For the first time in APA history, in 2021 the role of national president and chair of the Board will be split, acknowledging the different skillsets and demands required of these senior leadership positions.

The appointments of Scott Willis as national president and Jenny Aiken as chair of the Board will provide a delineation of the roles that is designed to further strengthen our governance, professional influence and ability to drive value for you, our members.

Supporting Scott and Jenny will be newly appointed vice presidents Mark Round and Rik Dawson.

The leadership of the APA is in really good hands. Having worked very closely with these people for well over four years, I am confident in their drive, passion and commitment to our great profession.

One of the primary reasons that we made the decision to split the role of national president was in recognition that demands of both areas have increased significantly.

The impact of COVID-19 has demonstrated clearly that the following areas will be more critical than ever before:

1. Successfully driving our governance, organisational performance and strategy

2. Our ability to be prominent and persuasive in our advocacy, in our media presence and in our relationships with government and stakeholders.

And so, having a dedicated focus on both of these will lead to better outcomes for our members.

But it just wasn’t as simple as deciding to separate the roles. We conducted an analysis of other organisations which had embarked on this governance change, from within health and other industries.

We learnt from their successes and failures.

We have established a clear framework for the roles and how they will effectively operate and interact with our staff and members. And we have in place robust structures to review and ensure success.

Like everything we do from a governance perspective, we pride ourselves on being contemporary, agile and effective.

My sincere congratulations to our new leadership team for 2021, and to those of you who will be elected to office bearer roles within our organisation over the next few months.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our wonderful profession.