The RANZCP is required by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) to have quality assurance processes in place to ensure that training meets standards, and policies and regulations are applied consistently. The RANZCP’s Accreditation Committee (AC) is one mechanism the College uses to meet the AMC standards. 

The 2023 accreditation visits by panels of the RANZCP Accreditation Committee (AC), to both the metropolitan and rural zones of Western Australian Fellowship training, identified issues around the governance of Fellowship training in WA which is overseen by the WA Branch Training Committee (WABTC). 

This is in the context of a new training zone being established in WA, where training numbers have increased over 10 years from 87 in 2014 to 146 in 2024.

The RANZCP Board convened a panel of four senior Fellows and the Chair of the Bi-national Committee for Trainees (BCT) to review the governance of Fellowship training in WA and to form recommendations to address concerns. 

The Panel's findings supported and expanded upon those of the 2023 accreditation visits and identified that historical funding arrangements for psychiatry training in WA should be reviewed to support the level and distribution of training necessary to address the increasing workforce needs. 

Despite initial concerns that the new rural training zone would not reach a critical mass of training numbers, it now has a notable number of active trainees. This is a commendable outcome for the WA training program overall.

The WA BTC will be supported to revise its structures and regulations to adapt to the multi-zone training environment. 

If you have any questions, please contact accreditation@ranzcp.org.