It’s time to make your voice count.

I’ve been communicating extensively with you, your fellow members and specialty societies about changing the College constitution to ensure it is fit for purpose for a modern, risk-conscious and fiscally responsible organisation.

You may recall that an independent review of the causes of RACS recent financial challenges highlighted a lack of specialist corporate governance skills in our Council as a key contributing factor. While we have made great strides in addressing past financial shortfalls, and indeed are forecasting a small operational surplus this year, it’s critical that we maintain this positive momentum.

Specifically—and as emphasised by the independent review—we need to establish a skills-based governance Board that includes independent external individuals with experience in finance, governance and management. With our corporate governance in safe expert hands, Council will be free to focus on core functions of guiding strategy and policy across standards, research, advocacy, education and training. Ultimately, this structure will allow RACS to continue to provide you well into the future with the best possible support, training and knowledge at every stage of your surgical career.

Proposed governance changes

 

Changes to our Constitution

To make this new and more effective structure a reality, our constitution needs to change; as it stands, it only allows for our current Council-only leadership structure.

The proposed constitutional changes retain the essence of what our College is about—bi-national, profession-led, and advancing the profession of surgery—while allowing us to modernise to meet the expectations of 21st century corporate governance.

We will continue to be led by a Council that represents all surgical specialties across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The Council’s strategic guidance will be complemented by a smaller board of no more than 10 directors, including three to four non-surgical directors with specific expertise in finance, risk, governance and cyber. In other words, even the Board will comprise a majority of surgeons, but selected for their experience in corporate governance. To further bolster the importance of being profession led, the proposed constitution changes stipulate that Board is chaired by a Fellow.

Incorporating member feedback
The changes are the result of considerable consultation with Fellows. As a member organisation, member input is invaluable, and we’ve been encouraged by both the quantity and quality of valuable feedback that we’ve received since putting forward our initial proposal. A big thank you to each of you who made the effort to get involved.

The latest version of the proposed new constitution now has wide acceptance among key Fellowship groups and members, including our specialty societies, states, territory and Aotearoa New Zealand national committees.  

However, our work is not done yet.

Next steps
For the new constitution to be adopted, we need a two-thirds majority of voting members to vote for it when we open the ballot on 17 September.

I, therefore, encourage you to take the time to view the proposed new constitution and/ or the summary of changes  as these changes ultimately affect you and our profession.

Please support the future of our College by voting YES.

If you have any questions in the interim, please don’t hesitate to contact me via [email protected].

Professor Owen Ung

Vice President
Chair Governance Committee

Chair International Engagement