Frances Mirabelli GAICD
Chief Executive Officer
When I began my role as CEO of the Australian Psychological Society in late July 2018, I came to the Society with two clear intentions. One was to strengthen operations and member engagement, and the other was to ensure that the APS remains the leading voice of psychology in Australia.
My first task was to consult and to listen. I spent countless hours meeting and corresponding with members, staff and the Board – exploring the current issues impacting psychologists and the profession more broadly.
Looking back, I know that these first few months were critical to achieving what I believe has been a positive shift in APS member engagement and services, and in raising the APS’s profile. There is little doubt that competing views from our diverse membership create challenges. I have heard – and continue to hear – a myriad of opinions about how to advance and improve the delivery of psychological services in Australia. But rather than using this as a reason to stall progress, APS President Ros Knight and I have been intent on finding ways to corral these competing views into effective action.
The Strategic Plan for 2018-2021, informed by member consultation and mapped out by myself and the Board, formed part of this approach. It lays out the direction for the APS, with four key pillars against which the organisation plans and delivers its activities. In this Annual Report you will find highlights from the year under each of these pillars: Leading the Way, Inspiring National Voice, Trusted Professionals and Advocates and Influences.
Underpinning the goals of the Strategic Plan is the statement of intent that we – both staff and members – will work together and use one voice to achieve each of the plan’s elements. The APS determinedly put this into action in the development of the APS White Paper: The Future of Psychology in Australia, submitted to government in June 2019 in response to the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review.
In developing this White Paper, the APS made every attempt to reverse the historical tide of concern about lack of consultation by reaching out to every member. The Committee methodically distilled your views into key themes resulting in 17 clear, actionable recommendations. We stated our vision to government but more importantly – in practical terms – we built a blueprint for delivery. The result: a program for change which, if adopted in full, has the potential to broaden the reach of all psychologists via increased sessions and treatments, and which could make much needed headway in halting the sustained spread of mental health problems across Australian communities. Thank you to everyone who contributed to its development.
Strengthening the voice of psychology has taken shape in other forms over the past year. I have travelled through each state and territory, meeting with ministers, their advisors, opposition leaders, bureaucrats, employers of psychologists, and representatives of educational institutions. At each meeting I have promoted the work of the APS, bringing to the table the needs of psychologists and clients. I have laid the foundations for strong relationships built on trust and transparency to ensure a strong future for the profession.
Whilst a lot of work has gone into amplifying the APS’s influence within Australia, so too has there been a focus on strengthening international relationships, and on understanding how we as an organisation – and the psychology profession in Australia – are perceived on the world stage. Ros and I represented the APS at conferences overseas, attending meetings and engaging in discussions on ways in which the international psychology community can come together to move the profession forward. The British Psychological Society’s annual conference presented an excellent opportunity to participate in a full day forum with representatives from the psychological societies around the world. Born out of this forum was the idea to build an international campaign to promote the role that psychologists can play in helping to tackle the climate change crisis. This, in turn, helped to inform the APS’s theme for Psychology Week 2019.
These relationship-building efforts have been coupled with an increased focus on marketing and communications. Our expanded team has streamlined the content coming out of the APS – both for members and the public – through revised scheduling of all our communications and via regular assessment of our website content. The APS’s presence in the media has also been a key focus, with a number of APS psychologists speaking to journalists across a range of issues as well as featuring on the weekly Macquarie Media radio network throughout the first half of 2019. Our presence on social media has increased as we tailor and craft messaging to suit our membership, the psychology community and the Australian community more broadly.
Services to our members have expanded, with the Member Services Centre now answering a wider range of enquiries, including those on national registration and CPD requirements. The Professional Advisory Service continued to provide significant support with close to 9,000 member contacts made on key queries about legal matters, Medicare and confidentiality. We continued to diversify our events and continuing professional development, with reviews conducted into existing webinars and the introduction of a new online course on suicide prevention. And a range of resources were developed and updated to meet member and community needs, including the launch of a new Student HQ and Early Career HQ for APS members.
Despite the headwinds facing both the APS and the profession – we have seen an uptick in membership numbers – growing to 24,361.
Whilst there have been a lot of changes at the APS, these changes have been made to strengthen the work that we do for our members. I want to thank the broad church that is our membership for your candour on how best to move the profession forward. Thank you to the staff who have played such an important part in this process of change, and to the Board and President for your support and guidance on how to achieve the goals set for the APS.