9 May 2025
The Board met on Friday, 2 May as a hybrid meeting in the RACP offices and Zoom facilities.
This was the last meeting for Rob Stewart AM. He completed six years as an RACP Director, making significant contributions to the Board, particularly as a lawyer and experienced Director. He also helped guide the RACP through the ACNC compliance agreement 2019-2021. The Board thanked Rob for his significant contribution to the governance of the RACP.
Over the next two months, Louise Cox and Norm Cockerell are also retiring from the Board. Norm is the Chair of the Finance and Risk Management Committee and has guided major changes in the risk portfolio as well as governance and oversight of the finances and financial strategy of the RACP.
Louise is the Chair of the Technology Committee and has had a key role in the oversight and guidance of the RACP’s IT transformation.
The Board appointed three new Directors who will join the Board between May and July. These appointments will address Board skill gaps including Indigenous leadership.
Our external Directors continue supporting the development of Member Directors on the Board and provide skills that can be less common in physicians, such as legal, accounting, finance, risk, IT and overall executive and non-executive director experience.
Over the years, the RACP has spent millions of dollars on complaint investigations – between and about members, staff about staff, members about staff, and within the Board.
This has caused significant distress to many and has not always resulted in improvements in behaviour or processes, which have sometimes enabled repeated behavioural issues. To this end, we engaged Humanistiqs to investigate our processes around managing complaints in the RACP and provide independent recommendations for current best practice in handling and managing complaints in the not-for-profit sector.
The report was approved by the Board and our CEO will now take charge of implementing these changes and better align governance around complaint handling. Our Work Health and Safety reporting to the Board will identify psychosocial hazards as a separate category for safety reporting.
Aligned with this new process, the Board also reviewed and approved a revised board charter. The review of each Director’s performance on the Board and areas for change had been reported to each of the Directors prior to the meeting.
As part of the consultation process prior to bringing formal resolutions to the members, the Board reviewed, amended and marked up the Constitution and Member Consultation Information documents, which will provide members with the information needed to vote on proposed constitutional changes likely later this year.
In preparation, these documents will be circulated in the next few weeks by email and will be available on a dedicated College portal on the College website. We will be seeking member feedback, with the first session held after the AGM (two hours allocated) and in two subsequent Town Hall events.
The Board was pleased to see a Strategy Refresh update from management as we work to assess and develop a five-year strategy to be implemented from 2026. We gratefully acknowledge the feedback from College members who have donated time to help develop these strategic priorities.
An update on Project TRELLIS, which is the upgrade of the College’s core IT systems, was provided and the Board was delighted to see the support this project would provide to members on a daily basis.
The Board heard feedback from the Specialty Societies Meeting and the discussion on RACP Congress for 2026.
The previous format of Congress has been put on hold completely while management puts in place events more aligned to member expectations and needs.
The Board resolved to accept the Management Reports for year-to-date 28 February 2025:
- a net surplus of $2.9 million (2024 $2.5 million surplus)
- a net asset position of $106 million (2024 $104 million)
- the College has sufficient cash and other assets to pay its debts as and when they fall due.
The Board noted the internal audit status update, Risk Management Report, allocation of costs to RACP Aotearoa New Zealand, Facilities update, Investment update, and Specialist Training Program update.
The Board met the Presidents of the three Faculties (Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine and Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine) and discussed the transition of the Faculty Education Committees.
The requirements of the AMC were discussed as well as the risks and benefits of each Division, Chapter and Faculty transitioning at different times. It was resolved to continue supporting the process underway by the College Education Committee.
The Board resolved to approve a term extension of the Improving the Health of Healthcare Workers Working Group by twelve months and resolved to approve the Terms of Reference for the establishment of the College Policy and Advocacy Council Binational Physician Assistants/ Associates Working Group.
Our next meeting is the AGM followed by a two-hour Q&A session on the proposed constitutional reform on Friday, 30 May.
Kind regards | Ngā mihi nui
Professor Jennifer Martin
Chair of the RACP Board and RACP President