THE HISTORY

IPAC is an incorporated society with charitable status.

In 1999, Independent Practitioner Associations (IPAs) with common values came together to establish an informal IPA organisation.

In 2000, IPAC was formally constituted as an incorporated society. While IPAC is a separate legal entity, it works as a co-ordinating body and leader for its members.  The intent is to improve the quality and delivery of general practice service to New Zealanders.

IPAC is governed by a Council which comprises three representatives from each member.  The Council delegates governance of the organisation to an Executive Committee which currently comprises 10 representatives.  The Executive is supported by a Chief Executive and a small Management Office based in Wellington.

In August 2002, the IPAC Executive invited a representative of the Independent Practitioner Association Nurse Development Group (IPA NDG) to act as advisor to the Executive.  In September 2003 the IPAC constitution was changed to include two IPA NDG representatives on the ipac Executive.

In April 2003 there was a change in membership definition for IPAC.  Prior to April 2003 a member was required to be an IPA.  After this date however, membership conditions expanded to include both IPAs and Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) under the newly created Organised General Practice (OGP) environment.  This change in definition better described the evolution of IPAs and the allowed for the facilitation of PHO membership.

In November 2004 the IPA NDG group became an incorporated society and changed their name to General Practice Nursing Alliance (GPNA). Two representatives are members of the IPAC Executive.