[Commpsych] Fw: REMINDER: APS | 2019 Board of Directors election voting and AGM in Perth next Saturday

[Heather Gridley]

Dear colleagues
As those of you who are APS members would be aware, it's APS election time again, and a number of you have asked me for my views - this year we have:
3 candidates for president-elect - Tim Carey, Michael Burge and Tamara Cavenett
2 candidates for one other Board position, which is to represent members primarily engaged in research and/or teaching, so pretty it's much only academics who can vote for that one - either Simon Crowe or Dixie Statham.
You can find vote electronically by following the e-trail at:  http://www.psy<http://www.psychology.org.au/>chology.org.au/<http://www.psychology.org.au/>  The APS system is optional preferential, so you only need to number the squares of your preferred candidate(s), and not the whole list.  And if you don't think you know the APS candidates well enough to make an informed choice, read their statements and videotaped answers to member questions online.
Now that I'm not working in the APS National Office, I can say a bit more about  the candidates - what could possibly go wrong?! However I really can't decide who to vote for in a very unimpressive field of candidates for President-elect. SO...

  *   if your primary concern is the anomalies in the two-tier system of Medicare rebates under Better Access, you should probably vote for Michael Burge, a counselling psychologist who has stood on that issue in the past. But I can't recall any particular contribution that he made in his previous time on the Board
  *   if your primary concern is on social justice and seeing psychologists pay more attention to the social determinants of health in research and practice, Tim Carey could be the one you'd vote for - he was the initiator of the APS Apology to Indigenous Australians when he was on the Board in 2016.  But it is difficult for me to support Tim because I believe he let us all down as a member of the Board that in the past two years that has overseen the gutting of the National Office, including the departure of at least 70 staff (and counting) and the dismantling of the Public Interest team that I led 😢.
  *   if like me you don't think it reflects well on the diversity of the Society to have the immediate past Chair of one College become the next President almost as of right, you wouldn't be voting for Tamara Cavenett, who as current Chair of the Clinical College would be the 4th successive President to have taken that path.

Of the two DPRET candidates, I will certainly be voting for Simon Crowe. I don't know the other candidate, but it is clear that her APS involvement has mostly been via the Clinical College, and I strongly believe that the DPRET position on the Board should be taken by someone whose primary focus is research and teaching ahead of professional training and practice, which are well covered by the Division of Colleges and Division of General Psychological Practice.

Finally, it's important to note that the AGM next Saturday is in Perth, so if you want to vote on any motions, you will need to give your proxy to a WA person by Thursday morning latest or book your flight now. (Shout-out to any WA comm psychs who might be getting along to the AGM next Saturday morning...  let's know so I can nominate you as my proxy...)

Feel free to ask me privately for more info on any of the above.

Best regards

Heather

(Apologies for any cross-postings)




Heather Gridley

Honorary Fellow

College of Health and Biomedicine

Victoria University

Melbourne, Australia

E: heather.gridley at vu.edu.au<mailto:heather.gridley at vu.edu.au>

Ph: +61 419113731


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