Capacar 2010 Annual General Meeting

President's report

CAPACAR has had a good year this year starting with a change to our secretariat arrangement in November. We have found the new arrangement to be highly efficient and financially beneficial to CAPACAR. The change has also meant more efficient communication between the CAPACAR committee and members.

After looking at the results of the Professional Development Survey, the committee decided to run Open Space bi-monthly this year starting in May. The reading group, run in conjunction with ACA will also continue on a monthly basis. There was a high level of interest in skill development events such as the one on grief in May last year. CAPACAR is planning to conduct events of this nature regularly once a venue has been secured.

A network directory will be formulated within the next couple of months so that members can network with other members and also refer to colleagues. The committee is also looking into IT options for offering networking and PD opportunities to members in rural areas.

The CAPACAR website has been revamped by Brenda Franklin assisted by John Franklin and Gale Funston. The website is much more user friendly and has been regularly updated with PD events and so on. On behalf of the committee I would like to thank Brenda for her work.

Many CAPACAR members, including myself attended the joint PACFA and ACA conference at the Hyatt, Canberra in October last year. It was great to have a conference in Canberra and an excellent opportunity to network with counsellors and psychotherapists from around Australia.

Georg Atanassoff and Elizabeth Yuile have both attended PACFA meetings over the past year. Elizabeth will give a quick report on the PACFA council meeting she attended last weekend at the end of this meeting.

In the coming year, we will be going through the process of collecting the paperwork regarding qualifications and experience from members who are listed on the PACFA register.

I will not be nominating for president for the coming year. I have found my time on the committee very rewarding and have enjoyed working with such an enthusiastic and professional team. It has been a privilege to serve CAPACAR at such a time of change in the profession. I will remain on the committee as the immediate past president for the next year and plan to work with a sub committee to develop PD guidelines for CAPACAR.

I would like to thank the committee for their work over the past year. As a team we have had a vast range of skills, experience and perspectives, which have proven to be a great asset to CAPACAR.

Kate Flaherty