“We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.” Alan Turing
With the end of the year fast approaching, it’s a good opportunity to review some select activities over the past year in order to prepare for the next. It's been a huge year with many challenges, opportunities and achievements, but still leaving much to be done.
We started the year consulting with all of our constituent units about a new Strategic Plan. Ultimately, there was much agreement that facilitating unity while supporting diversity would be an important aim. Part of meeting our objectives included modernising our communication with APS members and more broadly with the community and other stakeholders. We would also continue with our focus on advocacy, providing members with services, inclusive of professional development opportunities, and helping the Society grow as a well-governed and financially strong organisation. As a matter of good practice, the Board will be reviewing the Strategic Plan at its next meeting, and we welcome your views.
With respect to the aim of facilitating greater unity within the Society, we wanted to pay greater attention to the dialogue between the major Divisions of the APS that are concerned with practice. The Division of General Practising Psychologists (DGPP), which gives a voice to generalist psychologists within the Society, has been working positively and contributing to APS policies on a range of matters. In particular, the DGPP has undertaken a survey of generalist psychologists and is developing activities to support the needs of its members. At the same time, the Colleges have also been busy meeting the needs of their members through the hosting of various conferences and PD activities, developing advocacy and promotional strategies, and facilitating plans for membership drives. Most importantly, for the first time this year, we instigated the idea of a “Senate” whereby representatives from the DGPP and the Colleges met to become better acquainted with the challenges each faced and to provide opportunities for dialogue and building positive interrelationships. This was one of the highlights of the year, providing much promise for the way in which we can advocate for all psychologists. The voice of 22,000 psychologists speaking as one is a much more powerful force when it comes to advocating for the psychological needs of the community and for the highest possible standards for psychological practice, research and training. This will be particularly important when discussing with government how they respond to the various ongoing reviews impacting on health and mental health services.
With respect to communication, particularly noticeable have been the changes to our website, the expansion of our social media capabilities, working more proactively with the media, and greater information sharing with members in a timely fashion whenever an important issue has arisen (e.g., as was the case following the National Mental Health Programs and Services Review announcements). The APS presence in the media on issues relating to social equity and cohesion, the treatment of refugees and children in refugee camps, child sexual abuse in institutions, domestic violence, racism, adoption, and climate change, to name a few, has been amazing and helps to grow our reputation more broadly as a profession and discipline that cares about community wellbeing and standards.
One of the major responsibilities of the Board is to maintain an organisation based on sound governance principles and a strong financial position. While we have instigated an investment initiative to maximise the income from our savings, the next year will see us focus more on governance. As we saw during the recent controversies within the American Psychological Association, in order to avoid the ethical and accountability issues that were covered in the Hoffman Report, it is imperative to have strong governance processes. In our own context, it has been 10 years since the last major governance review of the Society. In that time, the nature of the APS has changed as regulatory bodies have taken over roles that we previously held, for example, accreditation and setting of professional standards. Hence, it is timely to instigate a review of our governance structures and processes to be better prepared for the future.
This coming year will be all about celebrations. We recently celebrated our 50th conference on the Gold Coast and next year we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of our separation from the British Psychological Society with the first APS Congress to be held in Melbourne. The Board will also bring together the leadership of all the major constituent units of the APS to discuss our future. InPsych has already been highlighting some of our history and we look forward to the celebrations that each of the constituent units will put on.
I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the outgoing members of the Board (Michael Burge, Debra Rickwood and Jill Wright) and to welcome the President Elect (Anthony Cichello), new elected Board members (Michael Carr-Greg, Felicity Allen and Deborah Wilmoth) and co-opted members (Judith Gullifer, Debbie Hsu and Sue Carter).
Finally, I wish you all the best for the holiday season and a happy start to the New Year.