From the 10^th of November 2020, a change will take place in the leadership of ANZAHPE. After two and a half years as ANZAHPE President, Chinthaka Balasooriya will be stepping down from this role. Ben Canny, the immediate past Vice President of ANZAHPE, has been unanimously elected by the ANZAHPE Committee of Management to take on the role of ANZAHPE President from the 10^th November 2020 to July 2021.

Chinthaka served as ANZAHPE President since July 2018 and guided ANZAHPE through a period of significant growth. The major highlights of this period include: 

1. Expansion of the ANZAHPE research grant scheme with a resultant increase in the number and quality of applications
2. Increase in Annual Conference attendance and resultant membership growth
3. Continued growth of the ANZAHPE Fellowship scheme Signing of two funding agreements with the ‘Securing Interprofessional Futures’ (SIF) project to set up an IPE knowledge repository, to host IPE resources relevant to Australia and New Zealand: https://nexusipe.org/informing/resource-center/anzahpe (Portfolio lead: Margo Brewer)
4. Transition to an updated member management system within a new ANZAHPE website to enable enhanced functionality for networking amongst members. (Leads: Joanna Tai and Jill Romeo)
5. Establishment of a CoM portfolio and subcommittee to focus on professional development, with the ANZAHPE ONLINE program delivering significant benefits to members in 2020 (Portfolio lead: Joy Rudland)
6. Strengthening links with key international associations including AMEE and IAMSE, enhancing our international reputation and leading to a range of mutual benefits. 

Chinthaka worked with the Committee of Management and the Executive Officer to respond to the many challenges of 2020, and to stabilise the position of the association. He will continue to serve on the ANZAHPE Committee for the remainder of his elected term, till July 2022. He will continue to lead current initiatives around international collaborations and will chair the external collaborations subcommittee.

The Committee of Management thanks Chinthaka Balasooriya for his careful, inclusive and generous approach and dedicated service as ANZAHPE President.  Chinthaka’s commitment has been particularly appreciated in dealing with the impact of Covid-19 on ANZAHPE and we are delighted that he will continue as a Committee member. The committee congratulates Ben Canny on his election as ANZAHPE President. ANZAHPE is very fortunate to have a senior committee member with such vast experience to accept the presidency, and look forward to continuing to deliver enhanced benefits to its members.

Click here to read a personal message from Chinthaka.