Months of infighting at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) culminate in a no-confidence vote today. Stephanie Tran reports.
The RACP board is meeting today to consider bullying allegations against the President and CEO and decide on the future of the embattled board of directors.
More than 100 members of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) have signed a requisition calling for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to remove the College’s president, Professor Jennifer Martin, as the board also considers new six-month termination terms for senior leaders behind closed doors.
In a supporting statement attached to the requisition, signatories say they have “lost confidence in the leadership of Prof Martin as President and Chair of RACP Board” and point to “serious dysfunction at board level” following four failed EGMs in 2025 against president-elect Dr Sharmila Chandran and a string of director resignations.
“There was no accountability evident to Members,” the statement says.
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Open in new tab Central to the push for her removal are findings from an external investigation conducted by consultancy Centium, commissioned by the College in July to examine bullying allegations made by company secretary Kim Davis against Prof Martin.
The report, seen by MWM, found that seven allegations could be substantiated “on the balance of probabilities”.
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Bullying claims substantiated
The report stated that three of the substantiated allegations “constitute a course of disrespectful and arguably bullying and and harassing conduct that does not foster an atmosphere conducive to good working relations” and found that Martin’s conduct likely breached the College’s code of conduct.
Martin has previously denied wrongdoing.
The members requesting the EGM argue that it is “not acceptable for the President to have findings of bullying and harassment towards staff members who are in a less powerful position”, adding that such findings have damaged the College’s reputation. They have also called for the Centium report to be released to members in full.
The EGM push follows a separate letter dated 14 February 2026, signed by “Concerned Members of RACP”, expressing no confidence in Martin’s leadership and calling for her resignation as president and director. The letter says that if she steps down, the proposed EGM will not proceed. However, if she remains, members will seek a vote.
The board is due to meet Friday, where directors are expected to consider the EGM request.
Extended notice periods
The board papers were disclosed in a whistleblower complaint to regulators. They show that directors will also be asked to endorse the introduction of a six-month mutual notice period for designated senior leadership roles, via voluntary deeds of variation.
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Current notice periods across the senior leadership cohort range from one to three months. The paper argues that in the context of “significant organisational transformation, regulatory oversight and governance complexity”, extending notice periods would “strengthen leadership continuity, support strategic delivery, and reduce operational and reputational risk associated with sudden executive departures”.
It warns that shorter notice periods increase the risk of “abrupt leadership transitions, loss of knowledge, disruption to strategic initiatives, and instability across employees and stakeholders”.
Some members, however, question the timing of the proposal, given the live push to remove the president and ongoing board instability.
The proposal was prepared by RACP chief executive Steffen Faurby. Faurby is named alongside Martin in the stop-bullying order lodged in the Fair Work Commission by Chandran. Both deny wrongdoing.
The College has been contacted for comment.
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Stephanie is a journalist with a background in both law and journalism. She has worked at The Guardian and as a paralegal, where she assisted Crikey’s defence team in the high-profile defamation case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. Her reporting has been recognised nationally, earning her the 2021 Democracy’s Watchdogs Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.