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)
