Our training fees, examination fees and course fees have not been adjusted in the previous years to accurately reflect the increased costs of running the program. These fees and subscriptions increases have all been below CPI.
The costs of delivering RACS's core operations has increased significantly over the last few years with rising inflation, post COVID-19 restrictions on education delivery, increased staff to meet demands on services as well as a need to invest in a digital transformation to create both efficiencies and to retire legacy systems.
In recent years our activities related to core areas have increased substantially. In particular, there has been a rise in costs associated with training surgeons, which has been largely driven by increased regulatory and reporting requirements.
In addition, we've seen a rise in costs for venue hire, course equipment, catering, travel and accommodation, among other costs. It has also been necessary to evolve and contemporise surgical training in line with maintaining surgical standards. This has necessitated an increase in the fees.
We consulted widely with Trainees through webinars and other communication on the fee changes as required by regulation.
Our training fees remain highly competitive compared to other postgraduate training fees in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. There are some surgical courses provided by universities which have an annual fee which is substantially above RACS training fees.
The Australian Medical Council (AMC) and Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) recognise that our training programs graduate world class surgeons with a globally transportable qualification. We also maintain quality and standards uniformly across all Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand training sites.
