Keynote Speakers

Alison Anderson Anthony G Capon

Alison Anderson is from Tony Capon is currently the community Medical Officer of Health approximately 280 km with the Western Sydney north-west of . Area Health Service. He is a She calls herself a Foundation Fellow of the ‘community person’, Australasian Faculty of having spent most of her Public Health Medicine. He political life trying to completed his medical studies at the University improve the conditions of bush people. For 19 of Queensland in 1983. He subsequently years she worked as the Community Adviser at undertook doctoral research in molecular Papunya where she consistently challenged all parasitology at the Queensland Institute of levels of government about the lack of services Medical Research. He was then awarded an to Indigenous people. Alison also played a key NHMRC Australian Applied Health Sciences role in the Land Rights Movement and the Fellowship to do post-doctoral research in struggle for self-determination. Alison has communicable disease control at the Menzies served as an ATSIC Regional Councillor for nine School of Health Research in Darwin. Since years and served two terms as the ATSIC 1991, Tony has been working as a specialist Central Zone Commissioner. As the ATSIC public health physician in western Sydney. He Central Zone Commissioner, Alison has won has particular interests in the relationships respect across the political spectrum. She is between the environment (encompassing fluent in numerous Indigenous languages and is physical, social and economic aspects) and a talented artist, whose paintings are sought human health outcomes. after by collectors.

Tony Gleeson Pat Anderson Tony Gleeson has been Pat Anderson is the involved in rural research, Executive Officer of the policy and political analysis Aboriginal Medical Services for 35 years. In 1990 he Alliance established Synapse (AMSANT), which is the Consulting (Aust) Pty Ltd, a peak Indigenous health Brisbane-based research organisation in the and consulting company specialising in policy Northern Territory. She is also the Chair of the analysis and strategy development. His work Co-operative Research Centre for Aboriginal calls for a fundamental reassessment of the role Health, an exciting collaboration of twelve of agriculture in psyche and member organisations representing research landscape. Tony has owned and managed users, research providers, policy makers and grazing properties in Queensland and northern service delivery agencies all working to improve New South Wales over the past 30 years. Most Aboriginal health. Pat was the CEO of Danila recently Tony has been involved in the Dilba, the Aboriginal community-controlled development of the Australian Landcare health service in Darwin and then the Chair of Management System (ALMS) and in studies on the National Aboriginal Community Controlled the performance and structure of the Health Organisation (NACCHO), the peak agricultural sector. These studies have been national Indigenous health organisation. Pat has informed by ongoing work investigating the spoken on issues to the United Nations working nature of creativity. group on Indigenous people. Pat is an Alyawaare woman and has extensive experience in all aspects of Indigenous health including community development, advocacy, policy formation and research ethics. She is also

a prolific writer and has had many essays, papers and articles published.

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Dennis Gray involved in establishing the Health Care Evaluation Unit. Debra is a member of the Department of Health National Steering Group Associate Professor Dennis for Common Learning. Gray is Deputy Director of the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University of Technology. Fay Johnston He is a medical anthropologist who has Dr Fay Johnston is a general worked in the area of Indigenous health for over practitioner and public twenty years. At the National Drug Research health physician. She had Institute he is leader of the Indigenous Research extensive experience in Program and has conducted extensive research providing health services in into the prevention of harmful alcohol and other remote Aboriginal drug use among . He is communities prior to the author of numerous papers on the issue and, obtaining a masters degree with Sherry Saggers, is the co-author of a in epidemiology and fellowship in public health comparative book on alcohol use among medicine. Her subsequent professional activities Indigenous peoples in Australia, New Zealand have included communicable disease control, and Canada. primary health care and environmental health research. She currently holds the position of research advisor for the Centre for Remote John Humphreys Health NT and co-ordinates the NT evidence and research interest network of primary health care practitioners. She has recently edited an John Humphreys is introductory guide to tropical health in Professor of Rural Health Australia for primary care practitioners. Research in the School of Rural Health at Monash University Bendigo. John is well known for his research Ruth McNair on health service provision, workforce recruitment and Ruth McNair worked as a retention, health policy and the evaluation of procedural rural GP during health programs in rural and remote areas. He the 1990s, providing has undertaken extensive fieldwork on rural obstetric, anaesthetic and health issues throughout Australia, and has family care services to her published widely in books and journals. John community. She is now a has worked in the Victorian and the general practitioner in an inner-urban general Commonwealth Departments of Health, where practice and Senior Lecturer at the Department he has taken a lead role in developing national of General Practice, University of Melbourne. rural health policies and has been a member of She was Director of Undergraduate Studies in several advisory committees. her Department from 2001 to 2004, being heavily involved in curriculum development, evaluation and quality assurance. She was Debra Humphris awarded the University of Melbourne staff Cultural Diversity award in recognition of her work in promoting rural, gender and sexuality Debra Humphris is issues among students and staff. She was the Professor of Health Care lead investigator of a pilot rural Development at the interprofessional education project (IPE) in University of Southampton Victoria from 2001 to 2003, which developed where she heads the Health curriculum and placements for undergraduate Care Innovation Unit medical, nursing, physiotherapy and pharmacy (www.hciu.soton.ac.uk) students. This project was highly successful and and leads the New Generation Project was incorporated into the work of the (www.commonlearning.net). Prior to taking the Department of Rural Health, Shepparton in post as Director of the New Generation Project 2004. In 2003, Ruth visited IPE programs in in November 2000 Debra spent two years at the Southampton, Sheffield and Norwich. Department of Health, South East Region as a member of the research and development team. This followed four years at St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, where she was

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Megan McNicholl Townsville, north to Coen and most places in between. Megan McNicholl is currently Chair of the It was during this time as an advisory Rural Education Forum teacher that Megan began to appreciate the Australia (REFA Inc) and diversity of rural and remote communities Immediate Past and the importance of supporting people at President of the Isolated a local level. She soon realised that there Children’s Parents’ was no such thing as a generic ‘rural’ Association (ICPA Aust). community.

With husband Lee and family, she lives on It is as a result of these early experiences a cattle property in south-west Queensland. that Megan has become an active advocate Their three children Kate (25), Rebecca (23) for the families who live in rural and and Douglas (21) attended the local two- remote areas, attempting to ensure that teacher school, followed by boarding their needs are recognised and understood school in Toowoomba. Kate, an by those who plan and provide support to Environmental Engineer works for the the diversity of communities across rural Murray-Darling Basin Committee based in and remote Australia. Roma. Rebecca and Douglas are currently studying at University in Brisbane. Helen Milroy Megan grew up on a property in the Tenterfield district (northern NSW), Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku receiving her primary education courtesy people of the Pilbara region of her mother and Blackfriars of Western Australia but Correspondence. In 1970 she graduated was born and educated in from the Brisbane Kindergarten Teachers Perth. She studied medicine College, Kelvin Grove and headed north to at the University of Western Darwin in search of adventure and Australia, graduating in 1983. Helen worked as a General Practitioner and Consultant in professional challenges. After two years Childhood Sexual Abuse at Princess Margaret teaching in the Territory she returned to Hospital for children for several years before Brisbane to take up the position of Director completing specialist training in psychiatry, of the first mobile pre-school for Aboriginal qualifying as a Consultant Child and children in the inner city area, sponsored Adolescent Psychiatrist in 2000. Helen was by the Creche and Kindergarten awarded two medallions from the college of psychiatry in 2000, the Inaugural Rowley Association. Together with her Aboriginal Richards Prize for the most meritorious assistant, a pre-school program was dissertation on trauma studies and the Mark provided for families in a range of settings Sheldon Prize for contribution to Indigenous including city parks, old halls and Mental Health. Helen is a member of the churches. RANZCP (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry) committee for Aboriginal However, Megan’s desire to return to the and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and has contributed to the development of position wide open spaces was overwhelming and statements, guidelines and curriculum on in 1974 she was appointed Director of the Indigenous mental health for the college. Helen newly established Injilinji Pre School in Mt has also been on both state and national policy Isa, again working with the local committees including more recently the Social Aboriginal community. Health Reference Group that developed the National Framework for Aboriginal and Torres In 1977 she was appointed Regional Pre Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing School advisor for North West and Far 2004–2008. Currently Helen is the AIDA representative on the Indigenous Strategies North Queensland, which involved visiting Working Group for the Commonwealth and providing support to teachers in Department of Health and Ageing. communities from Cammooweal to

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At present Helen works as a Consultant Child Coralie Ober and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Bentley Family Clinic and Families At Work residential Coralie Ober began her professional life as a program. Helen is also an Associate Professor Registered Nurse followed by gaining a wide and Director for the Centre for Aboriginal range of skills, one of which is teaching. Coralie Medical and Dental Health (CAMDH) at UWA worked as a Guidance Officer in Secondary (University of Western Australia) as part of the school. Her work has extended from nursing to Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The Centre welfare, to teaching/lecturing, facilitating has a schools-based program for the recruitment training workshops across a broad spectrum of of Indigenous students into medicine, dentistry disciplines, writing curriculum for and health sciences, provides support for undergraduate studies at university and being a Indigenous students throughout their courses presenter of Indigenous issues on rural and and provides extensive teaching on Indigenous remote television broadcasting. After the health throughout the medical course as well as Kennedy Review into Corrections in in dentistry and other university courses. The Queensland Coralie was appointed as the Senior CAMDH also works collaboratively with other Adviser, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to provide training and Policy, Queensland Corrective Services educational opportunities. Commission. It was during this phase of her In 2002, Helen joined the staff as a research professional life, and having to work with issues fellow at the Telethon Institute for Child Health of deaths in custody, that she began to explore Research to assist in the analysis and writing of more fully trans-generational trauma and its the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health ramifications on Indigenous people today. Survey. The first volume on the health of Coralie’s postgraduate studies lie in group Aboriginal children in Western Australia, process in the treatment of trauma and crises in released in June 2004, is available on the Indigenous communities and community Institute’s website with another 4 volumes still development/capacity building in Indigenous to be completed. communities. This is the basis of her work with WHO in the Global Project on Indigenous Helen has a number of work and research Peoples and Substance Use. Coralie is currently interests that include holistic medicine, child employed as Research Fellow, Queensland mental health, trauma and grief issues, and Alcohol and Drug Research and Education developing and supporting the Aboriginal Centre (QADREC), The University of medical workforce. As President of the Queensland School of Population Health. Prior Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, she to this position, Coralie was Principal Adviser, looks forward to increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs, Indigenous medical graduates and providing Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Services at support and mentoring to students and Queensland Health. While in this position graduates as they pursue their careers in health. Coralie became a member of the Alcohol and Drug Council of Australia Indigenous Reference Group and also became a member of the Steve Morton National Drug Strategy (NDS) Reference Group for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and their development of the NDS Aboriginal Dr Steve Morton has over and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 30 years’ professional Complementary Action Plan 2003–2006. Coralie experience and dedication was the Chair of this Reference Group. Coralie to the Australian is currently a member on the Board of NDRI. environment. An expert in the ecology of arid Australia, his work in more recent times has focused on the challenge of achieving triple bottom line sustainability. Until recently Chief of CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Steve now has taken on responsibility for CSIRO’s five environmental Divisions as Group Executive, Environment and

Natural Resources. Steve has a strong vision for the ecological future of the nation, and longstanding commitment to meeting the challenge of achieving sustainable use of our resources.

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Alan Pettigrew information/resource provision. In addition to this role, Carla is collaborating in a Cochrane review into brief interventions for alcohol Professor Alan Pettigrew is misuse, and is a principle investigator on a a graduate of the University number of research tenders investigating young of Sydney and holds a people and substance use perceptions, Bachelor of Science and substance misuse in Aboriginal and Torres Strait PhD. He was awarded the Islander populations, and professional Colin Dunlop Research supervision for alcohol tobacco and other drug Prize and the University workers. She also regularly facilitates a number Medal in 1972. Throughout of training workshops in Cognitive Behaviour his career Professor Pettigrew’s research Therapy (CBT), CBT for Substance Misuse, and interests focused in the developments of the Brief Interventions for Substance Misuse. Carla nervous system. is a member of the International Network on Professor Pettigrew has held a number of Early BRief Interventions for Alcohol problems academic positions at the University of Sydney (INEBRIA), is the working party chair of the and the University of Queensland. Prior to his Behaviour Change Journal (Australian current appointment, he was Deputy Vice- Academic Press), and is the Australian Chancellor at the University of NSW. representative for the Association for Behaviour Modification. Professor Pettigrew has had a long association with the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. He served on many David Sheppard committees and review panels prior to becoming a member of the NHMRC Grants After 20 years practising in Committee, then Chair of the Grants Committee planning and local and the Grants Access and Awards Committee. government law in During this period he was also a member of the Auckland, David Sheppard NHMRC’s Medical Research Committee and its has been a Judge of the Executive Committee. New Zealand Planning Tribunal and Environment Professor Pettigrew was appointed by the Court for 25 years, and was Federal Minister for Health to his current Principal Judge for 14 years. He has taken part position as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer in deciding many major cases developing the of the National Health and Medical Research law by which the relationship of Maori with Council in January 2001. their ancestral land, their cultural guardianship of natural resources, and effects on Maori well- being, are taken into account. David Sheppard is Carla Schlesinger also Chair of the water allocation board for a major catchment in which the local Maori Carla Schlesinger is a people have traditional and spiritual interests. Clinical Psychologist and has been engaged in research in the alcohol and Peter Sutton other drug field since 1999 in a variety of alcohol and Peter Sutton is an ARC drug-related research Professorial Fellow at the projects, including in high-risk drinking, early University of Adelaide and intervention, alcohol treatment and the South Australian epidemiology of drug use. She was the Project Museum. His academic Manager of the Australian arm of the World background is mainly in Health Organization co-ordinated study into the linguistics and dissemination of brief interventions in primary anthropology. He has care (2001–03), and was the State (2000–02) and worked with Aboriginal people in remote areas National (2002–03) President of the Australian of Cape York Peninsula and the Northern Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Territory, but also in urban and rural centres in Therapy. Carla is currently the Program north Queensland, South Australia, New South Manager of Statewide Services within the Wales and Tasmania, since 1969. He has assisted Alcohol and Drug Service (Prince Charles with over fifty land claim cases in the Northern Hospital Health Service District). The Statewide Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Services program houses centres of excellence in Western Australia and South Australia since the areas of training, research and

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1979. He is an author or editor of eleven books represented Australia internationally on and has written over a hundred academic and medical workforce matters. other papers, mainly in the fields of Aboriginal land tenure, linguistic anthropology, art, and Indigenous policy. His books include Dreamings: Alex Wodak the art of Aboriginal Australia (ed., 1988), Wik- Ngathan Dictionary (1995), Country: Aboriginal Dr Alex Wodak has been Director of the Alcohol boundaries and land ownership in Australia (1995), and Drug Service, St. Vincent’s Hospital, and Native Title in Australia: an ethnographic Sydney since 1982. Major interests include perspective (2004). prevention of HIV among injecting drug users, brief interventions for problem drinkers, prevention of alcohol problems, treatment of Robert Wells drug users and drug policy reform. Dr Wodak is President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Robert Wells is Director Foundation and was President of the Policy and Planning for International Harm Reduction Association Health at the Australian (1996–2004). He helped establish the first needle National University, syringe program and injecting centre in Canberra. He has a broad Australia, both pre-legal, and often works in role to work across the developing countries on HIV control among ANU in the areas of health injecting drug users. research and policy analysis. He is currently working on a variety of projects in the fields of primary health care policy, research into ageing issues, and workforce policy. He participates in national committees advising governments on research in the neurosciences and specialist medical training.

Robert came to the ANU in June 2004 from the Australian Department of Health and Ageing where he had many years’ experience as a senior administrator in areas such as research policy, Commonwealth–State relations, health workforce, rural health programs, safety and quality and management of the programs for better management of major diseases such as cancer, diabetes and mental health.

Robert managed the Commonwealth’s health workforce programs from the early 1990s until he left the Department of Health and Ageing in June 2004. He chaired the Medical Training Review Panel and represented the Commonwealth on bodies such as the Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee (AMWAC), the Australian Health Workforce Officials Committee (AHWOC) and the Australian Medical Council (AMC). Robert also chaired a number of workforce committees established under the auspices of the Australian Health Ministers Council, including working parties on national medical registration and specialist medical training. He oversaw the implementation of major Commonwealth workforce initiatives including the ‘Provider Number’ arrangements, the establishment of a national network of rural clinical schools, establishment of national arrangements for prevocational medical training, reforms to specialist training arrangements and assessment of international medical graduates. Robert has

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