Over the past decade, our College has quietly but consistently strengthened its international presence, deepened partnerships and contributed to workforce development around the world. From Ukraine to Asia and the Pacific, College members have contributed their expertise and passion for mental health, with a particular focus on child and adolescent psychiatry.

The College has a significant global footprint, being part of and supporting many international organisations. Our psychiatrists have held key leadership positions in various peak psychiatry organisations over many decades, and I take this opportunity to congratulate Professor Susanna Every-Palmer for recently being elected as Vice-President of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatry.

Earlier this month at the World Psychiatric Congress, I was proud to join presidents from psychiatric and mental health organisations worldwide to co-sign The Prague Agreement, urging global financial institutions to incentivise investment in mental health care. The agreement recognises that good mental health is key to national prosperity, and calls for all countries to develop robust, cross-government mental health strategies. As part of our advocacy, we are committed to highlighting the urgent need for increased international investment in mental health – with an initial focus on better services for children and young people. Supporting the wellbeing of our next generation is one of the most effective ways to build stronger, healthier societies.

While much of this work has been relatively organic to date, our College is preparing to develop its first international strategy. We’re assembling a short-term taskforce to help develop this strategy and shape our focus with international partnerships that bring mutual benefit and define where we offer support for capacity building and knowledge sharing across other countries’ mental health systems. The College is also considering its roles and responsibilities under the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (2010), as well as its responsibilities as a regional partner in Pacific nations and South-East Asia.

None of this would be possible without the dedication of members who have volunteered their time and expertise to give back to the sector. Their contributions, along with the support of regional partners, have laid a strong foundation for future collaboration. Read about the highlights of our strategic international work.

Now shifting focus to equity and inclusion within our own communities, earlier this year the College established a new time-limited LGBTIQA+ Mental Health Steering Group to guide our work in supporting LGBTIQA+ members, staff and consumers. We received an exceptionally high number of applications, and I thank everyone who expressed their interest. The Steering Group, to be chaired by Dr Warren Kealy-Bateman, will help to better define the College’s role, scope and prioritisation of work in this space, and inform the co-design of a future, dedicated LGBTIQA+ group within the College structure. At the core of this work is the recognition of the broader health risks and barriers faced by LGBTIQA+ individuals and our commitment to create a safe and supportive environment for all. The Steering Group will have its first meeting soon, and we look forward to hearing about its progress.

The College is also committed to taking meaningful action to address the impacts of climate change on our communities and healthcare systems. In late 2021, we published our Position statement: The mental health impacts of climate change and have since worked collaboratively with medical colleagues, including through the 2024 Joint Statement: Working together to achieve sustainable high-quality health care in a changing climate – led by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control, and endorsed by all specialist medical colleges. Building on this foundation, earlier this year we launched a new time-limited Planetary Health and Mental Health Advisory Group to provide a ‘community of practice’ for members to provide guidance and expertise on College work relating to climate, sustainability and mental health. Members interested in contributing to this work can email memberhelp@ranzcp.org to be added to the group.

Last week, after careful consideration, the College removed accreditation of training posts in acute wards at Thomas Embling Hospital in Victoria in response to a series of safety concerns. As the body responsible for training psychiatrists and establishing standards in psychiatric practice across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, the safety and wellbeing of psychiatrists is of paramount importance to us. This includes trainees, who are an integral part of the system and the future of our mental health workforce. We are providing impacted trainees our full support and reallocating them to alternative posts to complete their training requirements. The College remains dedicated to working collaboratively with hospital management and other stakeholders to explore future opportunities for safe and sustainable training at the hospital.

In more positive news, our member webinar on ‘The art and science of deprescribing psychiatric medications’ was one of our most successful webinars this year. It featured two international experts from the UK – Dr Mark Horowitz and Prof David Taylor – who shared their knowledge and expertise on how to safely stop psychiatric drugs with the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines. The recording is now available for those who were unable to attend live.

Finally, thank you to all members and staff who have provided feedback to inform our next Strategic Plan 2026–30. The deadline for written submissions via the RANZCP Consultation Hub has been extended to Friday 31 October 2025 which means two weeks remain to have your say on the direction of the College through to 2030 and beyond. Face-to-face sessions with various internal and external stakeholders will continue over the course of the next month. For any questions please contact strategicplan@ranzcp.org.

Dr Astha Tomar

President