Planned system outage: A number of IT systems will be temporarily unavailable on 7 March 2026 from 10am–6pm AEDT due to scheduled maintenance. 

Full details

Planned library system outage: Access to library e-resources - including all e-books and e-journals - will be impacted by a system upgrade on Wednesday, 18 February 2026 from 8AM - 12PM AEDT / 10AM - 2PM NZDT.

Further information

The college will be closed from 2pm (AEDT) on Wednesday 24 December 2025 until Monday 5 January 2026. We wish you a happy and safe festive period.

We're performing an essential upgrade on 24 May 6-9 AM AEST. During this time, email notifications will be impacted, including those required for statements, system alerts, and account recovery. 

Get involved in the prof doc process

There are a number of ways you can contribute to the review and development of professional documents, such as participating in a document development group (DDG) or providing feedback on documents in pilot. Getting involved offers a valuable opportunity to contribute to safety and quality of care for patients.

Seeking expressions of interest

The development and review of ANZCA professional documents is undertaken by a document development group (DDG) comprising fellows whose expertise and knowledge align with the relevant subject matter. Participation as a DDG member provides a valuable opportunity to contribute to the safety and quality of patient care. CPD claim entitlements are available to fellows for participation on DDGs.

We're starting to revise or develop the following prof docs. We welcome expressions of interest from fellows with particular interest, experience or expertise in these areas. The following prof docs are open for expression of interest to participate in the DDG.

ANZCAFPM

PS42 Position statement on staffing of accredited departments of anaesthesia 2017 and PS42BP

There are no current opportunities for expression of interest to join a DDG.

Under development/review*

The following documents have a DDG and are currently being revised or developed. Should you wish to contribute, we will be seeking feedback soon via the ANZCA E-newsletter

ANZCAFPM

PG21 Guideline on safe practices for central venous line insertion, maintenance and removal (under development).

(PM) Scope of clinical practice for specialist pain medicine physicians (under development).

PS60 Statement on the role of non-medical health care professionals in anaesthesia, pain and perioperative medicine-related roles (under development).

(PM) Statement on provision of pain medicine care to children and adolescents (under development).

PG03 Guideline for the management of major regional analgesia and PG03BP (under review).

(PM) Statement on multidisciplinary pain services (under development).

PG27 Guideline for major extracorporeal perfusion and PG27BP (under review).
(PM) Statement on spinal cord stimulators (under development).
PG31 Guideline on checking anaesthesia delivery systems and PG31BP (under review).
PS10(PM) Statement on "Medicinal Cannabis" with particular reference to its use in the management of patients with chronic non-cancer pain and PS10(PM) BP (under review).

PS12(PM)Position statement on the use of ketamine in the management of chronic non-cancer painand PS12(PM) BP (under review).


*Please refer to CP24 Professional document process for further details on the internal review (IR) process.

Internal stakeholder consultation*

The following prof docs are open to feedback by ANZCA national and regional committees and relevant external stakeholders.

ANZCAFPM

PS64 Position statement on environmental sustainability in anaesthesia and pain medicine practice 2019 and PS64BP (under review).

There are no current opportunities for providing feedback.

*Revised documents will be published on the ANZCA website when approved for PILOT.

Open for comment—feedback welcome

Pilot versions are "live" on the ANZCA website and are considered "operational" with the caveat that there may be changes to the final version following feedback. We encourage feedback on all professional documents during the pilot phase. If you have any comments or queries regarding professional documents please email us.

ANZCAFPM

There are no prof docs in pilot.

There are no prof docs in pilot.

Post-pilot review/Final versions pending

Documents under post-pilot review have completed the pilot period and are either undergoing feedback review or in the process of approval for the final version.

ANZCAFPM

There are no prof docs under post-pilot review.

There are no prof docs under post-pilot review.

Final version approved

We have recently approved the following new or updated prof docs.

ANZCAFPM

PS08 Position statement on the assistant for the anaesthetist and PS08BP.


Key to understanding prof docs

These documents contain information relevant to the clinical, administrative and professional practice of perioperative care including anaesthesia, and pain medicine.

Policies (denoted CP) are documents that formally state a principle, plan and/or course of action that is prescriptive and mandatory.

Position statements (denoted PS) are documents that describe where the college stands on a particular issue. This may include areas that lack clarity or where opinions vary. A position statement is not definitive, prescriptive or binding.

Guidelines (denoted PG) are documents that offer advice on a particular subject, that:

  • Are ideally based on best practice recommendations and information.
  • May be based on available evidence and/or expert consensus.
  • Are not prescriptive.

The framework for writing or revising professional documents is described in CP23 Policy for professional document framework and accompanying Background Paper. The professional document process is governed by CP24 Policy for development and review of professional documents and accompanying Background Paper. The external guideline endorsement process is governed by CP25 Policy on endorsement of externally developed guidelines and accompanying Background Paper. The FPM professional document process is governed by PP01(PM): Policy for the development and review of professional documents

Professional documents in PILOT are operational and may be altered before the final version is promulgated. Printed copies are noted to be accurate at the time of printing only. Feedback on professional documents during the PILOT phase is welcome and encouraged. If you have any queries or require a zip file of all professional documents, please email us