Each year the RANZCP presents a variety of awards and grants to acknowledge outstanding achievements and contributions to psychiatry, the community, and the College.

We are pleased to announce many of the deserving winners of this year’s awards, and look forward to recognising them all at our 2025 College Ceremony taking place during Congress.

We’d also like to express our thanks to all those who applied or made a nomination, as well as our gratitude to the members and other experts who volunteered their time and experience in assessing the submissions.

Keep your eyes out for more updates as we announce more winners in the coming weeks.

The College Medal of Honour – Dr Murray Patton

The College Medal of Honour award was established in 1987 and is the RANZCP's highest and most prestigious award. It is presented for distinguished and meritorious service to the College, to a RANZCP Fellow who has given a minimum of ten years’ active service in organisational and/or administrative areas of the RANZCP.

Dr Murray Patton (Aotearoa New Zealand) is the recipient of this year’s award, for his extensive service and major contributions to the College within multiple diverse committees, on the Board and General Council, and during his Presidency.

The College Citation – Ms De Backman-Hoyle and Associate Professor Alexandra Cockram

The College Citation was established in 1986 to honour special service to the RANZCP or psychiatry, and may be conferred upon Fellows of the College or medical or non-medical persons outside the College.

Ms De Backman-Hoyle (Queensland) receives a Citation due to her positive and long-standing contributions to the RANZCP and mental health more broadly, and her critical role in lived experience work and advocacy for consumers and carers.

Associate Professor Alexandra Cockram (Victoria) receives a Citation for her extensive contributions, and her work as a well-respected leader, administrator, and psychiatrist who has influenced system-level changes in health and mental health.

The Ian Simpson Award – Professor Saxby Pridmore

The Ian Simpson Award was established in 1976 to honour Dr Ian Simpson, a foundation member of the RANZCP who became President in 1966. The award acknowledges the most outstanding contributions to clinical psychiatry through service to patients and the community.

Professor Saxby Pridmore (Tasmania) is the recipient of this year’s Award, due to his extensive contributions to research and clinical care both in Tasmania and further afield.

The Margaret Tobin Award – Associate Professor Mathew Coleman

Named in honour of the late Dr Margaret Tobin, this award is made to the RANZCP Fellow who has made the most significant contribution to administrative psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand over the preceding five years.

Associate Professor Mathew Coleman (Western Australia) was chosen for this year’s Award, for his commitment to leadership and management in our profession, and for his substantial contributions in developing and championing rural psychiatry. He will deliver this year’s Margaret Tobin Oration within the RANZCP Annual Congress program. 

The Mark Sheldon Prize – Professor Noel Hayman

The Mark Sheldon Prize was established by the family, friends and colleagues of the late Dr Mark Sheldon to recognise noteworthy contributions to Indigenous mental health in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand.

Professor Noel Hayman (Queensland) is one of Australia's leading Indigenous health experts and advocates, and is recognised with this year’s Prize.

The Pirika Taonga – Mr Wayne Blissett

The Pirika Taonga is in memory of Poiti Arama-karaka Pirika, the RANZCP’s Kaumātua from 2008 to 2017. It recognises noteworthy contributions in Māori mental health and addiction in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Mr Wayne Blissett (Aotearoa New Zealand), the co-chair of Te Kaunihera, was selected for the award, based on his extensive contributions and advocacy work in mental health and Māori health. His innovative approaches to patient care, coupled with his leadership in training and mentoring emerging psychiatrists, have had a lasting impact on the profession.

The RANZCP Senior Research Award – Professor Colleen Loo

The RANZCP Senior Research Award was established in 1978 to recognise excellence in research in psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand. The Award is made to the Fellow or Affiliate who, in the opinion of the Selection Panel, has made the most significant contribution to psychiatric research in Australia and New Zealand over the preceding five years. 

Professor Colleen Loo (New South Wales) – an esteemed researcher with multiple clinically important projects, presentations and publications that have made significant contributions – is the recipient of this year’s Award.

The RANZCP Early Career Psychiatrist Award – Dr Chloe Yap

The RANZCP Early Career Psychiatrist Award was established in 1979 to encourage and promote research in psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand. The award is presented to the trainee, or Fellow or Affiliate (within five years of obtaining their primary specialist psychiatry qualification) who has contributed the most significant paper published in the past two years.

Dr Chloe Yap (Queensland), a first-year psychiatry registrar, greatly impressed the selection panel with an excellent high-impact study, leading a consortium of international researchers.

The Lived Experience Australia Award for Best Practice in Consumer and Carer Inclusion – Dr Elise Witter

The Lived Experience Australia Award for Best Practice in Consumer and Carer Inclusion is awarded for the best reflection submitted by a psychiatry trainee who has completed all five Collaboration, Communication and Cooperation between Health Professionals (CCCHP) online modules in Learnit. 

Dr Elise Witter (Queensland) receives this year’s Award, having demonstrating a genuine commitment to inclusive practice and working respectfully and safely from the individual’s perspective, including their culture and wider family and community network.

The Addiction Psychiatry Prize – Dr John McMasters

The Addiction Psychiatry Prize is awarded to a psychiatric trainee or a Fellow who has recently completed the Certificate of Advanced Training in Addiction Psychiatry, to encourage achievements and excellence in the field.

Dr John McMaster (Queensland) has been awarded this year’s Prize, for his submission ‘Effectiveness of Long-Acting Buprenorphine – A Systematic Review’.

The Medlicott Award – Dr Zoe Cousins

The Medlicott Award honours Emeritus Professor Reginald Medlicott, a leading forensic psychiatrist in New Zealand and inaugural president of the RANZCP. The award seeks to encourage achievements and excellence in research in forensic psychiatry.

Dr Zoe Cousins (Victoria) receives this year’s Award, for her well-written article ‘Exploring care of persons with dementia and significant violence risk in Victoria: A Delphi Study’.

The Faculty of Psychotherapy Essay Prize – Dr Osama Bhatti

The Faculty of Psychotherapy Essay Prize is awarded for the best essay submitted by a psychiatry trainee or recent Fellow on a psychotherapy topic.

This year’s Prize goes to Dr Osama Bhatti (Victoria), who submitted a very well written essay on a challenging topic. 

The Rural Research Award – Dr Matthew Davidson

The RANZCP Rural Research Award is an annual prize awarded to a Trainee or Fellow and is designed to encourage research achievements and excellence in rural psychiatry.

Dr Matthew Davidson (Western Australia) is the recipient of this year’s Award, for work in the field of youth mental health in rural psychiatry.

The Section of Youth Mental Health Excellence Award – Professor James Scott

The Section of Youth Mental Health Excellence Award is presented to a psychiatry trainee or psychiatrist for outstanding contributions to the advancement of Youth Mental Health within Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand (via clinical, research, service delivery or health promotion activities).

Professor James Scott (Queensland) is the recipient of the Award in its inaugural year, for his outstanding academic contributions to the field.

The Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age Basic Psychiatric Trainee Prize - Dr Matthew Lennon

This prize recognises originality, scientific merit and contribution to the knowledge base of psychiatry of old age by a psychiatry trainee.

The 2025 Prize goes to Dr Matthew Lennon (NSW) for his well-written paper, ‘Blood Pressure, Antihypertensive Use, and Late-Life Alzheimer and Non-Alzheimer Dementia Risk: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis’. 

The Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age Prize for Best Mental Health Service Improvement - Associate Professor Yoram Barak

This award encourages and promotes the highest clinical and ethical standards in the delivery of psychiatry of old age services and is awarded for improvements focused upon the needs of people with mental illness who are older. 

Associate Professor Yoram Barak (Aotearoa New Zealand) receives the award this year for outstanding project work on ‘Effects of changing criteria on improving interRAI assessment for elder abuse: analysis of a national dataset from Aotearoa New Zealand’. 

The Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age Psychiatric Trainee Prize for Scholarly Project - Dr Claire Wise

This award is made to a current or recent Advanced Trainee in Psychiatry of Old Age for meritorious research in the field of old age psychiatry. 

Dr Claire Wise (Victoria) impressed the selection panel with her highly useful and well thought through paper ‘Characterising the Risk Factors for Falls and Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Risk Round in Reducing Falls in an Inpatient Aged Psychiatry Unit’. 

The Howard Cooper Travelling Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Dr Dipesh Bhattarai

This award is named in honour of the late Dr Howard Cooper, a former Chair of the RANZCP’s Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The Fellowship is made annually to a visiting overseas trainee psychiatrist or psychiatrist from the Asia-Pacific region who wishes to gain experience in child and adolescent psychiatry in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dr Dipesh Bhattarai from Nepal will receive the Travelling Fellowship this year.