Dear Members and colleagues,

We’re delighted to share a recap of SLPAANZ’s activities from last year and provide a glimpse into the new activities planned for this year. Your unwavering support has been invaluable, and we’re grateful for your patience.

Throughout the past year, the committee met every fortnight to establish and refine processes of the association. Here are some of the highlights from the past year.

• A joint meeting with Sri Lankan Psychiatrists Association – UK (https://slpa-uk.org/) and Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists proved to be a fruitful endeavour. We have also been collaborating with RANZCP officials including the president!
• Our first CPD event, featuring Dr. Erosha Premaratne from AUSLMAT, (https://auslmat.org/) was well-received, sparking insightful discussions and providing valuable food for thought.
• A highlight was our participation in the Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists conference in June 2023, where we engaged in enriching discussions and explored collaborative opportunities in addition to great SLPAANZ participation via few oral and other presentations
• As we approached the end of the year, our focus shifted to developing a logo and crafting a website with Codezilla, an IT service based in Sri Lanka. We anticipate launching the website in the next few weeks, marking a significant milestone.

Looking ahead to 2024, we have few activities planned.

• We are planning another CPD event on 10th March, centred around drug and alcohol addiction.
• The RANZCP College conference scheduled on 19-23 May presents an exciting opportunity for social events, and we hope many of you can attend. (https://congress.ranzcp.org)
• Additionally, we plan to hold the AGM around the same time to facilitate face-to-face participation. A new team for the committee will be elected!!
• Mark your calendars for the Sri Lanka College and SAARC joint conference on July 26th, where several committee members and Sri Lankan psychiatrists intend to participate.( https://slcpsych.lk )
• We continue to develop our partnership with SLPA-UK and SLCoP. We will organise joint meetings.
• We also plan to continue to work together with AUSLMAT. Some of us already expressed interest in joining their health expo on 2nd of march in Melbourne.
• Throughout the year, we aim to organise more CPD events and deeply appreciate your active participation. These events will contribute to your college CPD requirements. Please let us know what areas you like the CPD events to cover. We also welcome any of you who are interested in organising one together with us.

Your feedback and suggestions are crucial to us, and we eagerly anticipate a fruitful year of collaboration.

Thank you for your continued support.

Warm regards,
Secretory
On behalf of the SLPAANZ Committee