Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy

ASMIRT history

• 1923 – A small group of radiographers meet in radiographer Fred Bowker’s home in South Yarra, Melbourne, to form the Radiographers Society of Australia.

• 1947 – The Radiographers Society of Australia changes its name to the Australian Institute of Radiography (AIR).

• 1948 – AIR’s NSW Branch publishes its first edition of scientific journal, Radiographer. Issued quarterly, the

• 1949 – AIR holds its first national conference, the Annual Technical Conference, in Sydney.

• 1950 – Now with 300 members, AIR becomes an incorporated organisation, giving the Institute a formal legal structure. Nicholas Outterside, (see right), a radiographer at St George Hospital in Kogarah, Sydney, becomes the first AIR president.

• 1952 – AIR works with the Royal Australian College of Radiologists to form a conjoint board. This board accredits courses and radiographers until superseded by the Professional Accreditation and Education Board in 1986.

• 1962 – AIR joins the newly formed International Society of Radiographers and Radiologic Technologists (ISRRT), the peak body of the Medical Radiation Professions globally.

• 1974 – AIR appoints Walter Gilbert-Purssey, former Technician in Charge at Peter McCallum Cancer Centre’s radiotherapy department, as its first fulltime general secretary. Gilbert-Purssey manages AIR from a national office in East Melbourne.

• 1975 – AIR establishes quarterly newsletter, AIR-ab. State Branches produce their own regular newsletters.

• 1991 – The AIR Secretariat expands, moving to Collingwood, Melbourne (see right).

• 1994 – ASMIRT incorporates its national and state newsletters into national publication, Spectrum, published five times a year.

• 2001 – Radiographer Jim De Jong from Ballarat, Victoria, creates the official AIR website www.ausinrad.com with content including AIR documents, news & updates from Council, branches and panels.

• 2010 – The AIR Secretariat expands again, moving to King Street, in Melbourne’s CBD.

• 2013 – AIR works together with the New Zealand Institute of Medical Radiation Technology (NZIMRT) to create the Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences, which supersedes Radiographer. This open-access scientific journal is published quarterly, with AIR members receiving hard copies. Its Editor in Chief, Cherry Augustin, is a Radiation Therapist Educator at The Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre Westmead, Sydney, and Clinical Lecturer at the University of Newcastle.

• 2016 – AIR changes its name to the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT). This change reflects the full diversity of imaging and treatments including radiation therapy, nuclear medicine and the full range of medical imaging modalities.

• 2018 – The ASMIRT Secretariat moves to 1 Queens Rd, Melbourne 3004 .

• Today – ASMIRT continues to grow as Australia’s peak body representing Radiographers, Radiation Therapists, Nuclear Medicine Technologists and Sonographers.