Board

Dr Elizabeth Moore is the President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

Dr Moore was born in Malaya, educated in England and Australia, completing her undergraduate medical degree at the University of Adelaide before attaining Fellowship of the RANZCP in 1990.  She has special interests in codesign and governance of mental health services as well as the social and cultural determinants of health and wellbeing and their influence through a systems thinking lens.
 
Dr Moore has worked in both public and private hospital and community settings, holding clinical and administrative positions in psychiatry in South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia and is the inaugural ACT Coordinator-General of the Office of Mental Health and Wellbeing.
 
Elizabeth has been active in RANZCP activities for many years, including as the Chair of the Western Australian Branch Committee, and as a member of the Corporate Governance and Risk Committee, Members Advisory Council, Committee for Continuing Medical Education, and the Committee for Examinations. Elizabeth has also been involved in educational activities through examining and sitting on assessment and examination sub-committees.

Dr Moore initially joined the Board in May 2019 as a Casual Vacancy Director for a 12-month term and was elected to the Board in June 2020. Dr Moore was elected to the role of President Elect for a two-year term, during which time she chaired the Members’ Advisory Council and Audit Committee. Dr Moore assumed the role of President of the RANZCP in May 2023 for a two-year term.

Dr Elizabeth Moore can be contacted via president@ranzcp.org

Dr Astha Tomar is the President-Elect of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. She is the Director Clinical Services at Orygen Specialist Program, RMH, Melbourne.

With qualifications including MAICD, AFRACMA, FRANZCP, MBBS, Dr Tomar's professional journey spans various countries including India, New Zealand and Australia in leadership roles, clinical appointments with significant contributions to mental health governance and system development. She has a strong commitment to mental health advocacy and stays a passionate supporter of equity, diversity and inclusion.

Before assuming the role of President-Elect, Dr Tomar was the Chair of the Victorian Branch Committee and leveraged this opportunity to reposition the College as a critical stakeholder at the State level. Dr Tomar has been deeply engaged with the College as a member of the Membership Engagement Committee, Gender Equity Working Group, Victorian Branch Racism Awareness Working Group and Members’ Advisory Council.

Her term as President-Elect began on 31 May 2023 and will conclude in May 2025 when she assumes the role as President until May 2027.

Dr Astha Tomar can be contacted via president-elect.ranzcp@ranzcp.org 

Dr Atchison is an Adelaide based private psychiatrist who works with a clinical focus on trauma and military psychiatry. She provides civil medicolegal reports as a treating psychiatrist and as an expert. Dr Atchison owns her practice at Hawthorn in Adelaide and works alongside other psychiatrists there.

Dr Atchison has a long involvement with the RANZCP, initially on committees for training and as an examiner. She was the SA Branch chair for six years. She has been a member of the Adult Faculty committee and currently supports the Adult Certificate trainees in Adelaide. As a Director of Advance Training, Dr Atchison participates in the SA Psychiatry Branch Training Committee and the Australian Government Funded Training Programs Committee.

Dr Atchison has been a strong advocate for private practice within the College and has chaired the Section of Private Practice Psychiatry for some years. She has represented private practice psychiatry on the Membership Engagement Committee and the Members Advisory Council. Dr Atchison has also supported the College’s work through participating on working groups that considered the College’s response to climate and sustainability and the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review, and in 2022 supported College advocacy for an accessible, affordable and equitable telehealth system.

Dr Atchison was elected to the Board in May 2024 for a two-year term and can be contacted via michelle.atchison@ranzcp.org

Dr Ava Carter is a dental surgeon and medical doctor, currently specialising in consultation liaison psychiatry and developing her skills in medical administration and management. She is passionate about collaborating to improve outcomes and drive system change in organisations in the healthcare sector, and is driven to elevate the voices of others, particularly in healthcare education and lived experience. 

Ava holds a ministerial appointed position with Canberra Regional Medical Education Council (CRMEC) alongside several other panels in the healthcare sector related to education, compliance, accreditation and regulation. She is particularly passionate about governance, cyber safety and regulatory compliance. Ava is a strong believer that the intersection of these areas helps organisations best serve their communities by prompting them to find out of the box solutions to difficult problems with a “profit for purpose” mindset.

Clinically, Ava has worked in public health services, in allied health, and in the private health sector, and currently holds an operational role as Senior Registrar at Canberra Health Services. She has been involved with the College since her first year of training and has been Chair of the Social and Scientific Engagement Committee (SSEC) in the ACT Branch since 2022. Ava was appointed by the Board as the Appointed Director, Trainee, for a one-year term from 31 May 2023 and was reappointed for a further one-year term from May 2024 to May 2025.

Dr Carter can be contacted via ava.carter@ranzcp.org

Dr Mark Lawrence completed his medical training in Aotearoa New Zealand at the University of Otago school of medicine before receiving his fellowship in 2009. He has whakapapa (genealogical) links to Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri and Ngā Puhi iwi (tribes). He works as a Consultant Psychiatrist in the Bay of Plenty, Tauranga. He is an adult psychiatrist working within an integrated model of care with both Kaupapa Māori (Māori Model of care) and mainstream services at Tauranga public hospital.

He is a recipient of the Henry Rongomau Bennett Memorial Scholarship (in memory of the first Māori Psychiatrist), the inaugural recipient of the RANZCP Pirika Taonga (recognising noteworthy contributions in Māori mental health and addiction in Aotearoa New Zealand), and proudly the 9th Māori RANZCP Fellow.

Mark has been involved in multiple advisory groups including Māori health workforce development, Māori health scholarships and Māori leadership role at Tauranga Hospital, as well as being an Executive for Toi Mata Hauora (Association of Salaried Medical Specialists). His interest includes Māori mental health development, teaching, advocacy, and policy development. He has a particular interest in improving structures and systems to achieve equity.

Mark is a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland School of Medicine teaching and examining the undergraduate students in psychiatry. He is also an Affiliate member for the University of Otago school of Medicine, Wellington campus.

Mark was the chair of the RANZCP’s Te Kaunihera from 2012 to 2015 and completed three terms on the written sub-committee. He was appointed as a Casual Vacancy Board Director to the RANZCP Board in May 2021 for twelve months. Prior to his, he served as the elected chair of the Tu Te Akaaka Roa for five years.

Mark was elected to the Board in May 2022 for a two-year term and was re-elected for a further two-year term in May 2024. Dr Mark Lawrence can be contacted via mark.lawrence@ranzcp.org

Professor Newton is a Consultant Psychiatrist at Peninsula Mental Health Service and Adjunct Clinical Professor at Monash University. He held the position of Clinical Director, Peninsula Mental Health Service from 2017-2021.

Richard is a Director on the Boards of Mental Health Victoria, Wellways Pty, and World Association Psychosocial Rehabilitation Australia. His was previously a Board Director of Butterfly Foundation and Wandi Nerida.

Richard was the Chair of the RANZCP Victorian Branch Committee from 2016-2019. He has previously also Chaired the Supported Decision Making Committee (a joint project of the RANZCP and Vic DHHS), Fellowship Attainment Committee, and Victorian Psychiatry Training Committee; and been a member of the RANZCP Eating Disorders Clinical Practice Guideline Project, and Committee for Training.

In 2021, Richard was awarded the RANZCP College Citation. He is also a recipient of the RANZCP Margaret Tobin Award (2009). He has received various Victorian Public Healthcare Awards for leadership in the fields of eating disorders, health service evaluation, and reducing seclusion and restraint.  

He has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles or book chapters on a range of topics including CBT, treatment of psychosis, eating disorders, psycho-social interventions in mental health services, health service redesign, and homelessness. He trained in Edinburgh, Scotland, completing CBT training in The Cullen Centre, Edinburgh, before coming to Australia in 1992.

Professor Newton was appointed by the Board to the Director (Casual Vacancy) position from 24 September 2024 to 7 May 2025 and can be contacted via board@ranzcp.org.

Associate Professor Melanie Turner is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the Deputy Chief Psychiatrist in South Australia. Mel has worked in both public and private practice. Her research interests led her to completing a PhD at the University of Adelaide in perinatal psychiatry which increased her interest in teaching and service improvement.

In 2015, Mel began her Practitioner Member role on the South Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia and currently works on their notification and registration committees. Mel is the Deputy Chief Psychiatrist for Inspections and Investigations for the SA Office of the Chief Psychiatrist. In 2022, Mel was appointed the inaugural presiding member of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board of South Australia.

Mel enjoys teaching and has ongoing clinical interests in psychopharmacology as well as neurodevelopmental disorders. Mel is a member of the Australasian Society for Developmental Paediatrics (ADSP) and has been a part of the developmental of guidelines of psychotropic medications in children, NDIS advocacy and in Autism treatment discussions.

Mel teaches both medical students at the University of Adelaide and registrars. In 2008, A/Prof Turner won the RANZCP Connell Werry Prize for her research on perinatal psychiatry and in 2009 was awarded a New Investigator Grant for her NICU parent research. In 2010 she was also awarded the Pfizer Congress Presentation Award, for the best oral presentation made by a trainee or recent Fellow at Congress in the category of new research.

Mel has previously been on the RANZCP SA Branch Committee and spent 5 years on the RANZCP exam committee, during which she was Deputy Chair of the Scholarly Project Committee and member of the OSCE and Written Cases committees. Mel was elected to the Board in May 2022 for a two-year term and was re-elected for a further two-year term in May 2024.

Associate Professor Melanie Turner can be contacted at mel.turner@ranzcp.org

Dr Angelo Virgona has been a psychiatrist since 1990 and has straddled many clinical and administrative roles across settings in a peripatetic career from inner city, outer metropolitan, rural, private, public.

Dr Virgona ran city and rural mental health services and was involved in establishing and running various types of public sector units, two private psychiatric units, Headspace site, and mental health access lines. He has also been in private practice, one way or another (general psychiatry, psychotherapy and medico-legal practice, mainly) since 1990 and a member of various NSW Health committees over the years.

Dr Virgona was a medical superintendent of Ramsay Clinic Macarthur in Campbelltown for 10 years. He is interested in mental health policy, generally. He deplores the current state of mental health funding and service delivery and is interested in exploring innovative models to improve same, including better coordination of the private/public interface. His specific interest is in improving access to psychotherapy services for those with trauma-related disorders.

Dr Virgona is the immediate past Chair of NSW Branch of RANZCP, having served in this role for 6 years, and was a member of the Members Advisory Council and Branch Chairs Forum. He has previously been a member of the Committee for Continuing Professional Development and Telehealth Advisory Steering Group.

Dr Virgona was elected to the Board in May 2024 for a two-year term and can be contacted via angelo.virgona@ranzcp.org.