Voting is open for the Extraordinary General Meetings

Voting is open

You now get to decide on the reform the Board believes is essential to end conflict and mistakes.

Separating the functions of College President for advocacy and clinical leadership, and the Chair of the Board for Governance oversight. It’s a change that will bring stability and remove distracting politics from the day-to-day administration of the College.

We’ve had over a decade of Boardroom disputes culminating in a month, which has done nothing but hurt, anger and publicly embarrass our members, distract us from core business and badly damage the RACP’s reputation.

I’m sorry. It’s got to stop. 

You can now vote online and in your own time until Wednesday, 29 October on three resolutions that will be put to a series of Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM). 

You should have already been emailed the voting documents from an independent Australian voting services company, CorpVote. Please check your spam and junk mail folders if not. 

The first resolution, Proposed Constitutional change, is the one the Board wants to draw your attention to. The key document to read is the Explanatory Memorandum to Proposed Constitution Amendments accompanying that resolution. It gives you the detail on exactly what we’re proposing for the President – Chair separation. 

Once again, you can vote now, online in your own time. You don’t have to attend the meetings to do so. It’s simple to exercise your right to decide. 

Trainees, you have full voting rights. Please vote, this is your organisation too. 

I’ve experienced first-hand, the challenges that come from combining the clinical and leadership functions of the President; with the governance, monitoring and oversight functions of the Chair of the Board. 

When there is outright conflict between Directors, the Board can be paralysed in making the important, timely and rational governance decisions our management team need to keep the College functioning. Disagreement and debate are fine, but distracted Boards, disabled by politics and conflict, will always lead to bad outcomes. 

What won’t change is that the RACP President will still be a Fellow democratically elected by you, and still the public face and voice of the RACP nationally and internationally. The President will still sit as a Director on the Board and will also have a new role, to Chair our member-facing RACP Council. 

What’s different is that if the Board chooses, it can bring in an external, experienced Director who isn’t distracted by politics – and can Chair our Board, guiding Directors through the complexity of running a $100 million revenue bi-national organisation. That change is your choice. 

The Board recommends you vote YES to this first resolution. 

There is a second resolution to remove a Director, and a third resolution to remove another Director. 

The Board has resolved a vote of no confidence in the President-elect only, communicated to you all, but has no recommendation on how to vote for the second and third resolutions. 

Voting results will be released at a back-to-back series of Extraordinary General Meetings on 31 October. 

With reference to other recent communications, the Board and I want to respond as clearly and transparently as we can. The RACP is governed by a majority physician-elected Board, not by any single individual. 

All Directors are expected to constructively and collegially contribute to debate and decision-making in the best interest of the College, and to own majority Board decisions, even if they do not personally support it. 

Important matters such as constitutional reform should be the result of considered, collective deliberation of all Directors, informed by feedback from you. Transparency is critical. That is why the Board released detailed Consultation papers on these changes in May 2025. 

That is why we have had two Consultation forums, held 15 separate meetings across both countries with a wide range of College stakeholders and had multiple individual member discussions explaining why the Board believes this must happen. It’s why we’ve listened to you. It’s why we’ve postponed a vote on a Nominations Committee – because we heard feedback that you were uneasy. 

Concerns about behaviour in the Boardroom are serious. These matters are currently before the Australian Fair Work Commission on 14 October. We will fully respect and comply with that process. As we’ve previously explained, there are complex legal, interpersonal and personal reputational issues involved. It is not appropriate for the Board to comment further while those proceedings are active. 

Governance reform is being considered because you have repeatedly called for clearer roles, stronger oversight, and more stability. EGMs are costly but are also the way you exercise direct control over Constitutional change. 

We respect and appreciate the contributions made by Fellows across committees, examinations, education, and wellbeing. But we must make decisions with the long-term interests of the whole membership in mind, not just one person. 

You have told us you want:

• recognition and support for supervisors
• streamlined and flexible training pathways
• stronger advocacy for physicians across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
• a College that is member-centred and patient-focused.

We can only deliver these things for you if we start with stability in governance. 

Our shared goal is a stable, member-centred College that can focus its energy on training, advocacy, and supporting the profession for all. 

Read the Explanatory Memorandum carefully, vote online and in your own time – and give voice to your decision.

Vote now

Kind regards

Professor Jennifer Martin
RACP President and Chair of the Board