Dr Ava Carter provided an update to trainees after the last Trainees’ Advisory Council (TAC) meeting on 28 February 2025. The Bi-national Committee for Trainees (BCT) met on 13 March 2025. The TAC met on 10 April 2025.

At the BCT meeting on 3 March 2025, the main items of discussion were:

NSW: Trainees in NSW have escalated concerns regarding the state of psychiatry in NSW, including the impact on their training. The NSW Association of Psychiatry Trainees has been advocating strongly for appropriate conditions and for trainees and guarantees related to accreditation of training time. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in their communications to trainees has confirmed the process for dis-accrediting posts and the implications on training time. Our understanding is that the training time for this rotation will be counted towards a trainee’s total training time. The process of dis-accrediting a post (if that happens), is that the workplace must attempt to remedy concerns, if they are not able to remedy these concerns, options for moving a trainee to a different post are investigated. If there are no suitable alternatives, the trainee remains in that post (if it is safe to do so) and all the training time is accredited. If the trainee moves to a different post, all training time will still be accredited. If there are situations outside of these limits, the Committee for Training will consider them on a case-by-case basis. There are obviously concerns that a broader than the accreditation of training time for this rotation, and this is an ongoing and evolving situation. We will await the outcomes of the Industrial Relations Commission hearing (pending at the time of writing), and further discussion will be held at the next TAC meeting and ongoing. As a reminder, there are regular drop-in sessions available for NSW trainees to attend.  

WA: the accreditation status of the training program in WA and the progress of changes being made to ensure accreditation is achieved have been another ongoing concern. From a trainee perspective, changes in WA have not been satisfactory, and the outcome of the latest review is pending at the time of writing. The WA Association of Psychiatry Trainees continues to advocate for the interests of trainees. We anticipate further discussion at the next TAC meeting.

Counties Manukau (Aotearoa): as has been previously raised, trainees in Counties Manukau are frequently expected to undertake home visits after-hours. There are safety concerns related to this practice, particularly in the wake of recent assaults. An extraordinary accreditation visit to Counties Manukau occurred on 3 April 2025, and we await the outcome of this review. The Aotearoa Psychiatry Trainee Committee is in support of home visits being put on hold until appropriate safety practices are instituted, and the BCT is in support of these recommendations.

The communications sent on 25 February 2025 regarding the “no-disadvantage” 4 March 2025, CEQ exam sitting were unexpected, confusing and disruptive to trainees who had been planning on sitting the exam, and for trainees still to sit this exam. The TAC and BCT wrote to the Board and other committees with a range of concerns that were escalated to us by trainees (copies of these letters can be found in your meeting papers). We are awaiting further communication from RANZCP regarding future CEQ offerings and changes, and hope that trainees will be consulted in these changes.

There are many changes occurring to our training program and assessments, and many trainees have expressed uncertainty in the ongoing changes and lack of transparency and detail about these changes. The aims from the TAC and BCT are to gain clarity and provide the trainee view to the RANZCP, so please continue to contact us with your questions and concerns or escalate these to your jurisdictional representatives.

A number of Australian trainees have made enquiries about Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements. Trainees on a prolonged break in training (over nine months in a calendar year) should contact the CPD team at cpdhelp@ranzcp.org for guidance on meeting CPD requirements during their absence. 

Find detailed information on the webpage, CPD program for Australian trainees on a break in training. 

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us via our email addresses (ava.carter@ranzcp.org, bct@ranzcp.org) with questions, concerns or anything you would like to see discussed amongst the TAC and BCT. 

Ava and Georgia