An election for the President-Elect and two General Director positions on the APS Board of Directors was held by postal ballot and electronic voting, and the result was declared at the Society’s AGM on 6 October 2011. The successful candidate for the President-Elect is Mr Tim Hannan FAPS. Following a 12-month term as President-Elect, Tim Hannan will assume the office of President of the Society from the AGM in 2012 for a two-year term. As Tim is currently a Director on the APS Board, his election to President-Elect produced a third vacancy for a General Director on the Board. Therefore three successful candidates have been elected to General Director positions on the Board and they are Associate Professor Erica Frydenberg FAPS and Professor Mike Kyrios FAPS for three-year terms, and Mr Alan Plumb FAPS for a two-year term to fill the vacancy left by Tim Hannan. Brief profiles of the new President-Elect and the three new General Directors are presented below. The full composition of the new 18th APS Board of Directors can be found on page 4.
President-Elect
Mr Tim Hannan FAPS
Tim Hannan is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Sydney, where he is head of the School of Psychology’s postgraduate program. His career has encompassed diverse areas of psychology, including ten years in public health, eight in tertiary education, and a decade in either full-time or part-time private practice. The majority of Tim’s practice has been in the field of child and adolescent psychology. He obtained his first job in community health, and subsequently worked at each of Sydney’s children’s hospitals. In 2003, he was granted over $1.1 million in funding to direct the Australian standardisations of three major tests of children’s cognitive abilities, the WISC-IV, WIAT-II and CELF-4.
Over the past fifteen years, Tim has held numerous offices at APS Branch, College and Interest Group levels. He has completed terms as NSW Chair of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists, National Chair of the APS College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists, National Chair of the APS College of Sport Psychologists and National Chair of the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists. He was elected to Fellowship of the Society in 2008, and to the Board of Directors in 2010.
Tim believes that the APS, as the representative of the psychology profession, must be proactive in addressing the many challenges associated with recent legislative and administrative developments. He believes it is critical that the Society continues to advocate for high standards in the education and training of psychologists which align with international standards of a unitary pathway to registration. He recognises that while many members have benefitted from the strengthening of the psychology profession over recent years, other members feel less well represented by the Society. He believes the Board must recognise and address these concerns, and explore strategies to support psychologists across the diverse range of psychological practice.
General Director
Associate Professor Erica Frydenberg FAPS
Erica Frydenberg is an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, a researcher and educator. Her professional career has included practice in mental health in the United Kingdom and extensive practice of school psychology in Victoria. Since the 1990s she has led a program of training for school psychologists at the University of Melbourne and has supervised numerous Masters and Doctoral students. Erica’s qualifications include Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Education, Diploma of Clinical Psychology, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. Her research interests relate to the social and emotional development and adjustment of children, adolescents and adults, areas in which she has published widely. Erica has been the recipient and chief investigator on numerous ARC and philanthropic grants.
Erica has had a long association with the APS including serving as a member of the Board of Directors for three years from 2006, past Chair of the Victorian Branch, and member of the National Executive of the APS College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists. She has also chaired the APS Fellows Advisory Group and since 2009 has chaired the annual conference of the APS College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists.
Erica is passionate about psychology and its potential to contribute to scientific knowledge, policy and practice both within the national community and the wider international community, and believes she will be able to substantially contribute to the APS’ growing reach into these areas. Matters relating to the provision of services to members are of particular interest to her, as well as the maintenance of the highest quality of training and standards for the psychology profession. Within the Society she intends to work towards maintaining the diversity of the profession with a commitment to unity and solidarity within the profession.
General Director
Professor Mike Kyrios FAPS
Mike Kyrios is currently Professor of Psychology at Swinburne University, where he is Director of the Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre and chairs the Executive Committee of the National e-Therapy Centre. Before joining Swinburne, Mike worked at the University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Bendigo Health, TAC Rehabilitation Centre, Royal Children’s Hospital, La Trobe University and in private practice, teaching, research, clinical or administrative roles. Mike has been involved in over $9 million of research funding and has over 100 publications, and has sat on review panels for the National Health and Medical Research Council and editorial boards for a range of journals. He chaired the Scientific Committee of the International Congress of Applied Psychology in 2010, and will do so again for the 2016 World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies.
Mike served on the Victorian Branch of the APS for many years during the 1990s, and was National Chair of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists from 2004 to 2006. He instigated the Psychology and Cultures Interest Group of the APS, and was inaugural Convenor of that group. Mike has sat on numerous other APS committees, including the APS Constituent Units Review Committee and the National Psychology Education and Training Review Group.
Mike believes that psychology in Australia faces numerous challenges from within the profession and externally. He feels these challenges require leadership that will bring the profession together and advance a unified front in transactions with government, but with in-house processes and structures that allow robust and frank consideration of various perspectives. He is committed to advancing trust within the Society and in the psychology profession more broadly, and to bridging gaps between various factions within psychology in ways that are advantageous to all.
General Director
Mr Alan Plumb FAPS
Alan is currently Psychologist in Charge of the Bunbury Behaviour Centre which provides support to schools in managing the most challenging of students in the south-west area of Western Australia. He also undertakes private work part time as a contract psychologist with a local medical practice. He has worked primarily in rural Western Australia as a psychologist in education since 1976 both as a practitioner and manager of school psychology services. He has served on a range of Department of Education reference groups including the Critical Incident Management Reference Group, School Psychology Reference Group, Pastoral Care Reference Group and Health and Wellbeing Reference Group.
Alan has been a member of the APS and a Member of the APS College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists since 1984, and has also served as the Chair of Perth and South-West Branches of the APS in WA. Alan was WA State Chair from 2007 to 2011 and has also served as a member of the APS Psychologists in Schools Reference Group and as the WA Political Liaison Officer.
Alan believes that this is a sensitive time in the psychology profession, with competing organisations representing psychologists emerging at the same time as groups within the APS promoting themselves at the expense of others. He feels that the concept of ‘unity in diversity’ needs to be promoted throughout the APS, as members are firstly psychologists and secondly specialists. Throughout his professional life Alan has been an advocate of competency development. He believes it is the competencies that psychologists demonstrate in their practice – and their adherence to the ethical tenet that psychologists should not operate outside of their competencies – that determine their effectiveness as practitioners.
Member participation in the 2011 Board of Directors election
The APS conducts its election of members to the Society’s Board of Directors prior to the Annual General Meeting each year. The election provides an important opportunity for members of the Society to determine the composition of the Board and hence its representation of the interests of APS members. The election is held each year by postal ballot and electronic voting.
This year, 7.3 per cent of those members who were eligible to vote (those holding the grade of Associate Member and above) participated in voting in the election. A total of 1,207 members voted, 843 through online voting and 364 through the postal method. Of votes that were received, 17 were deemed invalid because members either did not send the card with their membership details along with their votes, did not send the ballot envelope with the card containing membership details, were not on the voting register, their ballot papers were marked in such a way that made the vote invalid according to the election rules or their voting envelope was received after the ballot closed. Invalid votes were only received where members selected to vote via the postal method, whereas there were no invalid votes among those who voted online.
Prior to the election each year, members are given the opportunity to pose questions to the candidates for the Board via the APS website. This year there were 6 questions posed by members on the website and the questions page received 528 unique page views (hits) between 29 August and 5 October 2011 (a unique page view aggregates page views that are generated by the same user during the same session).