History of the college

The college was founded in February 1992 after operating as a Faculty of Anaesthetists within the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

In 1952, 40 people from around Australia and New Zealand were invited to fellowship with the newly formed faculty.

Since then, we've:

• Trained thousands of specialist anaesthetists to an internationally-recognised standard.
• Established ourselves as a global leader in anaesthesia education and training.
• Provided clinical standards of practice that make Australia and New Zealand two of the safest countries in the world to have an anaesthetic.

In 1998, we established the Faculty of Pain Medicine; the first of its kind in the world. Since then:

• Hundreds of specialist doctors in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore have completed this pioneering post-specialty training program to become specialist pain medicine physicians.
• The faculty continues to set the international standard for its specialty.
• Australians and New Zealanders have access to some of the world's most advanced pain medicine treatment.