales
Dr John Basson
Dr David Dossetor
Dr Richard Furst
Dr Sophie Kavanagh
Dr Kim Maguire
Dr Jenny McGoldrick
Dr Stephen Raggatt
Dr Anne-Marie Rees
Dr Kathleen Smith
Dr Justine Staib
Dr Ong-Ming Tan
Victoria
Dr Stephen McConnell
Dr Ramon Mocellin
Dr Brendan Murphy
Dr Louisa Patrikios
Dr Joanna Selman
Dr Mark Shiff
Dr Mark Ryan
Dr Jeremy Stone
Dr Daniel Sullivan
Western Australia
Dr John Adegboye
Dr Ruby Po-Yee Chan
Dr Megan Kalucy
Dr Bryan Tanney
South Australia
Dr Raymond Behrens
Dr Priscilla Rathjen
Queensland
Dr Li Chen
Dr Justin O'Brien
Tasmania
Dr Yvonne Turnier-Shea
New Zealand
Dr Ursula O'Sullivan
Dr Rhona Sommerville
Dr Deborah Wood
The General Council elected the following candidates as Affiliates of the College in New Zealand on 8 May 2004.
Dr Muthur Anand
Dr Kevin Appleton
Dr Joseph Babinski
Dr Ceri Evans
Dr Elizabeth Galloway
Dr Raymond Goddard
Dr Amanda King
Dr John Parker
Dr Nabeel Pirwani
Dr Oliver John Rooke
Dr Morian Roberts
Dr David Buckwell Stoner