Royal Australasian College of Physicians — Member Alert

The AGM on 29 May should not proceed

The 22 April EGM was disrupted, the vote was not scrutineered, and two regulators are investigating. Proceeding with the AGM before these matters are resolved would compound an already serious governance failure.

AGM scheduled: 29 May 2026. Members have fewer than two weeks to act. Read this page and contact the RACP to demand a postponement.

Why the AGM must be delayed

On 22 April 2026, a validly constituted EGM was taken over by the President-Elect in defiance of a Board resolution. The vote was not scrutineered. No official result has been issued. Two regulators are now investigating. Holding the AGM on 29 May — before any of this is resolved — would be premature and potentially unlawful.

The RACP Constitution and basic principles of corporate governance require that before the College proceeds to its most significant annual meeting, it must establish with certainty who its legitimate board is, whether the 22 April vote was valid, and what instructions have been issued by the ACNC and the Australian Medical Council (AMC). None of these questions has been answered.

Members who vote at an AGM held under these conditions may be voting on resolutions with an uncertain or contested board. That is not a technicality. It goes to the legitimacy of every decision made at the meeting.

No valid vote result

CorpVote has issued no official, scrutineered result from the 22 April EGM. Without a valid result, the College cannot confirm the legal composition of its board.

Regulators investigating

Both the ACNC and AMC have written to the RACP requesting clarity and have suspended changes to board listings on their websites pending resolution.

Competing boards

Dr Chandran has purported to appoint a new board and reinstate a stood-down Company Secretary. ACNC and ASIC listings were altered. The legal board composition is unresolved.

No member communication

Members have received no official explanation of what occurred on 22 April or what it means for the AGM. Proceeding without disclosure is a serious governance failure.


What happened on 22 April

The following is drawn from documented accounts and publicly available statements.

Context

The Board had resolved by majority that independent director Dr Nick Buckmaster should chair the EGM, given that both the President and President-Elect had declared conflicts of interest in the resolution being put to members. Three of four remaining directors were unaware that Dr Chandran had separately engaged the College's own General Counsel to secure the chair role for herself.

Morning
Dr Chandran attempts to seize the chair
Despite the Board resolution appointing Dr Buckmaster as chair, Dr Chandran moves to take the chair role. A dispute erupts between the Board, CEO, external lawyers, and Dr Chandran.
During
Police called; Board and CEO ejected
Dr Chandran's husband calls police on the Board, CEO, and external lawyers. Police attend and leave without action. The Board, CEO, external lawyer, and scrutineer are barred from the room, which is physically secured by Dr Chandran's husband.
During
Meeting proceeds without scrutineer
CorpVote redirects its camera and audio feed to Dr Chandran. The Board and CEO instruct CorpVote in writing to cease the meeting. CorpVote does not comply. The meeting continues without an independent scrutineer. Professor Martin's prepared statement is not delivered.
Post-EGM
Dr Chandran declares herself Chair and appoints new board
Dr Chandran purports to assume the chair, appoints a new Company Secretary and board, and reinstates a stood-down officer. Board listings on ACNC and ASIC websites are subsequently altered. College staff contact Safe Work for protection.
Post-EGM
Regulators intervene
The ACNC and AMC write to the RACP requesting clarity on EGM irregularities and suspend further changes to board listings on their websites pending a resolution meeting.

Questions that must be answered before the AGM

No member should be asked to vote at an AGM while the following remain unresolved.

Q
Has CorpVote issued an official, scrutineered vote result from the 22 April EGM? If not, why not, and when will it do so?
Q
Which board does the ACNC currently recognise as the legitimate governing body of the RACP? What instructions have the ACNC issued to the College?
Q
Was the EGM lawfully constituted given that the Board's appointed chair was physically barred from the room and the scrutineer was excluded?
Q
What is the legal status of the board and Company Secretary appointments made by Dr Chandran after the EGM?
Q
What has the General Counsel, David Ibrahim, been instructed to do, and by whom, since the EGM?
Q
How can the AGM produce valid resolutions when the composition of the board that will implement them is in legal dispute?

Documents

Replace the placeholder links below with your Google Drive file links before publishing. Set each Drive file to "anyone with the link can view."

PDF
RACP governance timeline: key events 2019–2026
Full chronological account of the governance dispute from the ACNC investigation to the EGM
View
PDF
Professor Martin's undelivered EGM statement (22 April 2026)
Statement prepared for the EGM but not delivered after the Board was barred from the room
View
PDF
ACNC and AMC correspondence
Regulator letters requesting clarity on EGM irregularities and confirming suspension of website changes
View
PDF
CorpVote communications
Written instructions from the Board to CorpVote to cease the meeting and CorpVote's non-response
View
PDF
Psychological observer reports (Oct 2025–Feb 2026)
Professional assessment of psychosocial safety at board meetings
To be added

What you can do

Members have standing to demand that the College postpone the AGM. Here is how to act now.

1

Write to the RACP CEO and Board

Contact the College at racp.edu.au and state that you oppose holding the AGM on 29 May while the EGM result is unresolved and regulators are investigating. Request written confirmation that the AGM will be postponed.

2

Write to the ACNC

As an RACP member you can contact the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission at acnc.gov.au to raise concerns. Reference the 22 April EGM, the unresolved vote result, and the competing board appointments.

3

Share this page with other members

Most members have received no official communication about what occurred on 22 April. Share this page with colleagues. The more members who raise concerns directly with the College and regulators, the harder it becomes to proceed without accountability.

4

Read the documents

Professor Martin's undelivered statement, the ACNC and AMC correspondence, and the CorpVote communications together make the case clearly. Read them before the AGM date.

This site is maintained by anonymous concerned RACP members. It is not affiliated with the RACP, its Board, or any of the named individuals. All information is drawn from documented sources. If you believe any statement is factually inaccurate, please contact us at [YOUR EMAIL HERE]. Last updated May 2026.