History of the College

On 10 April 1956, the College of Pathologists of Australia was incorporated under the Companies Act of 1936. In 1970 Royal Assent was given to allow the inclusion of "Royal" in the title, making it the Royal College of Pathologists of Australia. In January 1980 the College became the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia in recognition of the increasing number of Fellows in New Zealand. Since then the title also reflects the other regional areas represented, namely Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. In 2006 the Jubilee year of the College was celebrated and 2016 marked the 60th anniversary of the College.

Two history books have been written since the inception of the College. "The Nature of Things" covers the first 25 years and "Pathology, Professional Practice and Politics" covers the next 25 years. To mark the 60th anniversary in 2016 an exhibition titled “60 Years Young” was staged during Pathology Update 2016 which included memorabilia on display and an interactive history presentation on screens. The interactive presentation has been customised for viewing on this website and is ‘live’ in the sense that it can be updated and amended at any time.

Launch Timeline

Instructions for viewing: The history is divided into colour coded categories on the left. You can click on one or more at the same time. Scroll up and down the years which are indicated on the right. Click on any entry to enlarge it for reading and full picture. Click anywhere else on the page to send it back into its place. If you think something should be added or would like to amend an entry please contact rcpa@rcpa.edu.au

The following documents contain the timeline highlights via dates of some of the major events in the life of the College and there is a list of all College Presidents to date.

College Timeline (14.6 kB)
RCPA Presidents (62 kB)

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Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia © 2024 . Apart from any use that is permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), and any permissions explicitly granted by Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, all other rights are reserved.

17-Sep-2018
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