Governance

The current governance arrangements date from the formal incorporation of the Royal Society of New South Wales by an Act of the New South Wales Parliament in 1881.  (For the period from 1821 to 1881, see History.)

The Society is governed by a Council that is elected annually. The Council manages all the Society’s business in accordance with its Act, Rules and By-Laws.

The Council consists of the President, three Vice Presidents (one of whom is the immediate past-President), the Treasurer, the General Secretary (who is responsible for minute-taking and membership matters), the Editorial Secretary (who edits the Journal and Proceedings), the Librarian, the Webmaster, the chairperson or nominee of each of the branches, and up to ten Councillors. All Council members must be Members or Fellows of the Society.

The Executive Committee of Council, consisting of the President, the Vice Presidents, the Honorary Secretaries and the Honorary Treasurer, deals with any matters referred to it by Council and with matters that ought not be postponed until a meeting of the Council.

The Council appoints other committees from time to time to attend to specific matters. Committees may comprise both Council members and other Society members. The current committees are:

• Awards Committee
• Bicentennial Committee 
• Events Committee
• Fellows Assessment Committee
• Library and Assets committee
• Membership Committee
• Outreach Committee
• Publications Committee
• RSNSW and Four Academies Forum committee

The President chairs meetings of the Council and general meetings of the Society.

Office-Bearers 2019 - 2020

The current office-bearers of the Society are:

Patron	Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley AO QC, Governor of New South Wales
President	Emeritus Professor Ian Sloan AO FRSN
Vice-Presidents	Emeritus Professor Brynn Hibbert AM FRSN (immediate past President) Mr John Hardie FRSN Ms Judith Wheeldon AM FRSN
Hon. General Secretary	Mr Bruce Ramage MRSN
Hon. Editorial Secretary	Emeritus Professor Robert Marks FRSN
Hon. Treasurer	Mr Richard Wilmott MRSN
Hon. Librarian	Dr Ragbir Bhathal FRSN
Hon. Webmaster	Emeritus Professor Lindsay Botten FRSN
Councillors	Dr Mohammad Choucair FRSN Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy AM FRSN Dr Laurel Dyson MRSN Dr Donald Hector AM FRSN Professor Nalini Joshi AO FRSN The Hon. Virginia Judge FRSN Mr Stuart Midgley MRSN Emeritus Professor Bruce Milthorpe FRSN Professor Susan Pond AM FRSN Honorary Professor Ian Wilkinson FRSN
Chair, Southern Highlands branch	Ms Anne Wood FRSN

 

The Act of Incorporation, Rules and By-Laws are here: Act, Rules and By-Laws (PDF)

The most recent annual report is here: Annual Report 2018 (PDF)