Examinations Committee

The Examinations Committee is an expert advisory committee of the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC).

The Committee ensures that our exams have integrity and defensibility.

Tasks

The Examinations Committee:

provides assurance or advice on current APC examinations activities to protect and uphold the integrity of the exams.
works with our Examination Team and provides advice for consideration by our CEO.

The Committee is not a decision making body.

Members

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) appoints committee members, based on strict selection criteria.

Members include experts from pharmacy, academia and high stakes assessment communities.

Prof Lisa Pont (Chair)
Ms Kristy Grady
Dr Curtis Lee
Mr Jacob Pearce
Prof David Prideaux
Associate Prof Daniel Malone
Associate Prof Liza Seubert
Mr Michael Soriano
Ms Daisy Cheung

Examinations Committee By-Law

1. Purpose

This By-law describes the membership, function, and responsibilities of the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) Examinations Committee (EC) in accordance with the APC Constitution.

The APC EC is an expert advisory committee established and convened to provide assurance as to the integrity and defensibility in the administration of the high stakes exams for pharmacy interns and international applicants. The EC provides advice for consideration by the APC Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

APC examinations are managed by the Examinations Team. Examination construction is based on rigorous, transparent and defensible processes regarding the development and implementation of valid and reliable exam products and examination processes. All blueprints and policies are determined by the Board.

This By-law sets out the objectives and role of the EC. In the event of any inconsistency between the APC Constitution and this by-law, the APC Constitution prevails.

3.Authority and Responsibilities

The purpose of the Examinations Committee is to:

Provide advice on appropriate governance to APC examinations development and delivery.
Provide assurance or advice on current examinations activities to protect and uphold the integrity of the exams.
Review benchmarking activities performed by the APC Examinations Team to ensure the validity, fairness and currency of our processes aligns with national and international best practice.
Provide assurance of the methodology that underpins our exams.
Advise on relevant reporting themes for education providers and other stakeholders where relevant
Inform the APC Examinations Team of trends, issues and developments within educational assessment research and methodologies especially trends in e-assessment as necessary.
Advise on changes to legislation and scope of practice
Undertake any other activity referred by the APC CEO.

4. Membership

The EC is a skills-based committee. Members are appointed as individuals, not representatives of their organisations.

The EC is comprised of up to 10 individuals. Each EC position has skills and attributes that are unique to the role. These are described in Appendix.

4.1 Appointments

Members will be appointed for a fixed term and for a maximum of three terms. Terms will be dependent on the expertise and skill set of the member. As a rule, most terms will be for a 3-year period but members may be co-opted in from time to time for 1-2 year periods based on skill set.

Members will be appointed based on the skills required for the EC. Members are appointed by the CEO with support from the Director Examinations.

Vacant positions will be advertised publicly via an EOI process.

A Selection Committee may be appointed by the CEO to develop recommendations for appointments.

The CEO will appoint a Chair and subsequently a Deputy Chair from the membership.

Members will be remunerated per the relevant APC policies and guidelines.

5. Committee member obligations and roles

Table 1 Examination Committee Member Types

Member types	Obligations and roles
Chair	Chair meetings in an inclusive respectful manner Optimise the participation/ skill sets of committee members Attend additional meetings as required by APC Contribute to and oversee agenda setting Review and approve meeting minutes Contribute to exam governance
Deputy Chair	In the absence of the Chair, the Deputy Chair perform the functions of the Chair
All members including Chair and Deputy Chair	Abide by the policies and/ or guidelines of the APC, including the Conflict-of-Interest Policy and Duties and Responsibilities of Committee Members Sign the APC Confidentiality Deed and the Code of Conduct for Committee Members Provide expert advice on appropriate assurance activities Contribute actively by sharing knowledge about examinations Be informed of trends, issues and developments within educational assessment research and methodologies

6. Meetings

The EC will meet up to 3 times a year.

Additional meetings may be held as required.

The Director Examinations will be responsible for the Committee Secretariat service delivery.

8. Related documents and links

Duties and Responsibilities of Committee Members

Code of Conduct for Committee Members

Delegations to Committees Policy

APC Remuneration Policy

APC Travel Policy

9. Appendix A: Skills Matrix for the Examinations Committee

Member title	Description	Number of Appointees
Practising pharmacist member	Practising pharmacist experienced in supervision of intern and/or early career pharmacists.	2
Member from a nonpharmacy accreditation authority with experience in delivery of high stakes examinations	Experience on an Australian based health-related accreditation authority as a member. Knowledge of Australian health-care landscape.	1
Pharmacy academic member	Pharmacy academic with experience including curriculum design, clinical education and assessment methods.	2
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander member	Individual with cultural capacity and demonstrated connection to country and community who identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Experience on a health, regulatory or accreditation decision-making body and/ or understanding of the higher education sector is desired.	2
Expert examinations member	Current knowledge of high-stakes international computer-based examination and/or assessment delivery and psychometrics.	2
E-assessment/AI expert member	An individual with expert knowledge in risks and opportunities in contemporary and future focussed assessment technology. Knowledge of generative AI tools and assessment design.	1

APC Examinations Committee