29 August 2025
Dear members,
This week has a been a tough one for RACP members, Board directors, management and employees.
Everyone is tired of seeing their College plagued by expensive and public internal politics and conflicts, which have distracted from our core focus – education and support of trainees to enable best possible patient care.
The Board met on 29 August and affirmed that separations are needed between the clinical leadership, governance and the operational functions of the College. This has also been suggested by several external reviews and is essential to improve day-to-day governance functions. We have an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) planned for November to ask you to vote on those changes.
A separate Board Chair and President would enable the President to better support the membership and advocate for important issues without being distracted by political and administrative complexities. This is normal practice for large organisations.
Debate on issues is good, but when it paralyses the College, it ultimately hurts our membership.
Board governance is different from clinical medicine and from management. It requires a different set of skills such as legal, IT, business, financial and risk management. We need our most experienced Board Director, which from time-to-time could be a member, to Chair the Board, and our President to support the membership.
The RACP needs to mature and accept governance structures fit for today. A decade of conflict show that the status quo cannot remain.
If we create a governance structure that protects the College from internal conflicts and promotes a better culture, benefits will accrue to all members.
The Board met face-to-face over two days last week in Sydney along with governance and legal experts.
On Thursday, 28 August, the Board met with its two Indigenous committees – the Māori Health Committee (MHC) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Committee (ATSIHC). It heard the concerns of these committees and particularly the issue of representation of the Indigenous voice within the College.
Actions to increase voice to date were acknowledged. This included representation in the new Council, additional senior management appointments reporting directly to CEO, and the successful rollout of unconscious bias training for physicians involved in the examinations.
The Board, ATSIHC and MHC discussed additional collaboration and Indigenous leadership. At the Board meeting on 29 August, the Board resolved to initiate collaborative implementation plans, to embed Indigenous leadership, anti-racism, cultural safety, power-sharing and diversity principles into RACP governance processes. It also resolved to initiate inclusive leadership across the College, to utilise Indigenous expertise, and leadership to fill the skill gap on the Board. The Board also noted the Indigenous Strategic Framework update.
The Board approved the draft College Strategy, which had been developed after engagement with members, employees, the Board and College Council. This sets a clear direction for RACP over the next five years. The College will develop the next phase of organisational design to ensure that the strategy will be ready for final approval in November.
The Board approved the publication of the statement 'Supporting Children’s Health and Wellbeing in Conflict Zones'. It also resolved to approve the eight pou of the RACP Māori Data Governance Guidelines as core principles for College-wide implementation, supporting Māori data sovereignty.
The Board accepted the Management Accounting Report supporting sufficient cash and other assets to pay its debts as and when they are due. It noted the Quarterly Investment Report, Internal Audit Status update, Risk Management Report, and Information Security report. The Board approved the revised strategic risks. It also approved the Director Professional Development/Training plan.
The Board discussed the plans for delivery of a 2026 alternative flagship event series within the previous Congress expenditure. This flagship series has been developed with the assistance of significant member input and will be delivered across several centres and on several topics.
Lastly, it reviewed the skills matrix and board member skills for the Board and considered options to fill the Board on a casual basis, in keeping with the constitution. There are two appointed director vacancies. The Board agreed to contact directors who had been recently shortlisted for such positions or retired from the Board some time before to fill the vacancies. There are three elected director roles vacant which will be filled by an election and in effect at the next general meeting, as per the Constitution.
The next Board meeting will be held 26 September 2025.
Kind regards | Ngā mihi nui
RACP Board