Report from the APS 2009 AGM

A number of items of special business were dealt with at the 2009 AGM in Darwin, the most significant of which are outlined below.

Members elected to the grade of Fellow

Seven members were elected to the membership grade of Fellow of the Society by the Board of Directors and were announced at the AGM, as listed below. Profiles of the new Fellows will be published in the December edition of InPsych.

• Professor Alfred Allan
• Associate Professor Colette Browning
• Associate Professor Sally Carless
• Dr Anna Chur-Hansen
• Dr Jenifer Promnitz
• Professor Debra Rickwood
• Professor Peter Terry

Formation of five new APS Interest Groups

Motions to establish five new Interest Groups of the Society were carried by the membership, these being the APS Interest Groups on:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Psychology
• Dispute Resolution and Psychology
• People with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disability and Psychology
• Personality and Individual Differences Psychology
• The Perinatal Period and Psychology.

New Interest Groups can be established when there is expressed interest from at least 20 members from across Australia, and following Board approval and ratification by the APS membership. Information on the five new Interest Groups will be available from the APS website once the groups have been established and office bearers appointed.

Clarification of requirements for non-standard route for membership of a ‘second' College

At last year's AGM a motion was carried to alter the Generic Rules for Colleges to allow the completion of a specialist graduate certificate or diploma course in psychology by a Member of a College to be a non-standard route to College membership of a ‘second' College. At the time, feedback was invited should members, particularly those on College National Committees, consider that further amendments in relation to this were required.

As a result of feedback received, a motion was put to the membership and carried at this AGM primarily to clarify the requirement to become a member of a ‘second‘ College to include completion of at least 80 hours of College-stipulated professional development activities either as part of, or in addition to, an APAC-accredited and APS-approved graduate certificate or diploma in psychology.