2009 Annual Report - Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand

UROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF 

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 

2009 Annual Report 

2009 

Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand | Annual Report 2009 

www.usanz.org.au

UROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF 

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 

Suite 512 Eastpoint, 180 Ocean Street, Edgecliff NSW 2027 Australia 

Tel: +61 2 9362 8644 Fax: +61 2 9362 1433 

Email: communication@usanz.org.au Web: www.usanz.org.au 

Board of Directors: 

President: David Malouf Vice President: Stephen (Steve) Ruthven 

Patrick (Pat) Bary, Andrew Brooks, Stephen Brough, David Cook, Paul Kovac, Helen O’Connell, 

Alex Malley, Paul McRae, John Miller, David Winkle, Michael Nugara (CEO) 

Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand | Annual Report 2009 www.usanz.org.au

Contents 

USANZ Committees 2009 4 

President’s report 7 

Chief Executive Officer’s report 8 

Secretary’s report 11 

Treasurer’s report 12 

2009 Financial report 13 

TA&E/Board of Urology report 32 

Continuing Professional Development report 34 

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons report 34 

Annual Scientific Meetings 35 

Gold Coast 2009 35 

Western Australia 2010 35 

Christchurch 2011 36 

Section reports 36 

New South Wales 36 

New Zealand 37 

Northern 37 

Western Australia 37 

South Australia/Northern Territory 38 

Tasmania 38 

Victoria 38 

Australasian Urological Foundation report 39 

Prizes and awards 41 

USANZ Annual General Meeting agenda 42 

Minutes from the 62nd USANZ Annual General Meeting 43 


www.usanz.org.au

USANZ Committees 2009 

Board of Directors 

President: David Malouf 

Past-President: Patrick Bary 

Vice-President: Stephen Ruthven 

Honorary Secretary: Patrick Bary 

Honorary Treasurer: Patrick Bary 

VIC: David Cook 

NSW: David Malouf 

SA: John Miller 

WA: Paul McRae 

NZ: Patrick Bary 

TAS: Stephen Brough 

Northern/QLD: David Winkle 

Chairman, TA&E: John Miller 

Chairman, ANZAUS: Paul Kovac 

Rep on RACS Council: Helen O’Connell 

(Andrew Brooks replaced Helen O’Connell from 1 February 2009-1 February 2010) 

Policy Chair: Andrew Brooks 

External Director: Alex Malley 

External Director: vacant at time of writing 

Chief Executive Officer: Michael Nugara 

Following the adoption of USANZ’s new Constitution at the 2009 AGM, 

the Executive Committee re-constituted as a Board of Directors from 1 July 2009. 

TA&E/Board of Urology 

John Miller, Chairperson 

David Malouf, President 

Stephen Mark, Senior Examiner 

Lachlan Dodds 

Prem Rashid 

Andre Westenberg 

Jerard Ghossein 

Kym Horsell (retired 2009) 

Peter Mactaggart (commenced 2009) 

Nigel Dunglison (retired 2009) 

Dan Spernat, Trainee representative 

Philip Dundee, Trainee representative (retired 2009) 

Mark Lloyd (commenced 2009) 

Michael Nugara, Chief Executive Officer (ex-officio) 

Katrina Milbourne (Jurisdictional representative) 

Special Advisory Groups (SAGs) 

Sanjeev Bandi (Andrology SAG) 

Simon Bariol(Endourology SAG) 

Samantha Pillay (Female urology SAG) 

Peter Gilling (Male lower urinary tract SAG) 

Mark Frydenberg (Genitourinary oncology SAG) 

David Winkle (Paediatric urology SAG) 

Stephen Mark (Reconstructive urology SAG) 

Australasian Urological Foundation 

Michael Rochford, Chairman 

William Lynch, Secretary/Treasurer 

Pat Bary 

Russell McIlroy 

Adrian Porter 

Z Stan Wisniewski 

Stephen Ruthven 

Michael Nugara, Chief Executive Officer (ex-officio) 

Scientific Advisory Committee 

Z Stan Wisniewski, Chairman 

Damien Bolton 

Peter Davidson 

Robert ‘Frank’ Gardiner 

David Eisinger 

Andrew Kennedy-Smith 


Board of Directors 2009 

From left to right: P Kovac, S Ruthven (Vice President), J Miller, D Malouf (President), M 

Nugara (CEO), P McRae, S Brough, P Bary (Past President) 

Absent: D Cook, D Winkle, A Brooks, A Malley 

Vision 

The Society’s vision is to continue to work for its community to ensure the best access to the quality urological 

care its members provide. 

Mission 

The Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand is committed to clinical excellence, education, the 

promotion of research and the dissemination of information on urological topics for the benefit of the community. 

Values 

• Excellence in professional standards 

• Ethical standards of the highest order 

• Patient safety 


www.usanz.org.au

December 2009 

To all Members 

Your Board of Directors has pleasure in submitting its report for the year ending 31 December 2009. 

David Malouf 

President 

Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand 


President’s report 

David Malouf 

It gives me great pleasure to present to you the 

President’s Report for 2009-2010. It has been 

a challenging and exciting year for USANZ, 

underpinned by the adoption of the revised 

constitution and the implementation of the 2009- 

2011 Strategic Plan. 

The new constitution came into effect on 1 July 

2009. The Executive was renamed the Board 

of Directors, reflecting its revised contemporary 

structure whilst acknowledging its fiduciary 

responsibilities. The reduced size of the Board 

maintains Section representation and allows the 

appointment of up to two External Directors. The 

newly established Board position of Policy Chair will 

facilitate the development of policies in conjunction 

with the Board and the general membership. 

Any discussion of the strategic plan would be 

incomplete without acknowledging the contribution 

of the members of the old Executive, the many 

“elders” of USANZ who contributed to weekend 

workshops, and to Pat Bary and Alex Malley who 

in concert oversaw the formulation of the plan. It 

is a privilege to work with both of them, and Alex’s 

decision to accept one of the External Director’s 

positions whilst on leave from the role of CEO 

has been to USANZ’s benefit. The leadership 

model developed in recent years, involving regular 

communication between the Past President, the 

President and the Vice-President continues to serve 

USANZ well, and the Board has welcomed the 

contributions of Steve Ruthven in his role of Vice- 

President. It is also timely to acknowledge the work 

John Miller has already put in as the Chair of the 

Board of Urology. It is one of the most challenging 

and important positions within the organisation, 

given our fundamental role as urological educators. 

Our traditional alliances with the AUA, EAU and 

BAUS have consolidated with regular dialogue and 

meetings over the year. Many of the challenges we 

face are also issues for our international colleagues, 

and the exchange of ideas with regards to training, 

education, policy and interaction with external 

bodies benefits us all. We enter the third year of 

affiliate membership of the Urological Association 

of Asia (UAA) with an invitation to each of the 

Presidents of the national societies of the UAA 

Annual reports 

to attend the Perth ASM. USANZ looks forward 

to hosting the inaugural International Dinner at 

the Perth ASM, and expects that it will become 

a regular feature of the ASM program. There are 

20,000 urologists within a few hours flying time of 

our northern borders, and the opportunities for our 

organisation through interaction with urologists in 

Asia are substantial. 

In 2009 the BJUI was formally adopted as the 

USANZ journal. With this relationship comes a 

dedicated Australasian editor, currently David Nicol, 

whose role is to work with authors of manuscripts at 

an early stage and to provide support and direction 

to increase the likelihood of acceptance when 

formally submitted to the BJUI review process. 

Domestically USANZ has focused on building 

relationships with those organisations who share 

common interests and aspirations. Andrology 

Australia, the Australia and New Zealand Urogenital 

and Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP), the 

Faculty of Radiation Oncology Genito-urinary 

Group (FROGG), the Australasian Brachytherapy 

Group (ABG) and the urological nurses interact with 

USANZ with regular dialogue and/or the exchange 

of representatives. 

USANZ remains well represented and well regarded 

within RACS and Andrew Brooks has served us well 

in his capacity as RACS representative standing in 

for Helen O’Connell in 2009. Steve Ruthven serves 

on the Post-Fellowship Education and Training 

Committee (PFETC) and Pat Bary represents 

USANZ on the Professional Development and 

Standards Board (PDSB) as well as the Academy 

of Surgical Educators Advisory Committee. The 

contributions of these members and others to RACS 

committees ensure that USANZ has a voice as 

College policy is formulated. 

One of the cornerstones of the Strategic Plan is 

the development and implementation of a media 

presence and a brand strategy for USANZ. The 

Board of Directors has engaged a media consultant 

who has worked successfully to position USANZ as 

a proactive body and as the thought leader in our 

domain. The release of the 2009 Position Statement 

on PSA Testing and the USANZ contribution to the 

Australian House of Representatives Roundtable 

Forum into the sale and marketing of Impotence 

Medications are the more obvious examples, 


www.usanz.org.au

though there have been numerous other occasions 

where USANZ has featured prominently in the 

electronic and print media. The Board expects 

that the appointment of a brand consultant will be 

finalised before the end of 2009 and the process of 

developing a brand strategy will involve members of 

USANZ throughout 2010. 

Another focus of the Strategic Plan relates to 

the financial well-being of the organisation. It 

is now clearly evident that the traditional model 

of funding our educational activities through 

corporate sponsorship cannot be relied upon in the 

future. There is increasing regulation both within 

and external to the pharmaceutical and device 

industries and there is competition for sponsorship 

funds through non-USANZ educational meetings, 

the activities of other medical groups and public 

advocacy organisations. The Board of Directors will 

explore options for diversifying our income stream 

to ensure USANZ is positioned to continue its work 

as an effective educational and representative body. 

USANZ’s strength lies not only with its members 

and their professional skills and reputations, but 

also with its support staff. I have had the pleasure 

of working closely with Alex, Michael, Nick, Louise, 

Deborah, Wendy and Vaughan throughout the year 

and am constantly impressed by their loyalty and 

commitment to our organisation. In the latter part 

of 2009, Michael Nugara took on the role of acting 

CEO and has worked capably and professionally in 

this capacity. 

I would like to express my appreciation to the 

Directors of the Board for their support and effort 

over the past year. USANZ would not be in the 

strong position it is without the selfless contributions 

of each Director. Finally I would personally like to 

thank the members for the warm welcome and 

hospitality extended to Clare and myself during our 

Section Meeting travels at the end of 2009. It has 

been an honour and a pleasure to serve as your 

President for the past year, and with the support 

of the Board of Directors I look forward to guiding 

USANZ in its endeavours for a second year. ■ 

Chief Executive Officer’s report 

Michael Nugara 

USANZ began an exciting phase of it’s evolution 

in 2009 as the implementation of the 2009- 2011 

Strategic Plan commenced. For most of 2009 Alex 

Malley was in the CEO position and I worked with 

Alex to begin the implementation of the plan and to 

date we are very pleased with the progress. 

This year we engaged a media consultant who 

has guided USANZ to create and capitalise on 

opportunities where we can be seen as the authority 

on urological matters. The appointment of a brand 

consultant will be finalised before the end of 2009 

and the development of a brand strategy will be an 

exciting and significant project for USANZ in 2010. 

During 2009 members and staff have contributed 

across several areas; 

Education and Training 

• The online application system was enhanced 

this year and was well received by applicants. 

The system has generated efficiencies in 

administrative processes and improved 

workload management within the USANZ office. 

A total of 114 applications were submitted. 

• 

• 

• 

Trainee Week held in Perth this year was again, 

a great success. The content of the program 

was well received by the participants and our 

thanks go to Jerard Ghossein for his work 

as Convenor and to all other members who 

contributed to the event. 

Ongoing support and guidance to trainees and 

IMGs to assist them in complying with training 

requirements. 

The content of the USANZ Online program 

(previously known as IOTA) is currently under 

review. A weekend workshop was held to review 

the content of the various program modules 

which highlighted areas requiring rewriting. 

A Content Editorial Board is currently being 

established to facilitate this process. 

Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand | Annual Report 2009 www.usanz.org.au 

• 

USANZ greatly appreciates the significant 

contribution by John Miller in the role of Urology 

Board Chair and the contribution by members of 

the Board of Urology. I also wish to acknowledge 

Deborah Klein’s ongoing support to the Board of 

Urology and the trainees.

Governance 

• Following the constitutional changes that came 

into effect this year, the Board of Directors 

restructure is almost complete with the 

appointments of Andrew Brooks as Policy Chair 

and Alex Malley filling one of the two External 

Director positions. 

• 

• 

Internal processes and controls were 

reviewed during the year as well as significant 

improvements in the budgeting process. USANZ 

also carried out work on the development of 

an efficient online payment system which is 

expected to be commissioned in 2010. 

The appointment in September of Nick 

Danes as Chief Operating Officer has further 

strengthened the governance structure of 

USANZ. One of Nick’s key responsibilities is the 

management of the strategic alliance with the 

Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic 

Surgeons. 

committee members. 

David Malouf’s leadership and determination to 

achieve the best possible outcomes for USANZ has 

been outstanding. The achievements in David’s 

first year as President have been significant and I 

look forward to working with David to maintain the 

momentum in the second year of his term. 

Given my involvement with the development of 

the 2009- 2011 Strategic Plan, the transition to the 

acting CEO role has been seamless. However, 

David’s support and guidance has been invaluable 

in my ability to execute my responsibilities. 

I also wish to acknowledge my colleagues Deborah 

Klein, Louise Reeson, Nick Danes, Vaughan 

Parkinson and Wendy Frazer for their individual 

tireless efforts during 2009. ■ 

Continuing Professional Development 

• USANZ managed several workshops during the 

year with an increasing number of events during 

the year and planned for 2010. 

• 

• 

• 

Coordination and provision of administrative 

support to SAGs. 

Coordination of audits throughout the year in 

support of SAGs. 

Thanks go to SAG contributors and Wendy 

Frazer for their efforts this year. 

Membership and Communication 

• We continue to improve the USANZ newsletter 

and ENews, the brand strategy development will 

further enhance these important communication 

mediums. 

• 

The utilisation of the USANZ website by 

members continues to grow and the overall 

number of site visitors is also increasing. We 

anticipate this trend will continue as the USANZ 

brand strategy is developed in concert with our 

media presence. 

Acknowledgements 

I would like to acknowledge the enormous 

contribution by David Malouf, the other members 

of the Board of Directors and all the working 


www.usanz.org.au

Secretary’s report 

Pat Bary 

The Board of Directors (previously the Executive, 

pre 1 July 2009) of the Society met in the Gold 

Coast on 8 March 2009 and subsequently at the 

USANZ office in Sydney on 17 May, 16 August and 

15 November 2009. 

The Board of Directors is now composed of 12 

members of the Society. The President, Vice 

President, Past President, RACS representative 

and the ANZAUS representative are elected by 

the membership. The Policy Chair is nominated 

by the membership and elected by the Board of 

Directors (ratified by AGM). There are now two (2) 

external positions on the Board of Directors, one 

of them being filled by Alex Malley. Applications for 

the second position are currently being reviewed, 

following advertisement in the press. 

Each Section nominates and elects a representative 

who is ratified at the AGM, except where Section 

representation is already fulfilled by one of the 

above positions. The Secretary and Treasurer are 

selected from this group. 

Membership 

Since the last Annual Report, the following changes 

have occurred: 

Full Member: 

Jane MacDonald 

Lik-So (Carlo) Yuen 

Raymond Tong 

Peter Chong 

Sris Baskaranathan 

Alison Blatt 

Janelle Brennan 

Katherine Gray 

Andrew Hadley 

Malcolm Lawson 

Peter Liodakis 

Mark Louie-Johnsun 

Benjamin Martin 

Arvind Vasudevan 

Richard Wells 

Full Member Overseas: 

Malcolm Lawson 

Full Member Senior: 

Richard Nugent 

Geoffrey Buckham 

Laurence Harewood 

Trainee Member: 

Ahmad Ali 

Trenton Barrett 

Conrad Bishop 

Rick Catterwell 

Yi Yi Chen 

Janice Cheng 

Adam Davies 

Renu Eapen 

Martin Elmes 

Rachel Esler 

Ashani Fernando 

Daniel Gilbourd 

Ahmed Saeed Goolam 

Alistair Hepburn 

Paul Manohar 

Daniel Marshall 

Kevin McMillan 

George Mirmilstein 

Bradley Newell 

David Pan 

Imogen Patterson 

Handoo Rhee 

Kapil Sethi 

Shekib Shahbaz 

Philip Smith 

Daniel Steiner 

Yang Sun 

Rachel Thomson 

Matthew Threadgate 

Isaac Thyer 

Simon Van Rij 

Christopher Vernon 

Philippe Wolanski 

Eddy Wong 

Chew-Lin Yip 

Nadya York 

Homi Zargar Shoshtari 

Kamran Zargar Shoshtari 

Richard Johnston 

Ashani Fernando 

Charles Han 

Associate Member – Urological: 

Jon-Paul Meyer 

Siva Prasad Gourabathini 

Associate Medical Member: 

Warick Delprado 

Branimir Rajcik 

10 Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand | Annual Report 2009 www.usanz.org.au

Associate Member – Scientific/Research: 

Colleen Nelson 

Mr Malte Wellhausen 

Provisional Member: 

Gias Ahmed 

Joseph Schoeman 

Santoshi Nagaonkar 

Christophe Chemasle 

Resignations: 

Greg Watters 

Reynold Noronha 

Ian Fletcher 

Petr Macek 

Kenneth Opeskin 

Alastair Tulloch 

____________________________________ 

Treasurer’s report 

Pat Bary 

The consequences of the global financial crisis 

were felt throughout 2009. Despite this, USANZ 

produced a healthy operating result in 2009. For the 

large part, this was a timing matter with most of the 

financial support from the medical industry locked in 

and paid before the global financial crisis took hold 

in early 2009. In future years the support from the 

medical industry may decline as medical companies 

prune their marketing budgets to extract the best 

possible value they can. In such circumstances, 

the support by the USANZ members at USANZ 

functions is critical to maintaining industry support. 

Operations 

USANZ generated an operating surplus of 

$547,268.16. This is down compared to last years 

operating performance of $750,714.07. The decline 

in overall profitability is attributable to additional 

expenditure related to the implementation of the 

2009-2011 Strategic Plan, which included the 

engagement of a media advisor and work on 

brand development. Other contributing factors 

were increased IT costs related to streamlining 

back office processes along with PAYWAY Net 

and shopping cart web development. Legal fees 

were also increased following the rewriting of the 

Constitution as well as a conservative provision 

for doubtful debts. In addition, costs of conducting 

USANZ activities have also increased but have 

been moderated by efficiency gains obtained over 

the year. It is anticipated that as USANZ continues 

to grow increasing costs will erode hard won 

efficiency gains. 

Financial Position 

During course of 2009 USANZ maintained 

its conservative cash investment strategy. As 

at 31 December 2009 our cash assets were 

$5,920,681.19 compared to $5,327,286.00 at 

the same time last year. There was an increase 

of $803,404.15 in interest bearing funds and the 

proportion of interest bearing funds earning 4% 

or better increased from 37.5% to 46.1% of cash 

assets. Total assets were up from $7,127,976.89 to 

$7,800,282.52 and net assets from $5,548,825.47 

to $5,894,582.11. Factored into the numbers above 

is a unrealised gain from our Portfolio Investment of 

8.40% from $616,809.92 to $668,626.47, recovering 

some of last year’s loss (this investment has been 

in place since 1999); and a restatement of the 

treatment of ANZAUS net assets. 

Cash Flow 

Net cash from operations has decreased from 

$1,530,875.16 in 2008 to $440,953.18 in 2009. 

Interest earnings have declined from $213,638.78 to 

$184,292.02 over the fiscal year. The surplus from 

the Gold Coast 2009 ASM was $555,672.36. 

Overall 

For 2009 members can be well pleased with the 

performance and accountability of the USANZ 

management team. In future years USANZ will face 

new challenges in the form of reduced financial 

support from the industry and increasing demands 

to produce and run high quality events with 

increasing delegates. USANZ has budgeted for a 

tough year in 2010 with expected falls in revenue 

streams including sponsorship which may be 

offset marginally by possible increases in interest 

earnings. Cost growth of approximately 2% in 

overall terms is expected. Member subscriptions will 

increase by the CPI as approved by the Board. 

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the work 

of Alex Malley, Michael Nugara and Vaughan 

Parkinson during 2009 and to welcome Nick Danes 

to the USANZ team. ■ 

Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand | Annual Report 2009 www.usanz.org.au 11





















TA&E/Board of Urology report 

John Miller 

The last 12 months has continued to be a year of 

change and increasing demands on the Board of 

Urology and those involved in training. The ongoing 

management of the Surgical Education and Training 

Programme has continued to create challenges that 

have consumed considerable time and energy. 

I would like to acknowledge the difficult and superb 

efforts of the former Board Chairman, Philip Sprott, 

in terms of establishing many protocols that have 

streamlined many of the Board’s processes and 

procedures. 

Board of Urology Membership 

At this time, I would like to acknowledge the 

substantial and valuable contributions of the 

members of the Board of Urology whose terms 

concluded in 2009: 

Stephen Ruthven (NSW) 

Stephen Mark (NZ) 

Kym Horsell (SA) 

Nigel Dunglison (Northern Section) 

These members were replaced by: 

Prem Rashid, NSW TA&E Chairperson 

Andre Westenberg, NZ TA&E Chairperson 

Mark Lloyd, SA TA&E Chairperson 

Peter Mactaggart, Northern Section TA&E 

Chairperson 

Philip Dundee was also a valued and enthusiastic 

contributor to the Board in his role as trainee 

representative over the last two years and I thank 

him for his efforts. In 2010 we will welcome onto the 

Board a new Trainee Representative, Alexandra 

Hockings, a SET4 trainee from WA. 

I am extremely grateful for the continuing dedication 

and commitment from all members of the Board and 

others who have provided their guidance, knowledge 

and input throughout the year. Our achievements 

over the last 12 months are testament to this 

combined effort. 

Trainees 

At the end of 2009, there were 126 trainees 

participating in the SET Programme in Urology. The 

distribution was as follows: 

SET 1: 18 

SET 2: 16 

SET 3: 23 

SET 4: 21 

SET 5: 19 

SET 6: 22 

Interruption: 4 

Fulltime Research: 3 

Selection 

Urology continued to attract a large number 

of applicants with 114 applications processed. 

Applications were processed via a urology specific 

online application and assessment system accessible 

from the USANZ website. The Board of Urology 

utilsed the College referees report which streamlined 

the workload involved in the distribution and return 

of referees reports. As applicants needed to be 

interviewed by two separate panels, all interviews 

were held in Sydney. 

The Board appointed the following 19 new trainees 

who will commence in 2010. 

• SET 1 

NZ – Imran Ali, James Johnston 

VIC – Kevin Chu, Briony Norris, Nieroshan 

Rajarubendra, Nikhil Sapre, Mahesha Weerakoon 

QLD – Anuj Gupta, Kieran Hart 

NSW – Gregory Kiss, Petar Penkov, Amanda Tan 

• SET 3 

NSW – Stuart Collins, Norbert Doeuk, Kesley Pedler, 

Mariolyn Raj, Richard Savdie 

SA – Alexander Jay 

NZ – Stefan Antoniou 

The Board of Urology also appointed the following 

five trainees, who have deferred commencing clinical 

training in order to undertake full time research. 

Urology maintains a high profile in research. 

NZ - Arman Adam Kahokehr 

VIC – Matthew Hong, Philip Tan, Anthony Ta 

NSW – James Symons 

Earlier in the year, the Education & Training Manager, 

Victorian TA&E Chairperson and I participated in a 

Selection Workshop at the College facilitated by an 

international expert in selection. The current selection 

processes across all specialties were discussed in 

terms of validity, robustness and the ability to select 

applicants with the best attributes to train. 


SET Urology Trainees Occupying General 

Surgical Posts 

A Service Agreement drafted and circulated by the 

Board in General Surgery (BiGs) in relation to the 

appointment and allocation of non General Surgical 

trainees into SET1 and SET2 posts generated a 

significant amount of work and discussion regarding 

the ongoing allocation of urology trainees into general 

surgical posts. Discussions have been held with the 

Board in General Surgery and College leadership 

to formulate a workable solution for 2010 and the 

future. The Board of Urology has appreciated the 

acknowledgement by BiGs and the College that 

SET Urology registrars cannot be completely trained 

in urology units and as such require exposure and 

training in general surgical units. Progress is being 

made in developing a platform for accommodating 

SET1 and SET2 Urology trainees in posts providing 

adequate exposure. 

Hospital Inspections 

There were 12 hospital posts inspected and 

accredited 2009. Again, this was only achieved with 

the selfless contributions of Board and non-Board 

members of our Society, for which I and the Board 

are deeply grateful. 

Payments For Hospital Training Post Inspections 

The College has revisited the policy regarding 

charging for hospital inspections. As hospital 

administrators and State Departments of Health have 

refused to pay such invoices, the College accepts 

they have little power to force the jurisdictions to 

pay. The College now insists that new training post 

inspections can only occur if the nominated post 

pays the inspection fee. No new training posts 

can be inspected or accredited without payment. 

Inspections of pre-existing posts can occur, however 

these posts will also be invoiced but will not receive 

a final report or certificate of accreditation until the 

invoice is paid. As such, there will be no interference 

with the training of current trainees and the Board will 

continue to appoint to the posts that are known to be 

appropriately accredited. The College opinion is that 

the policy will carry more weight when hospitals are 

required to submit accreditation certificates at the 

time of their federal accreditation. A lack of surgical 

post accreditation certificates may result in nonaccreditation 

with the national standards body and 

loss of federal and other funding for the respective 

hospital. 

Fellowship Examinations 

In 2009, a number of trainees and IMGs passed the 

Fellowship Examination and the Board would like to 

congratulate the following on their success: 

Nazim AHMAD, Kevin BAX, Adrian CLUBB, Niall 

CORCORAN, Elizabeth DALLY, Adam DAVIES, 

Philip DUNDEE, Andrew FULLER, Hans GOOSSEN, 

Tanya HA, Anthony HUTTON, Said JABOUB, 

Richard JOHNSTON, Akshay KOTHARI, Benjamin 

KWOK, Anna LAWRENCE, Scott LESLIE, Pascal 

MANCUSO, Sue-Min OOI, Christopher TRACEY, Lih- 

Ming WONG 

Urology had the highest pass rate of any specialty 

in the May examinations which is a tribute to the 

candidates, their supervisors and the training 

program. 

Admissions To Fellowship 

The Board wishes to congratulate the following 

USANZ members who completed their training in 

2009 and received their FRACS (Urol): 

NSW – Peter Chong, Clair Whelan, Said Jaboub, 

QLD – Benjamin Martin, David Dangerfield, Akshay 

Kothari, Carlo Yuen 

VIC – Dennis Gyomber, Mark Forbes, Peter Liodakis, 

Raymond Tong 

NZ – Ahmad Al-Sameraaii 

Skills And Education Workshops 

In 2009, the Board of Urology conducted three 

substantial workshops for trainees. 

The Anatomy of Complications workshop was 

conducted in late November at CTEC in Perth for 

SET 5 trainees. 

The Introductory Skills Workshop, for SET 2 

trainees about to enter their first year of clinical 

urology training, was conducted in late November 

at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 

Melbourne. 

Trainee Week was held in Perth in late November. 

The Board of Urology extends sincere gratitude to 

Jerard Ghossein for developing an educationally 

stimulating programme with a team of expert 

facilitators. Highlights included practice vivas, a site 

visit to Uropath, an interactive presentation by a male 

infertility expert and case discussions facilitated by 

senior trainees. As part of a reciprocal arrangement 

with the European Association of Urology and the 

Urological Association of Asia, USANZ hosted Dr 

Vlad Petcu (Romania), Dr Martin Haydter (Austria) 

Dr Prabhjot Singh (India) and Dr Pei-Yu Lin (Taiwan). 


Each of them provided complimentary feedback 

regarding the programme and the hospitality 

extended to them by USANZ and the trainees. 

Education Programme 

• Education Programme Matrix – Section/ 

Trainee Week 

An educational matrix of topics based on the 

training programme and the current curriculum is 

under construction with emphasis on depth of topic 

knowledge to be covered at a hospital, sectional and 

trainee week level. 

• USANZ Online Educational Program 

The Board of Urology and Urology Executive, 

AstraZeneca representatives, educational online 

specialists and nominated members of USANZ and 

senior trainees reviewed the content and format 

of the on-line educational program at an intensive 

weekend workshop in August. Progress is being 

made with a planned re-launch of a more meaningful 

and useful product taking place in 2010. 

Finally I wish to thank Anita Clarke for her hard work 

with RACS, on our behalf. ■ 

____________________________________ 

Continuing Professional Development 

Pat Bary 

The USANZ online project is advancing. It 

is nearing the finish of a gap analysis before 

continuing with expansion and inclusion of 

appropriate radiology to create an excellent tool for 

education of trainees and urologists in the Society. 

The RACS PDSB met on 27 October. This is a 

summary of the meeting: 

1. A working party to establish guidelines for digital 

imaging methods has now completed its work, 

providing recommendations for the delivery, 

access and viewing of diagnostic quality images 

for providers and clinicians. 

2. The correct patient, side, procedure, site 

document put up by the WHO has been adopted 

by RACS, has as yet only been mandated by the 

NZMC, but not any Australian body. 

3. CPD reporting online has continued to grow, 

now 21% of Fellows. 

4. Australian Day Surgery Council – made up 

representatives of many different groups 

– RACS; hospitals; private health insurance; 

nurses; anaesthetists, etc. There are now 280 

Day Care hospitals in Australia. Questions were 

34 Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand | Annual Report 2009 www.usanz.org.au 

asked why a separate entity needs to exist as 

it is a major part of surgery and should come 

under RACS aegis. Day Care hospitals should 

be seen as untapped teaching resource for 

trainee surgeons. 

5. Policies for admission to and retirement from 

Fellowship were updated. 

6. Policies for breaches of RACS code of conduct 

were tabled. 

7. CPD policy for 2010-2012 to include compulsory 

participation in the Australian and NZ Audit of 

Mortality where an audit is available. Verification 

will increase from 2.5% to 3.5% of Fellows. 

8. PDSB endorses use of Younger Fellows’ logo 

but discussion as to whether should be with 

RACS Coat of Arms. 

9. Continue to improve % of supervisors and 

trainers who receive training in medical 

education (25% so far). 

10. Ethnicity box in Fellows’ transcript to be to 

identify Maori or ATSI only – NZ section of 

RACS thought should be all ethnicities – not 

changed. 

11. Vascular surgery audit developing well. Looks 

good but is expensive - >$100K. Not available 

for PDAs yet. 

12. ASERNIP-S has undergone review with a 

recommendation that it be associated with 

the University of Adelaide to allow full funding 

(including ancillary benefits it does not at this 

time get) to pass to it, the university being happy 

to simply act as the conduit and therefore to 

have its books look better by the amount passed 

on. 

13. NZOA joint registry now 10 yrs old. 98% of 

surgeons enter cases on registry. It enables 

NZOA to notify surgeons whose outcomes fall 

outside parameters. Anonymous to begin with, 

they have a number of steps that mean they 

first must present to their local M&M meeting, ie: 

identify themselves. If not helped by that, their 

name will be notified to the NZOA that can then 

dictate to them what they need to do. It looks 

robust and fair and could possibly be adapted by 

USANZ. ■ 

____________________________________ 

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 

Andrew Brooks 

Helen O’Connell took leave of absence from her 

position as Elected Councillor for Urology for the 

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), 

from 1 February 2009 for a period of 12 months. As

such I was asked to stand in Helen’s place and was 

duly appointed as a co-opted member of the Council, 

with limited voting rights. 

In the term of 2010, a number of issues of relevance 

to urologists have come before the Council of RACS. 

RACS has decided to form an Academy of Surgical 

Educators. The purpose of this is to act as an 

educational resource within RACS to support both 

the training and continuing professional development 

(CPD) programs. The terms of reference have been 

set and applications for appointment to the Academy 

have been requested from the membership. There 

will be limited representation from the specialist 

societies. 

USANZ offered some objection to the constituency 

of the Academy, though not to the formation of the 

Academy in principle. The major objection was the 

lack of adequate representation for those bodies 

which actually deliver RACS’ educational program. 

The Academy has yet to start functioning and it 

will be in the fullness of time that we will see how it 

interacts with our own urological training programs. 

RACS has developed a Code of Conduct with 

respect to its membership’s association with the 

medical industry. It is a little stricter than that 

developed by USANZ and I would urge all members 

to visit the RACS website: www.surgeons.org and 

appraise themselves of the Code of Conduct. 

National registration is pending and the legislation 

governing national registration is currently before 

Federal Parliament. It would appear that while there 

will be national registration, the disciplinary arms of 

the current state registration committees will remain 

state-based, but will interact with the federal body. 

There will also be a requirement for documentation of 

CPD to retain national registrations. 

RACS has supported the World Health Organisation 

(WHO’s) protocol in regards to operative procedures. 

This is meant as a template to be customised and 

added to as each individual jurisdiction applies the 

protocol to its relevant practice. The protocol is 

available on the RACS website. ■ 

Annual Scientific Meetings 

Gold Coast 2009 

Mark Frydenberg 

The 2009 USANZ ASM was well attended with 437 

USANZ delegates, 178 ANZUNS delegates and 176 

Trade, but only 25 accompanying partners - many 

of whom were partners of the organising committee 

and guests. This trend may need investigating, as if 

it continues it may not be viable to have accompanying 

partner activities as part of the ASM program. 

We were fortunate to listen to a truly memorable 

Harry Harris Oration from Julian Burnside QC, on 

the very topical issue of human rights and refugee 

status in Australia. The delegates were also fortunate 

to have heard many excellent presentations 

from the invited guests Urs Studer, Michael Blute, 

Joel Sheinfeld, Dean Knoll, Phillippe Zimmern and 

Richard Gaston as well as from several local experts, 

both urological and non-urological. 

I would want to extend my sincere thanks to the 

Trade for all their sponsorship of the meeting. I 

also thank Daniel Moon - Scientific Convenor for 

his enormous efforts; the unit from Southern Health 

(Monash) for their support in organising the meeting; 

to my wife Barb for her assistance with all the social 

activities; Michael Nugara and Alex Malley for providing 

financial guidance for the project, and lastly 

to Kelly Logan and her team from Events Planners 

who helped arrange the meeting in a most professional 

fashion. 

It was a wonderful experience being the ASM convenor 

and I would encourage any urologist to volunteer 

for this task in the future as it is enormously 

rewarding to successfully contribute to USANZ and 

to your colleagues. ■ 

Western Australia 2010 

Andrew Tan 

The organising committee of the 2010 USANZ ASM 

is looking forward to warmly welcoming delegates 

to Perth from 21-24 February 2010. An exciting 

and educational scientific program has been put 

together including topics such as prostate and renal 

cancer, reconstructive and plastic surgery in urology, 

paediatric urology, incontinence and BPH. 

The scientific meeting will conclude with a session on 


Controversies in The Provision of Urology Services 

- not to be missed! This year we are dispensing with 

a formal sports afternoon, partly because the level of 

participation in the past has not always justified the 

time and expense involved in organising this. The 

scientific program and trade displays will continue to 

the end of the meeting on Wednesday. There will 

be no session on the Thursday morning. 

Sponsorship this year has been harder to come 

by. This is a work in progress but the likelihood of 

a shortfall is high compared with previous years. 

This had been anticipated to some degree because 

of economic conditions but here is no doubt that 

other factors are important, including an increasing 

number of USANZ sanctioned meetings which are 

diluting the pool of money available for the ASM. This 

will however be a great meeting, with new features 

such as video poster boards and Twitter updates. As 

always there will be plenty of opportunities for social 

interaction against the stunning backdrop of Perth. 

I look forward to seeing you in Perth ■ 

Christchurch 2011 

Jane MacDonald 

The Christchurch urologists and New Zealand 

Urology Nurses group are hosting our scientific 

meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011, 

commencing on 20 February. We are getting the 

framework together and obviously we will pick up 

momentum this year. 

Our venue is the Christchurch Convention Centre 

which is a modern, purpose built facility in central 

Christchurch. The team there have hosted 

large international medical and non-medical 

conferences. It will be an ideal venue for our event. 

The associated hotels have also been booked in 

advance, as have the social venues. Kelly Logan 

from Events Planners and Michael Nugara are 

coming over for a site visit after the Perth ASM in 

February 2010. 

Our scientific themes will include spinal/ 

neurourology, bladder cancer, paediatric urology, 

female urology, training and education and hopefully 

andrology. This depends somewhat on successfully 

appointing keynote speakers and that process is 

underway. We will ensure subtopics do not overlap 

with the Perth program. 

I note that the sports day has been omitted at the 

Perth ASM and given the reduced interest in recent 


years, I can understand this. However, we are very 

keen to feature Canterbury’s great outdoors as a 

theme of this conference and planned to use the 

sports day as a Big Day Out and a highlight of the 

conference. It will be a sports day with a difference 

and we will be really disappointed if this has to be 

cancelled. I am sure we can discuss this further at 

some stage. 

I am keen to appoint our speakers as soon as 

possible but other than that I think we have the 

bones in place ■ 

____________________________________ 

Section reports 

New South Wales 

Fin Macneil 

The section has undertaken a change in 

governance with the executive now comprised of 

Past Chair (Henry Woo), Vice Chair (congratulations 

to Mohamed Khadra on his election), current Chair 

(Finlay Macneil) and Secretary (Michael Wines). 

This structure will enable the section to develop a 

“corporate memory” and thereby avoid re-inventing 

the wheel each year. 

The thrust of Henry Woo’s chairmanship has been 

to re-invigorate the educational role of the section 

with mid year meetings on emerging technology and 

closer co-operation with UOP as well as co-badging 

some of their meetings. 

The mid-year meeting this year was a dinner 

meeting on emerging technology and the diagnosis 

of prostate cancer – the use of genotyping, PCA3, 

other serum markers, PET and MRI. Frank Gardiner, 

Damien Bolton and Kris Rasiah gave excellent 

distillations of the ‘state of the art’ in these areas. 

We plan to continue this format in the future. There 

are now also plans for further educational meetings 

at the beginning of the year as well, so watch this 

space. 

The NSW section annual meeting was held in Shoal 

Bay on Port Stephens and continued the recent 

trend of increased participation by members of the 

section. The invited experts, Prof Judd Moul from 

Duke and A/Prof Helen O’Connell, entertained 

and enlightened registrars and consultants alike. 

The meeting tried a new mode of presentation of 

registrars’ research in response to the increased 

number of registrars now in the section. The

esearch was displayed as a poster as well as 

giving a three minute podium presentation and two 

minutes of questions from the audience. This format 

will be retained with slightly longer for questions in 

2010. 

The Section’s congratulations goes to all the 

registrars who passed the fellowship exams. We 

wish them all the best in their fellowships and look 

forward to them re-joining us after the fellowships. ■ 

New Zealand 

Peter Davidson 

The NZ Section has been through a process of reevaluation. 

A weekend of discussion about future 

direction and activity has been productive. As part of 

this a monthly teleconference has been established 

with representatives from all centres being involved. 

Three New Zealand Urology Trainees passed their 

exams, and to be congratulated are Anna Lawrence, 

Adam Davies and Richard Johnston. 

This year’s annual section meeting was held in 

Napier. This was a successful meeting with David 

Quinlan being an invited guest from Ireland. Frank 

Gardiner joined us from Queensland and there 

were many local contributors. One of the highlights 

of the meeting was a Petcha Kutcha session with 

fast-fire presentation related to events that had 

changed the practice of Urologists. David Mason 

and Kim Broome are to be congratulated for the 

success of this meeting. The NZ Section meeting in 

2010 will be held on 11-12 November in Nelson - 

Andy Malcolm is confirmed as the Convenor for this 

meeting. 

Finally, the Chairmanship of the Section changes 

according to the Constitution at the Perth meeting 

in February 2010. Mark Fraundorfer is the incoming 

Chairman. ■ 

Northern 

Roger Hinsch 

The section voted almost unanimously to gift the 

Urological Cancer Research Society $10,000 

towards the running of their Annual Scientific 

Meeting held in Port Douglas this year. 

The year was tumultuous in that we lost David Nicol 

to the Royal Free Hospital in London, there were 

two robotic prostatectomy units commissioned, 

one at Greenslopes Private Hospital and one 

at Royal Brisbane Hospital, directed by Geoff 

Coughlan. Details are being finalised to commence 

a prospective trial through the RBH examining 

the relative benefits of Robotic prostate surgery 

compared with traditional approaches in a scientific 

fashion. Hopefully this research will receive the 

support it deserves. 

Our ASM was held in Byron Bay in October. We 

welcomed David Malouf, and Michael Nugara from 

USANZ. Our guests included local histopathology, 

medical oncology, radiation oncology and medical 

imaging experts. The meeting was multidisciplinary 

and well received. 

At our AGM at Byron Bay, several members of 

our section expressed dismay at how the USANZ 

position statement regarding PSA assessment had 

been formulated and rolled-out. These members 

felt the statement did not represent their views 

regarding the issue, and after intense debate, no 

compromise could be reached, and it was asked 

that David Malouf relay the disappointment some of 

the section felt in this regard. 

We look forward to 2010 being relatively less 

unsettled than 2009. ■ 

Western Australia 

Paul McRae 

The WA section meeting has just concluded and 

was very successful. The section appreciated 

the effort of David Malouf to attend the meeting, 

which include a three hour drive to Smith’s Beach 

near Margaret River. The new Forest Hwy has just 

opened, reducing the journey by 30-40 minutes. 

There have been four successful candidates for 

the Fellowship examination, Adrian Clubb, Hans 

Goossen, Akshay Kothari, and Chris Tracey. The 

winners of travelling fellowships were: Stuart 

Philip - Hospira, Sanjeev Bandi - Abbott, and Nigel 

Dunglison and David Hussey - AstraZeneca. 

Section members have been busy organising the 

2010 ASM here in Perth. East coast visitors can 

try the highway for themselves and sample all that 

Margaret River has to offer! 

The da Vinci robot is busier than ever, six surgeons 

are now using this regularly. I may be forced to 


start using it for my vasectomies, just to remain 

competitive! The WA prostate cancer data base 

continues to grow, all section members submit 

specimens to a central pathology service which 

greatly assists a sensible audit. 

We look forward to seeing as many USANZ 

members as possible at the ASM. ■ 

South Australia 

Kim Moretti 

first offered and the irony of Michael’s success in the 

Victorian ballot was greatly appreciated. Michael is 

subsequently unable to attend the 2010 AUA, and at 

the time of writing, Abbott is conducting a re-draw of this 

grant. 

Former Launceston registrar Lih-Ming Wong passed 

the FRACS Part 2 examination earlier this year. He will 

travel to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge next year 

on Fellowship and then on to Toronto the year after. We 

wish him every success in his career. ■ 

The SA Section had a very successful State meeting 

at the National Wine Centre, with a star contingent 

of Australian invited guests including Howard Lau, 

Ronnie Cohen, David Malouf and Daniel Moon. We 

departed from the usual golf and tennis sporting 

afternoon and instead opted for dragon boat 

races on the River Torrens. Many local members 

displayed talents and abilities they were unaware 

of! Mark Lloyd was presented with the award for 

the best paper. Trainees Kevin Bax and Andrew 

Fuller passed the second part examination. During 

the year all major teaching hospitals in SA were 

equipped with prostatectomy capable Holmium 

Lasers which should benefit the public health 

system in the future. Adrian Porter was elected 

as the new State Chairman, and Brian Landers 

continues his appointment as Secretary/Treasurer. ■ 

Tasmania 

Stephen Brough 

The Annual Scientific Section Meeting was held at the 

Hobart Convention Centre on 13-14 November and 

was convened by Frank Redwig. Our principal guest 

speaker was Stephen Mark from Christchurch who 

spoke most eloquently on group urological practice, 

making services cost effective and the work-life balance. 

We were pleased to welcome David Malouf and 

Michael Nugara from the USANZ office. 

At the Annual Business Meeting of the Section, 

members unanimously awarded Tasmanian Section 

Life Memberships to Alan Holmes, Don Moss, DI 

“Robbie” Roberts and James Wong in recognition of 

their outstanding contributions to Tasmanian Urology 

over many years. 

Michael Vaughan was successful in obtaining an Abbott 

travelling fellowship to the AUA next year. Section 

members were a little disappointed to be ignored 

by Abbott when these fellowships were generously 


Victoria 

Richard McMullin 

The 2009 Victorian Section Annual State Meeting 

was held in Ballarat from 6-9 November, at the 

Mercure Lodge. In commemoration of the 15 th 

anniversary of the publication of “The Origin of 

Species” by Charles Darwin in 1859, the theme of 

the meeting was evolve. 

Our main scientific guest was Professor Mike 

Wallace from the Urology department of the Queen 

Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK. Mike shared 

his time with the WA State Meeting, which had 

been held in Margaret River two weekends earlier. 

An additional guest was Professor Dallas English, 

a cancer epidemiologist from the University of 

Melbourne. Finally, Professor Bob Morrison, from 

Flinders University, a zoologist and broadcaster 

rather than a medical doctor, spoke on Charles 

Darwin. We were honoured to have Past-President 

Pat Bary and USANZ CEO Alex Malley in 

attendance. 

The weekend began with a registrars’ dinner, giving 

us the chance to meet Prof and Mrs Wallace and 

relax before the meeting. Friday morning was 

spent in an interactive registrar education session, 

organised by Lachlan Dodds, focusing on bladder 

cancer. A contentious case was presented and 

various registrars presented discussion points 

related to clinical management. Expert commentary 

was provided by Mike Wallace, with repeated 

interruptions from the Ballarat urologists. 

The nurses’ educational meeting was held on the 

Friday. Attendance was high and the feedback 

excellent. Many nurses stayed for the urologists’ 

meeting over the weekend. 

The meeting proper comprised four scientific 

sessions, each of about two hours. Two were held

on Saturday morning and two on Sunday morning. 

The scientific sessions were excellently organised 

by Rob Forsyth. Mike Wallace spoke on the West 

Midlands Bladder Cancer research project, the case 

for open partial nephrectomy and the evolution of 

urology subspecialisation in the UK. Dallas English 

gave an epidemiological perspective on prostate 

cancer screening and Rob Morrison presented an 

extended, witty poem on an Australian perspective 

on the prolonged illness of Charles Darwin. 

Numerous Victorian urologists, trainees and others 

presented papers on a variety of urological subjects. 

Saturday afternoon was spent in recreation at 

Sovereign Hill, on a local winery tour or at the Forest 

Resort golf course at nearby Creswick. 

On Saturday night, the annual dinner was held 

at the conference venue. We were entertained 

by Australian humorist and folk musician Greg 

Champion, followed by brassy Ballarat ensemble, 

the “Biggish Band”. 

The meeting was magnificently put together by 

Professional Conference Organiser Jacqui Muir, 

whom I strongly recommend to future convenors. 

The artwork surrounding the evolve theme was well 

presented. Many aspects of the organisation of the 

meeting were internet-based, including liaison with 

the trade, registration, presentation of abstracts and 

a weekly email reminder system. 

I would like to pass on many thanks to the Trade 

for their generous support of the meeting, and to 

the Victorian urologists, trainees and nurses who 

attended. ■ 

____________________________________ 

Australasian Urological Foundation 

Michael Rochford 

During 2009 the principle activity of the Foundation 

continues to be the provision of grants for urological 

research carried out by members of the Urological 

Society of Australia and New Zealand. 

the investment income from cash investments, term 

deposits and bank bills decreased due to the fall in 

interest rates. Also in 2009 our donations from the 

medical companies for the research grants were not 

forthcoming. 

Therefore the Board has had to reduce the amount 

of funding available for 2010. The Bruce Pearson 

fellowship has been set at up to $75,000. The three 

research grants have been set at up to $30,000 

each. These will be fully funded by the Foundation. 

The Foundation continues to support a PhD fellow 

at the University of Queensland and has paid the 

fees of trainees attending the CLEAR Course in 

2009. 

Fellowship and Grants for Tenure in 2010 

• 

The Bruce Pearson Fellowship continues to 

be our principle research grant. This grant is for 

up to $75,000 and is funded by the Australasian 

Urological Foundation. 

The Bruce Pearson Fellowship, for tenure in 2010, 

was awarded to Damien Bolton for the project: 

“Prostate Cancer in BRCA2 Mutation Carriers” 

• AUF Research Grants: Three awards for research 

were made in 2009, for tenure in 2010. 

These grants are for up to $30,000 each and were 

funded by the Australasian Urological Foundation in 

2009. The recipients were: 

a) Paul Sved for the project: 

“Relationship between Arachidonic Acid and Protein 

Kinase B Signalling Pathways in Prostate Cancer” 

b) Kapil Sethi for the project: 

“Ischaemic Preconditioning of the Kidney through 

HIF1a” 

c) Benjamin Namdarian for the project: 

“Steroid synthesis in castrate resistant prostate 

cancer tissue” 

The financial position of the Foundation has been 

affected by the Global Financial Crisis in three 

respects. In 2008 and 2009 there has been a capital 

loss in on investments in managed funds. In the 

financial statement for 2008 the operating profit of 

$214,024 was countered by a loss on investments 

of $392,989 giving a deficit of $178,965. This loss 

for 2009 will be much less and will be reflected in 

the accounts to 31 December 2009. During 2009 

All applications for research grants are considered 

and adjudicated by a Scientific Committee appointed 

by the Trustee of the Foundation. 

Travel Grants 

Travel grants for laparoscopic preceptorships were 

not available in 2009 because of changes in staff at 

the Cleveland Clinic. 


PhD Scholarship 

The Foundation has awarded a scholarship for a 

trainee to complete a PhD as part of their urological 

training. The scholarship is for $25,000 per year for 

three years, subject to annual review. 

Dr Vela has completed his PhD at the end of 2008. 

A new award has been made to Dr Morgan Pokorny 

to commence in 2009. Again this project is in conjunction 

with the University of Queensland. 

Registrar Grants for CLEAR Course 

A grant was paid to those registrars who attended 

the Critical Literature Evaluation and Research 

(CLEAR) Course in 2009 and have applied Foundation 

for reimbursement. The current cost of the 

CLEAR Course is AUD $1075.00. The cost to the 

Foundation for 2009 was $9244.00 

Funding 

The Foundation during 2009 has made all funds 

available from its own resources. Total funds 

awarded for tenure in 2009- 2010 being in excess of 

$155,000 

Donations from members of the Urological Society 

of Australasia totaled $2480.50 for 2009. A list of 

donors is appended: 

Mark Frydenberg; Trung Pham; Edward Korbel; 

John Miller; Richard McMullin; Henry Woo; Andres 

Estrugo; Simon Bariol; Glen Coorey; Kwok Kee 

Wong; Lawrence Hayden; William Lynch; Daniel 

Marshall; David Van Der Straaten; Michael Rochford; 

Peter Maher; Bertram Canagasingham; 

Vignarajah Subramanian; J Yates 

As previously stated, in keeping with recent changes 

in conditions of awarding research grants the 

Foundation requires each recipient to enter into an 

Intellectual Property agreement with the Foundation. 

The Foundation is not seeking any returns but 

needs to protect the Foundation and it directors as 

required by the companies act. 

The Financial Statement to 31 December 2009 will 

be prepared in early 2010 but may not be available 

for presentation at the AGM in Perth. The Foundation 

has been affected by the world financial crisis. 

The extent has been significant enough to force a 

re-evaluation of some future projects. 

The Board would like to thank all members who 

make donations to the Foundation, which is for the 

benefit of all members of the Society. We also wish 

to thank the Board of Directors of the Urological 

Society for providing management and secretarial 

services. In particular we thank Louise Reeson and 

Michael Nugara for their ongoing help and assistance 

during 2009. 

We welcome Steve Ruthven as a new director of the 

Foundation being the Vice President of the Urological 

Society of Australia and New Zealand. 

Directors 

The present directors of the Trustee (Australasian 

Urology Pty Limited) are: 

MJ Rochford (Chairman), WJ Lynch (Secretary 

Treasurer), 

R McIlroy, AJ Porter, S Wisniewski, P Bary, 

S Ruthven. ■ 

Fellowship and Grants 2010 

With the present loss of participation of the medical 

companies, the level of funding for grants will be 

reviewed from 2010 both in number and value. 

All awards will continue to be advertised via the 

Society Newsletter, website and email. 

All applications will be forwarded to the Academic 

Committee of the Foundation for consideration. 

Closing date will be 31 May 2010. 


USANZ Prizes and Awards 2009 

Keith Kirkland Prize, 

including a Karl Storz Travelling Fellowship 

Lih-Ming Wong 

Villis Marshall Research Prize, 

including a Karl Storz Travelling Fellowship 

Joseph Ischia 

BAUS Trophy 

David Sofield 

Alban Gee Poster Prize 

Pamela Russell 

AMS Travelling Fellowship 

Jeremy Grummet 

Society Medal 

Andrew Brooks 


Agenda for the 63rd 

Annual General Meeting 

UROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 

Agenda for the 63rd Annual General Meeting of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand, to be 

held at 4.30pm on Wednesday 24 February 2010 

at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Western Australia 

1. Present 

2. Apologies 

3. Minutes of the 62nd Annual General Meeting held at 12.35pm, Thursday 12 March 2009 at the Gold 

Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gold Coast , Australia 

4. Business arising from the minutes 

5. President’s report 

6. Report of the Chief Executive 

7. Secretary’s report 

8. Treasurer’s report 

9. Annual reports of the Society 

9.1: TA&E/Board of Urology (J Miller) 

9.2: Continuing Professional Development Committee (P Bary) 

9.3: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (A Brooks) 

9.4: Annual Scientific Meeting 2009 (M Frydenberg) 

9.5: Annual Scientific Meeting 2010 (A Tan) 

9.6: Annual Scientific Meeting 2011 (J Macdonald) 

9.7: Australasian Urological Foundation (M Rochford) 

10. General business 


Minutes of the 62nd 

Annual General Meeting 

UROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 

Minutes of the 62nd Annual General Meeting held at 

12.35pm, Thursday 12 March 2009 

at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gold Coast, Australia 

1. Present: 

D Steele; P Heathcote; L Cleeve; A Crosthwaite; P Meffan; M Rice; R Millard; S English; 

T Shar; P Mactaggart; T Nathan; B Barth; M Frydenberg; D Ende; P Kovac; H O’Connell; 

R Samali; D Cook, C Love; N Redgrave; D Elder; P McDougall; D Kerle; R Robinson; S 

Brough; D Splatt; P Bary; D Clarke; K Vaux; E Lazzaro; D Moon; T Nicholson; A Eaton; J 

Miller; D Webb; F Gardiner; A Tan; B Canagasingham; D Malouf; P Kovac; D Ende; T Skyring; 

S Ruthven; R McMullin; A James 

In attendance: A Malley (CEO); L Reeson (Communication Manager - Minutes); M Nugara 

(Operations and Compliance Manager); V Parkinson (Commercial Manager); D Klein (Education 

and Training Manager; Wendy Frazer (CPD Manager) 

2. Apologies: J Russell; L Hayden; I Middleton; D Delaney; N Gordon; Alan Stapleton; G 

Coombes; Jamie Kearsley, S Mark; J Boulton; P Davidson; K Rasiah; K Moretti; J Alexander; 

N Smith; M Lloyd; G Wood; G Malone; P Burke; R McIlroy; A Cameron-Strange; R 

Farnsworth; R Hinsch; D Golovsky; A Troy; Y Chan; M Chamberlain; A Kennedy-Smith; R 

Studd 

Proxies: 40 in total 

Appointing Chairman to vote (34): M Cresswell; J Leyland; A Westenberg; L Wilson; J Mac- 

Donald; D Mason; B Wright; G Devcich; P Davidson; S Wisniewski; P McRae; C Chabert; 

D Winkle; P Cozzi; P Aslan; H Woo; D Agarwal; W Lynch; L Dodds; M White; N Awad; T 

Dean; M Patel; T Pham; D Angus; J Kourambas; J Rogerson; C Dowling; A Brooks; P 

Langdon; A Eaton; J Peters; P Gilling; Mark Fraundorfer 

Appointing Michael Rice to vote (2): M Holmes; I Mundy 

Appointing David Malouf to vote (2): S Pillay; L Harewood 

Appointing Kim Moretti to vote (1): D Steele 

Appointing John Miller to vote (1): T Gianduzzo 


Welcome: The Chairman declared the meeting opened at 12.58pm 

Eligibility to Vote 

All current financial Full members and Fellows of the Society are eligible to vote at the Urological 

Society of Australia and New Zealand’s Annual General Meeting. 

Provisional members are eligible to vote except on changes to the Society’s Articles of Association. 

Declaration of Conflict of Interest 

“Any member who has a direct or indirect pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in a matter 

being considered, or about to be considered at the Annual General Meeting shall, as 

soon as practicable after the relevant facts come to the member’s knowledge, disclose the 

nature of that interest. 

The Chair must cause the declaration to be recorded in the Minutes of the meeting. 

A member who has a conflict of interest in a matter must not be present during any deliberations 

by on the matter and is not entitled to vote on the matter.” 

3. Minutes from the previous Annual General Meeting: 61st Annual General Meeting held 

at the Hong Kong Convention Centre, Hong Kong, China on Wednesday 27 February 

2008. 

Resolution: 

That the minutes of the 61st Annual General Meeting held at the Hong Kong Convention 

Centre, Hong Kong, China on Wednesday 27 February 2008, be approved as a true and 

accurate record of the meeting, pending the following amendment: 

ITEM 11: GENERAL BUSINESS 

There being no further business, the chairman declared the meeting closed at 5.05pm. 

Moved: D Malouf Seconded: F Gardiner CARRIED 

4. Business Arising from the Minutes 

Nil 

5. President’s Report 

Resolution: 

That the President’s report be taken as read. 

Moved: J Miller Seconded: H O’Connell CARRIED 


6. Report of Chief Executive Officer 

Resolution: 

That the Chief Executive Officer’s report be taken as read. 

Moved: J Miller Seconded: F Gardiner CARRIED 

7. Secretary’s Report 

Resolution: 

That the Secretary’s report be taken as read. 


8. Treasurer’s Report 

Resolution: 

That the Treasurer’s report be taken as read. 


9. Annual Reports of the Society 

Resolution: 

That the reports in items 9.1-9.7 below be taken as read. 


9.1: TA&E/Board of Urology 

Report taken as read 

9.2: Continuing Professional Development Committee 


9.3: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 


Discussion: 

Helen O’Connell advised that Andrew Brooks is replacing her as RACS Representative 

Councillor for a period of 12 months. 

Helen O’Connell also advised her intention to stand for a general position on Council and 

discussed the voting process with members. 


9.4: Annual Scientific Meeting 2010 


9.5: Annual Scientific Meeting 2009 


9.6: Annual Scientific Meeting 2008 


9.7: Australasian Urological Foundation 


10. Election of Office Bearers 

The President thanked the retiring members of the Society Executive for their contributions 

during their terms: 

David Ende 

Tony James 

Philip Sprott 

Michael Vaughan 

Les Thompson 

The President announced the incoming members of the 2009 Executive Committee, based 

on the new nominations, as follows: 

Vice President 

Stephen Ruthven 

Tasmanian Representative: 

Stephen Brough 

Board/TA&E Chair: 

John Miller 

Northern Section Representative: 

Awaiting ratification 

RACS Representative: 

Andrew Brooks to fill this position for a period of 12 months. 

Western Australian Representative: 

Paul McRae (appointed post 2008 AGM) 

Victorian Representative: 

David Cook (appointed post 2008 AGM) 


11. Discussion of strategic directions and approval of proposed Special Resolution: 

Note: In order for a Special Resolution to be carried, a favourable vote of 75% of those 

present is required. 

Voting is to be by show of hands. If the show of votes does not clearly indicate that 75% of 

votes are favourable, a written poll will be conducted. 

Proposed Special Resolution: 

“That the existing Constitution of the Urological Association of Australia and New Zealand 

be and is hereby repealed and that the new Constitution tabled at the meeting and, for the 

purposes of identification, signed by the chair of the Meeting, be and is hereby substituted 

and adopted as the Constitution of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand”. 

Moved: D Malouf Seconded: S Ruthven CARRIED 

For: 42 

Against: 1 

Abstentions: 3 

Discussion: 

David Splatt: What are the terms of new external Directors to the Board? 

The CEO advised the Constitution provides for appointment for a first term up to three 

years, with a provision for an additional term. 

Pat Meffen: Asked questions regarding the composition and size of Executive and 

the Board. 

The CEO advised the Executive will become a Board of Directors. The new model is rolebased 

and skill-based. 

David Webb: Isn’t it going to be difficult to source skill-based directors who will 

work pro-bono? 

The CEO advised this is standard practice in not for profit organisations. 

Helen O’Connell: Advised that a similar process has been undertaken at RACS and has 

proven very successful. 

Tim Skyring: How will member concerns be taken to Executive with external directors 

on the Board? 

The CEO advised management will formally communicate with members following future 

quarterly Executive meetings. Further, the appointment of a Policy Chair on the Board of 

Directors would ensure interaction with members on relevant policy issues. 


12. General Business 

The President reiterated the 2010 ASM will be held 20-25 February 2010 at the Perth Convention 

Centre, Western Australia. 

The President acknowledged the input of the CEO throughout the past year. The President 

also thanked the USANZ staff for their contributions to the organisation. 

The President thanked the membership for his term as President and acknowledged David 

Malouf as incoming 2009 President. 

David Malouf – Incoming President acknowledged Pat Bary’s contributions during his 2008 

term. 

Helen O’Connell acknowledged Philip Sprott as outgoing Board/TAE Chair for his enormous 

contributions during his three year term. 

The CEO also acknowledged the outgoing President and the Incoming President and Vice 

President 

There being no further business, the chairman declared the meeting closed at 1.43pm. 

Minutes prepared by: 

Louise Reeson 

Communication Manager 




Annual Report 2009

2009 Annual Report - Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand

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