I trust most of you have now received advice that the Annual Training Meeting (ATM) will be held at the Novotel Hotel near the airport in Brisbane on 17-18 May. It should be an interesting meeting with around a dozen trainees indicating a desire to deliver their Ramazzini presentations.

The AFOEM Foundation has funds available for educational projects, travelling scholarships, Indigenous scholarships and research projects. Full details are available for members at Division, Faculty and Chapter Awards & Prizes. Dr David Heslop has prepared some valuable guidance for submissions and this will be uploaded to the website shortly.

I wish to thank all those members who have nominated for the vacancies on our committees. Dr Sandra McBurnie has been appointed as the ANZSOM representative on the AFOEM Policy & Advocacy committee. I warmly congratulate Dr Kalesh Seevnarain on his successful nomination as the next President-elect. Kalesh was instrumental in developing the AFOEM revised curriculum as well as being the chair of the Faculty Training Committee. This will be valuable experience for his future roles on our Faculty Executive. Congratulations to Dr Helena Hirst as the winner of the Deane Southgate prize. 

I also congratulate the following recipients of the 2024 AFOEM President’s Awards. Dr David Cleveland won the award for Trainee Commitment; Dr Alexandra Muthu for Policy and Advocacy, and A/Prof Tony Brown receives the award for Education, Training and Assessment. I am sure you would agree all these are well-deserved.

Following a submission from the three Faculty Presidents, the Board has tasked the College Education Committee to develop policy for non-hospital-based training. This is excellent news for AFOEM as the current guidance for accreditation of settings for our trainees is based on teaching hospital environments. Unlike the major teaching hospitals where most physicians undergo training, specialist occupational and environmental physician training is not a core role of most organisations that utilise the services of AFOEM trainees. Our workplaces, roles and services provided are markedly different to those training in hospitals, so development of more appropriate policies and procedures will be welcome.

Lastly, a final reminder to all members that CPD returns for 2024 are now due. 

Occupational and Environmental Lung Diseases Group
The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) has established an Occupational and Environmental Lung Diseases (OELD) Group and invites AFOEM/RACP members to join. If you are interested, please contact TSANZ via hayley.see@thoracic.org.au or Caroline.Iuli@thoracic.org.au

ANZSOM/AFOEM History of Occupational Health Committee Update
The committee is working with the RACP library to organise and catalogue occupational medicine records for members to access. Fellows and members are invited to share any historical content they wish to contribute. Interested? Email maggie.goldie@beca.com

Declaration of Interest Reminder for Committee Members
Appointed committee members are required to update their Declarations of Interest (DOI) form annually. Please email your completed DOI form for 2025 to afoem@racp.edu.au

ANZSOM Representative Appointed to AFOEM Policy & Advocacy Committee
AFOEM Policy and Advocacy Committee welcomes Dr Sandra McBurnie as the new ANZSOM representative. The committee advocates across the Faculty and College, Government, businesses, and the broader community on policies in relation to occupational and environmental medicine.