I’m Dr Niroshini Kennedy, and I am honoured and delighted to be introducing myself as your new PCHD President. Firstly, I want to acknowledge my predecessor, Professor Nitin Kapur, and applaud the outstanding contribution he made to PCHD and the College over the past three years. I am also delighted to welcome our PCHD President-elect, Dr Paul Hotton, a fellow Chapter of Community Child Health colleague. I look forward to all the good work we can do together over the next three years.
A little background on me; I am a developmental paediatrician based in Victoria, working across both public and private settings including Royal Children’s Hospital for 25 years, and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) for 11 years. I first became involved with the RACP over a decade ago as a member of the Paediatric Policy & Advocacy Committee. During that time, I was working in tertiary child protection paediatrics and was concerned about the rising numbers of Aboriginal children in Child Protection and the out-of-home system. Since then, policy statements focusing on Indigenous child health and Health Care of Children in Care and Protection Services have led to significant policy reforms in both areas.
Paediatrics and child health in our countries has experienced immense challenges and change in the past few years: A global pandemic, extended lockdowns, school closures and widening inequities have all affected children’s health and wellbeing and the practice of paediatrics in immeasurable ways. Rising inequities, the burden of increased mental health problems which is now a core part of contemporary paediatrics, the moral distress and burnout of paediatricians working within outdated models of care, which are all priorities for the PCHD Council. I would love to hear from you on any of these matters, or other concerns you have. I can be reached via the PCHD secretariat at Paed@racp.edu.au.
Recently, Dr Lydia So and I represented the College at a public hearing for the Select Committee Inquiry into Foundational and Disability Supports Available to Children and Young People in NSW. I urge you to read more about this advocacy work here: RACP Advocates for Children and Young People with Disability in NSW. Likewise, I encourage you to read this recent piece on the RACP and ADHD.
As your new President, one of my very first duties – as well as a pleasure and privilege – was to attend the RACP Convocation Ceremony held at Sydney Town Hall on 31 May. It was wonderful to be able to welcome 44 new PCHD Fellows and to be part of a very special day for them and their loved ones. One of the most moving and memorable parts for me was seeing Fellows bringing their young children on stage with them to celebrate their achievements.
A recent Pomegranate podcast titled “The Motherhood Penalty” features Professor Jenny Proimos, PCHD Fellow and past PCHD President. This episode talks about what it would take to mitigate the so-called “motherhood penalty” through policy, workplace culture and better distribution of labour in the home. As well as being thought-provoking, listening to Pomegranate podcast episodes and reading the supporting documentation can be recorded as CPD hours. Just login to MyCPD, review the prefilled activity details and click ‘save.’
I am privileged to sit on the International Pediatric Association (IPA) Standing Committee and I recently attended the IPA Congress 2025. At that conference, a global mission was launched under the banner of the IPA Pediatrician Immunization Pledge. The aim is to “protect every child, everywhere, with lifesaving vaccines by 2030". Over 100,000 signatures have been achieved, with each signature being a step closer to:
- 90 per cent+ vaccine coverage
- fewer hospitalisations and deaths
- a healthier future for children in every corner of the world.
Please consider signing the pledge via the link above as well as sharing this with your colleagues and via social media.
Over the next three years I’d like very much to deepen our strong friendship and collegiate ties with our Aotearoa New Zealand members. Towards that goal, I’d like to promote here a couple of excellent opportunities for training and education in the upcoming months – see the Events section below for more details.
I’d like to remind you to read up on the Board’s proposed amendments to the College Constitution. Feedback is still being welcomed via email at constitution@racp.edu.au.
And lastly, I’m pleased to congratulate two of our PCHD members who received mention in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours List:
- Professor Timothy William Jones FRACP: Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division. For significant service to medical research, particularly to paediatric endocrinology and diabetes.
- Dr Srinivas Bolisetty FRACP: Public Service Medal (PSM). For outstanding public service to NSW health particularly in neonatal services.
Thank you for your outstanding contributions, Professor Jones and Dr Bolisetty.
A note for our regular readers: This newsletter will now be circulated not monthly, but quarterly. Next edition will be September 2025. I look forward to reporting on our progress.
Dr Niroshini Kennedy
PCHD President
Did you know that you can update your address details online? Simply Login to MyRACP and go to “Edit my details”.
To submit an article for publishing in Pot-pourri, please email paed@racp.edu.au. The article should be no more than 350 words. If you would like to submit an image with your article, it would be assumed that you have received appropriate permission to use the photo and it needs to be of high resolution, above 300 dpi. Please note that articles may need to be edited by the RACP Communications Team.
Pomegranate Health podcast: Your contributions welcome
The RACP podcast, Pomegranate Health, has published over 100 episodes since starting out ten years ago.
To provide more frequent and focused content we’re seeking contributions from our speciality societies, committees and affiliated professional organisations.
You already spend considerable time preparing lectures and webinars for your colleagues. Audio podcasts provide an easy way to reach thousands more around the world.
Each episode gets downloaded around 6500 times over the first 12 months from publication, with 21 per cent of listeners located outside of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
All you need to do is to organise one or more presenters and an interviewer familiar with the material. The podcast producer will coordinate an online recording lasting about one hour and then edit it down before publication. The intention would be to ‘brand’ regular episodes from your specialty society or organisation.
Please send any questions or ideas to podcast@racp.edu.au