Keynote Speakers

Rev Tim Costello is one of Australia’s best known community leaders and a sought after voice on social justice issues, leadership and ethics.

For 13 years until October 2016, Tim was Chief Executive of World Vision Australia, placing the challenges of global poverty on the national agenda. In his current role as Chief Advocate, Tim continues to use his public profile to affect change.

In earlier roles Tim was National President of the Baptist Union of Australia and Mayor of St Kilda. He has been Baptist Minister at St Kilda Baptist and Collins Street Baptist in Melbourne, as well as Executive Director of Urban Seed. In these roles he spearheaded public debate on problem gambling, urban poverty, homelessness, reconciliation and substance abuse.

Initially Tim studied law and education at Monash University, followed by theology at the International Baptist Seminary in Rueschlikon, Switzerland.  He also received a Masters Degree in Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity.

In 2004, Tim was named Victorian of the Year; in June 2005 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO); and in 2006 was named Victoria’s Australian of the Year.
His books include Faith (2016), Hope (2012), Another Way to Love (co-edited with Rod Yule); Streets of Hope: Finding God in St Kilda; Tips from a Travelling Soul Searcher; and Wanna Bet? Winners and Losers in Gambling’s Luck Myth (co-written with Royce Millar).

Tim and his wife Merridie have three adult children, Claire, Elliot and Martin.

At this conference I want to explore how the successes and challenges we at World Vision have experienced over many years overseas and at home may be applied to help the disadvantaged in rural Australia

Phil is the CEO of Primary Health Tasmania, a non-government, not-for-profit organisation working to connect care and keep Tasmanians well and out of hospital. It was established on 1 July 2015 under the Australian Government’s Primary Health Networks Program to support and enable a coordinated, primary care focused health system.

Phil has worked in the general practice and primary health care sector for more than 20 years at both program management and organisational leadership levels and is well known to providers and system, policy and organisational administrators across the state.

This work has included leading several transformative organisational reconfigurations and establishment of a number of new and innovative services and solutions supporting primary health providers to improve the health of Tasmanians.

He sees his current role working with providers and communities to build understanding and capacity to influence the changes to our health system that Tasmania needs.  Working in complex system environments presents a myriad of challenges for the health system in Tasmania and Phil has enjoyed the opportunities to develop and evolve the type of sustainable system and service partnerships and collaborations that underpin positive outcomes for our health system and state.

As CEO of Primary Health Tasmania, Phil is overseeing the introduction of new approaches to partnership-based health service commissioning and capacity building - a genuine opportunity for the primary health sector to play a stronger role in a more balanced and sustainable health system.

PHNs have a unique, some may say, monumental challenge in effecting changes through their commissioning roles to the service delivery systems for primary health care across regional, rural and remote Australia. Navigating the challenges of community change management, local ownership and control, integration of health and medical services, multi layered politics and policy settings that seemingly change with the wind require a degree of realism, pragmatism and persistence. 

This presentation examines the experiences of one PHN in evolving a new commissioning role and outcomes in rural and remote primary health services across a whole state.  It considers the myriad influences that such a process throws up for the unwary and some of the lessons learned along the way.

Professor Allan Fels is currently the Chairman of the National Mental Health Commission.  In the field of mental health Professor Fels serves or has served on several government advisory boards.  He is also Chairman of the Haven Foundation, which seeks to provide accommodation, support and care for the long-term mentally ill.   He is also patron of many mental health networks.   He was a member of the Bayside Health Board for several years.

Professor Fels is a long-term advocate of mental health policy reform and a carer for his daughter.

He is former Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (1995-2003). Prior to that he was Chair of its predecessor bodies, the Trade Practices Commission (1991-1995) and of the Prices Surveillance Authority (1989-1992). 

He is currently a professorial fellow in the University of Melbourne, both in the Melbourne Law School and in the Faculty of Economics and Business, an adjunct professor at Monash University in the Faculty of Business and Economics, and visiting professor at the Division of Social Sciences in the University of Oxford.  Professor Fels is former Dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), a position he occupied from 2003 (as Foundation Dean) until 2012. 

Professor Fels is Chair of the Commonwealth Government Migrant Workers Taskforce, Chair of the Visy Australasia Governance Board and member of the Global Advisory Board of Uber.

This presentation will cover the current national mental health reforms resulting from the National Mental Health Commission Report and special issues affecting rural and remote Australia will be the focus and the economic issues emphasised.

In 1953, as a 22-year-old member of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Sister Anne Gardiner was asked to move to Bathurst Island to live among the Tiwi people.

Sister Anne has devoted 50 of the 63 years since to enriching community, enhancing opportunity and supporting the Tiwi culture. An advocate of peace, love, local decision-making Tiwi language and culture, Sister Anne has worked tirelessly to educate generations of children while also establishing community groups from mother’s clubs to Little Athletics.

Since her retirement as principal of the local primary school, Sister Anne has run regular prayer meetings, founded an op shop and established a coffee shop to support her much-loved community. Sister Anne’s labour of love is working with community members to establish the Patakajiyali museum where Tiwi history, culture and language can be preserved for future generations.

A key part of the community, Sister Anne is much loved and respected by the Tiwi people and has earned an enduring place in their hearts.

On Australia Day this year, the 84-year-old Catholic nun and former school principal was named Senior Australian of the Year after more than six decades of service and dedication to the Tiwi community.  As a champion for maintaining and honouring traditional Tiwi culture and a passionate advocate of the need for community connection and empowerment, Sister Anne's involvement has been far-reaching. She's educated generations of local children and also established a variety of community organisations and initiatives, including the Patakajiyali museum for the preservation of Tiwi history, culture and language.

David and his wife Charlotte married in 1990 and have three children: Isabelle 22, Oliver 20 and Alice 17. David and Charlotte have raised their family on their farm in the Hastings Valley, on which they run grass-fed Angus beef for the export market.

David graduated MB BS from University of Sydney in 1981 and Fellow of Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 1991. As an undergraduate, he gained experience training both in Papua New Guinea and British Columbia. David’s post graduate specialist training included stints at hospitals at Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo while based at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) in Sydney (1981-1982 and 1987-1990). David also gained two years of paediatric experience at Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children (RAHC) Camperdown (1983-84), St George Hospital (1991) and at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital (1992). David obtained a Diploma of Anaesthetics (London) and Diploma of Child Health (UK) in 1986 after working in the UK NHS (1985-6).

Before entering Federal Parliament, David had 33 years of medical practice, including 21 years as specialist Gastroenterologist and Consultant Specialist Physician in Port Macquarie (1993 -2013). David was active in Postgraduate Medical Training as Director of Physician training at Port Macquarie Base Hospital (1995 – 2009) and was instrumental in the Base Hospital achieving accreditation by Royal Australasian College of Physicians for Specialist Training and becoming a Centre for College Examinations.

David and Charlotte built, licensed and ran the free standing Hastings Day Surgery in Port Macquarie for 12 years. During this period, David also lectured and tutored at UNSW Rural Medical School since its inception.

David uses his first-hand experience in public and privately managed health delivery and small business to ensure Australia’s health system delivers high quality cost-effective care in an affordable and fiscally sustainable manner.

Rural health is a key priority for the Coalition Government and the role of the sector is crucial. The Government is committed to the ambitious work program before us – to strengthen the rural health system, in the context of broader health reform. These foundations will assist in delivering first rate health and medical services to all Australians – regardless of where they live.

Professor Sandra Harding, BSc (Hons) ANU, MPubAdmin UQ, PhD NCSU, Hon Doc JIU, FACE, FQA, FAICD, FAIM, took up her appointment as Vice Chancellor and President of James Cook University in January 2007. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring clear and effective leadership and management of the University across all operating sites, including campuses in Cairns, Singapore and Townsville.

Professor Harding has extensive academic and academic leadership experience. An economic sociologist by training, her areas of enduring academic interest include work, organisation and markets and how they work. She also has a keen interest in public policy in two key areas: education policy and related areas; and; the global Tropics, northern Australia and economic development.

Professor Harding has undertaken a wide variety of external roles within the business community and the higher education sector, including Chair of the peak body representing all Australian universities, Universities Australia (2013-2015); Member, Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) Advisory Board (2012-2015); and; Member, Northern Australia Advisory Group (advising Prime Minister Abbott, 2014-2015).

Current roles include: Project Convener, State of the Tropics project; Chair, Australian Bureau of Statistics Independent Assurance Panel on 2016 Census of Population and Housing data; Commissioner, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; Member, Trade, Tourism and Investment Policy Advisory Council; Member, National Research Infrastructure Roadmap Expert Working Group; Director, Australian American Education Leadership Foundation; Director, Westpac Bicentennial Foundation Board; Councillor, Queensland Futures Institute; Co-Vice Chair, the New Colombo Plan Reference Group; Council Member, the Australian Institute of Marine Science; Director, North Queensland Cowboys NRL club; Director of Townsville Enterprise and of Advance Cairns (regional economic development bodies); and; a Governor of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).

At a time of great global change and as the world begins to implement a redefined global development agenda, the importance of the tropical region and its role in our global future looms large. At present around 42 percent of the world’s population resides in the Tropics, along with 55 percent of the world’s children. 

By the 2040s, more than half of the world’s population will live in the Tropics and by 2050, around 67 percent of the world’s children will reside there. Poverty has halved in the Tropics since the 1980s, the rates of infectious diseases are declining, along with maternal and child mortality rates. Life expectancy is on the rise. However, it is not all good news. Tropical nations also face many health challenges, including the risks associated with the ‘double burden’ of disease where the prevalence of non-communicable, lifestyle disease is increasing even as infectious disease and under-nutrition remain public health issues. The landmark State of the Tropics Report 2014, launched by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in June of that year, and the larger project of which this is a part has served to raise awareness of the Tropics worldwide, yielding action at the United Nations and gathering momentum to ensure key challenges in the Tropics are addressed and opportunities realised. 

For universities and research institutions focused on the Tropics, this is our place, and we share a responsibility to work with and for the people of the Tropics, to bring to bear the power of our understanding, science and innovation on the issues of the Tropics to create a brighter future for the Tropics and its peoples. 

Claire Jackson MBBS (Uni of Qld) MD (UQ) MPH (UQ) CertHEcon (Monash) GradCert Management (QUT) FRACGP FAICD, Professor in General Practice and Primary Care Research, and Director, Centres for Primary Care Reform Research Excellence, University of Queensland.

Claire has been active in integrated care innovation, education and research for many years, and has been extensively involved in health services research and reform since the early 90s. She was appointed to the national PHC Advisory Group in May 2015, and was a member of the National Primary Care Strategy Expert Reference Group, the guiding force behind Australia’s first national primary care strategy.  She provided a commissioned paper for the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission on new models in primary care. Her description of the ‘beacon’ practice model, piloted at Inala Primary Care, was adopted as both the clinical prototype for the Australian Association of Academic General Practitioner’s endorsed model for GP Superclinics, and the basis for UQ’s successful $ 10 million Superclinic tenders.  Inala Primary Care won RACGP Qld ‘Practice of the Year’ in 2009.

Since 2009, Claire has been a national driver in the Health Care Home initiative – publishing and presenting widely on the topic and sitting on national Advisory Committees for both Ministers Plebisek and Ley.  She is Clinical Director of two $ 2.5 million Centres for Research Excellence in Primary Care Reform - one exploring new models of integrated care between hospital and community, the other investigating the impact of researcher and end-user ‘co-creation’ on clinical quality, patient experience, governance and models of care.

Her current primary area of research interest is in health system reform involving primary care, a topic on which she has published and presented internationally. Her MD Thesis was entitled ‘Building an Integrated Health Care Delivery System around Primary Care’.  With Inge de Jong, Claire co-authored “Achieving Effective Health Care Integration – the Essential Guide”, a publication that sold over 1000 copies.  Claire was heavily involved in the development of Australian Divisions of General Practice and Medicare Locals, and sat on state assessment panels and a number of Divisional and one Medicare Local Board.

Claire is currently Chair of Brisbane North Primary Health Network and is a Board member of the Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia Ltd (HCF), Australia’s largest NFP private health insurer.  She sits on the Editorial Advisory Committee of the Medical Journal of Australia and is a member of both Queensland Health’s Integrated Care Innovation Fund Select Committee and the Department of Health’s, Health Care Home Working Group. She was a Ministerial appointment to lead the National Review of Afterhour’s Primary Health Care in 2014.

She is immediate Past-President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and is an active clinician and GP trainer in Brisbane.

She was a 2014 Finalist in the Qld Telstra Business Women’s ‘Business Innovation’ and ‘Community and Government’ Awards.

This presentation will trace the evolution of primary health care (PHC) quality and capacity building in Australia from our first National Primary Health Care Strategy to current reform initiatives such as the COAG National Coordinated Care Reform, health pathways, PHN / LHN co-commissioning and the Health Care Home pilots.  It will include tools to build excellence in primary care delivery, achievements to date, and conclude with the challenges which lie ahead.

Professor Anne Kelso AO is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Anne was previously Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne, a role she held from 2007 until early 2015. Her earlier research career was spent at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, where she earned her reputation as a leading researcher in the field of immunology. From 2000 until 2006, she was also Director/CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Vaccine Technology. She has previously served as President of the Australasian Society for Immunology, as Secretary-General of the International Union of Immunological Societies and as a member of several governing boards and advisory groups, including the Council of QUT, the Boards of the Telethon Kids Institute and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, and committees advising the WHO and the Australian Government on influenza. She was appointed Officer in the Order of Australia in June 2007 for service to science.

Research has a pivotal role to play in improving health at every level – from discovery of the underlying causes of disease to the development and testing of new clinical practices and public health interventions, and the optimisation of health services. As the Australian Government’s main body for funding health and medical research, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) supports a wide range of research to address the special health issues and the challenges of remote health care delivery that face people living in rural and remote areas. This presentation will discuss the main schemes offered by NHMRC to fund rural health research, as well as the new Centres for Innovation in Regional Health that recognise leadership in health research and translation in regional and remote settings.

Catherine Fiona King is currently the Shadow Minister for Health in the Federal Parliament. She was the Minister for Regional Australia, Local Government and Territories from July to September 2013. She has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 2001 representing the Division of Ballarat, Victoria for the Australian Labor Party.

Catherine King was first elected to Federal Parliament in 2001 to represent the electorate of Ballarat.

She was re-elected as member at subsequent Federal Elections in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016.

Ms King was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the portfolios of Health and Ageing and Infrastructure and Transport in the Gillard Government following the 2010 election.  As such she held responsibility in the Health portfolio for nine health regulatory agencies including: the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Food Standards Australia New Zealand and the Organ and Tissue Authority and in the Transport portfolio for national road safety policy and regional aviation.

On 25 March 2013, Ms King was elevated to the roles of Minister for Regional Services, Local Communities and Territories and Minister for Road Safety in the Gillard Government. Ms King was subsequently promoted to Cabinet on 1 July 2013, as Minister for Regional Australia, Local Government and Territories in the Rudd Government.

On 18 October 2013, Ms King was appointed to the role of Shadow Minister for Health in the Shadow Cabinet led by the Hon. Bill Shorten. She was reappointed as Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare after the 2016 election.

She holds a Degree in Social Work and a Masters in Public Policy from the Australian National University and is currently completing a law degree from Deakin University.

Ms King worked in the social welfare sector in Ballarat and later in the public sector in Canberra, as an assistant director for the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care and then as a director.

Prior to entering Parliament she was a senior manager at KPMG’s Health Consulting Practice.

Langton is a highly experienced anthropologist and geographer, having successfully led major research projects focusing on Indigenous Australians across all three jurisdictions in which this study will be based (Qld, NT & WA). Professor Langton’s contributions on the impacts on Indigenous Australians of illicit substance and drug use, alcohol abuse, violence and the criminal justice system began in the 1980s with her appointment to a special role in the Northern Territory with the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Her findings were published as Appendix D (i) to the National Report of the Commission and shaped the recommendations of the Commission. This led to influential articles and submissions on Indigenous alcohol abuse and the criminal justice system. Since 2012, Langton has been the lead CI on research projects building an evidence base for the development of policy related to Alcohol Management Plans in the Northern Territory, resulting in advice to the federal Government on frameworks and guidelines for communities to formulate, implement and evaluate alcohol management plans. With Smith, she has conducted further research on Alcohol Management Plans in Queensland (Smith, Langton, Chenhall & Bawden, in press).

The evidence for more effective policy responses to reducing the harms of alcohol abuse is mounting. The waste water study of use of licit and illicit substances is just the latest in the data showing that the health of Australians is unnecessarily harmed by the availability of alcohol.  Langton will discuss some of the strategies being considered and how governments could respond more effectively to reduce alcohol harms.

Kathleen Martin is the Lecturer in Indigenous Health at the Centre for Remote Health, a joint University Department of Rural Health of Flinders University.  Kathleen is an Arrernte woman from Central Australia and has worked with Indigenous people for over 30 years in many roles including nursing, Aboriginal liaison, training & community services.  Having completed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Community Development Kathleen has a keen interest in social justice and supporting her local community ensuring that all Aboriginal people are treated with respect and have and understanding of their health and treatments.

Closing the Gap in Indigenous health is acknowledged as one of this country’s greatest challenges. Flinders NT (Flinders University’s presence in the Northern Territory) comprises of the NT Medical Program, Rural Clinical School, Centre for Remote Health and Poche Centre for Indigenous Health NT). Each sector of FNT has as a core objective, a focus on Indigenous health and well-being.

To this end, FNT has implemented a number of strategies and initiatives to equip medical and other health students to become culturally safe practitioners. Cultural safety is Flinders NT’s preferred philosophical framework for practice because of its relevance to colonized contexts, its recognition of power and privilege and the need to mitigate these, the regardful approach to difference, racism and discrimination and importantly the use of reflective practice.

Strategies employed by FNT include ensuring Indigenous lecturers are employed to deliver relevant content, as well as mentoring, coaching and pastoral care.  Given the cultural complexities and diverse intricate systems in Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander societies, cultural competence and safety are not just desired graduate outcomes, they are essential for anyone hoping to make a positive impact on Indigenous health today.

Providing cultural safety training however, is not without its own challenges. Apart from broad principles, there is no set ‘curricula’ as such for Indigenous academics to follow in relation to cultural awareness and sensitivity, the two pillars of safety training. This paper will describe some of the strategies employed across FNT, by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics, to develop culturally safe practitioners. Importantly, however, it will provide insights and experiences from the perspective of Indigenous academics teaching in the medical and other health programs of FNT and consider how culturally safety can be achieved for all involved in the process.

Kelly McJannett is the Chief Executive Officer of Food Ladder, an innovative NGO creating social enterprises to address food security internationally.

Kelly is passionate about using business to create sustainable solutions to pervasive social issues affecting communities around the world and galvanising the power and passion of organisations and governments to the movement.

In four years Food Ladder has transformed from the seed of an idea to an award winning business funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that has collectively created employment for over 300 people previously living in poverty or suffering from long-term unemployment.

With a background in communications, Kelly is experienced in developing start-ups as well as designing innovative and compelling strategies to deliver growth. Kelly has held management roles in Indigenous education, employment and development sectors before pursuing her dream of addressing food security challenges on a global scale.

With a unique model that promotes the self-sovereignty and economic independence of communities, Food Ladder is empowering disadvantaged people to grow their own produce using its hydroponic greenhouses in the slums of India through to Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Working with Governments to scale its reach, Kelly’s vision is to provide a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable solution to food security for impoverished communities around the world. 

Kelly is the recipient of the Sydney University 2016 Anstice Community Leader MBA Scholarship.

Kelly was named by The Australia Financial Review and Westpac among Australia’s 100 Women of Influence in November 2016.

Food security and related health issues are one of the greatest challenges facing remote communities. The success of the Food Ladder model illustrates how social enterprise, appropriate technology, collaboration and a shared responsibility for the epidemic is able to deliver lasting impact and outcomes in a way which is sustainable and financially viable in the long-term.

With visions expanding, Food Ladder is sowing the seed for change through broad implementation of its high-impact and proven model for improved remote Indigenous health across the country.

Janine Mohamed is a proud Narrunga Kaurna woman from South Australia. Over the past 20 years she has worked in nursing, management, workforce and health policy, and project management in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector. Many of these years have been spent in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Sector at state and national levels. Internationally, Janine has been a delegate at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on two occasions. Currently, she is the CEO of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM).

Janine has a passion for both increasing and supporting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce, in particular, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the health workforce; in fact, this has been a primary focus in all of her state and national work. She has initiated and/or managed many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce and governance projects, and has been a representative for both NACCHO and CATSINaM on The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Working Group which she now chairs and is a member of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Health Leadership Forum. Janine has also led and participated in numerous Health Workforce Australia Projects and Committees.

Embedding cultural safety at all levels of the Australian health system is essential for improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and health professionals, and also for other Indigenous people working in health systems. Momentum is building for a wider uptake of cultural safety, thanks to the forthcoming Version 2 of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards as well as other moves in the pipeline. However, concerted efforts are needed to ensure these measures have the desired effects, especially for rural and remote communities.

How do we ensure that when history is told about this era, it shows that regulation for cultural safety improved healthcare and health outcomes?

Mick Reid has undertaken many roles in the Australian health system during a career that spans four decades. His experience includes bureaucrat, consultant, academic and political advisor giving him a breadth of experience and depth of knowledge that is unique in Australia.

Mick was Director General of Health in two States. For five years until 2002, he held the position of Director General of New South Wales Health. More recently, until 2011, he spent three years as Director General of Queensland Health.

Between these two appointments he worked at the George Institute for International Health, was Director General for the Ministry of Science and Medical Research in NSW and was Chief of Staff to the Australian Minister for Health.

When not engaged in the public sector, Mick is Principal of his consulting company, Michael Reid & Associates, which has undertaken health and science projects throughout Australasia, for governments in Asian, and the Pacific and with UN organisations.

Broad areas of consultation have related to macro health systems development and evaluation, services planning, indigenous health, coordination and translation of health and science research, health workforce reform and performance analysis. He provides mentoring servies to many people in engaged in the Health Sector.

Mick holds Adjunct Professorships in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney and the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Western Sydney.

Currently, he is President of Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia and Deputy Chair of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia.

Mick is also a member of RSL Healthcare and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics Advisory Board.

In 2011, Mick was awarded the Sidney Sax Medal for contributions to Australian Health Services.

If you could direct scarce rural health funding to initiatives likely to maximise health outcomes, what would that initiative be?  Professor Mick Reid, the Co-Chair of the Royal Flying Doctor Service with a life’s experience in health care policy, will consider what’s most likely to lead to better health outcomes in the bush, informed by what bush health consumers think.

Dr Lesley Russell is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) at the University of Sydney.  Her research interests include health care reform in Australia and the US, mental health, Indigenous health, addressing health disparities and health budget issues.

Dr Russell was previously a Senior Research Fellow and Visiting Fellow at the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute at the Australian National University,

Dr Russell has substantial experience working in health policy in the United States and Australia, both in and out of government.  In 2009-12 she worked in Washington DC on a range of issues around the enactment and implementation of President Obama’s health care reforms, initially as a Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Progress and later as a Senior Advisor to the US Surgeon General in the Department of Health and Human Services.

From 2007-2010 she was the inaugural Menzies Foundation Fellow at the MCHP and a Research Associate at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.  Prior to that she was a health policy advisor to the Federal Australian Labor Party.  She worked for seven years as health policy advisor on the Energy and Commerce Committee in the US House of Representatives.

Dr Russell holds a PhD in biochemistry from the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the ANU.

Good health and local healthcare services contribute to the economic and social viability of rural communities. But at the same time, ensuring a community has the needed range of healthcare services and provides a supportive working and living environment for the people who deliver these services (and their families) requires thoughtful investments from all levels of government.  We can learn what works, what doesn't, and why from international experiences and some innovative Australian programs.

Jonathan Sher is a Harvard University Graduate, School of Education.  He also has a Master's degree and Doctorate in Administration.  He is a Senior-level professional and NGO leader with an international track record of research, writing, speaking, teaching/training, policy analysis, advocacy and management in the fields of education, health inequalities, early years, families (mothers, fathers and carers), social justice, child health/wellbeing, school reform, children’s rights, child maltreatment prevention and rural community development.  Currently Director of Sher Consultancy.  Previous positions have included Scotland Director of WAVE Trust; Director of Research, Policy and Programmes, Children in Scotland; CEO of the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute; Lead Consultant, Annenberg Rural Challenge; Co-founder of Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning; CEO of the Rural Education and Development Inc.

The majority of OECD nations continue to display an unfortunate professional, political and societal 'blind-spot' about the root causes and starting points of child health and health inequalities. Just as child development does not begin at birth, so too, early intervention and primary prevention do not begin with pregnancy. 

The good news is that everyone who will ever become a parent wants the same three outcomes: a safe pregnancy, a thriving baby and a rewarding parenthood. The bad news is that these three universal goals are not achieved as often as could, and should, be the case.  We have sufficient human, financial and institutional resources to close the gap between positive rhetoric and negative realities.

My presentation will focus on why this gap exists and what can actually be done. I will also focus on the rural dimensions of this story. The distinctive obstacles and untapped opportunities existing in small places and the bush will be discussed.

My basic recommendation is to dramatically increase the analysis, resources and action we devote to preconception health, education care across the life course. At each age and stage of life, we must – individually and collectively – take full advantage of the abundant chances that already exist to better prepare and support the next generation of mothers, fathers and carers.

Preconception and interconception health – that is, preparing well for the first baby or the next baby -- is a powerful, multifaceted, democratic strategy for:

* Promoting social justice across generations; 
* Integrating public services and public action;
* Preventing a ‘bad hand’ from being dealt in the first place;
* Easing the demands upon health professionals; and, 
* Grasping the opportunity to listen to, and then support, girls and women, boys and men in ways leading to healthier families, wiser use of public resources and a more successful society.  

Inadequate, or altogether absent, preparation for parenthood is both a cause and a consequence of intergenerational poverty and other seemingly intractable problems.

Neither the wellbeing of prospective mothers and fathers, nor the futures of their babies, are spectator sports. The choices we make and the actions we take (or fail to take) – individually and collectively -- will have at least as much impact on the next generation as either their postcodes or their genetic codes. 

My main independent, national reports commissioned by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (Public Health):

• http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/media/237841/prepared-for-pregnancy-j-sher-may-2016.pdf 
• http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/media/237840/missed-periods-j-sher-may-2016.pdf 

Select recent columns/blogs related to these reports:

On austerity and primary prevention (with Professor James Mitchell and John Carnochan QPM OBE): http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13416287.Agenda__Sowing_austerity_guarantees_we_will_continue_to_reap_the_whirlwind_of_needless_human_suffering

On FASD (fetal alcohol harm): https://www.holyrood.com/articles/comment/zika-virus-not-birth-defect-risk-scotland-should-be-most-worried-about

On education attainment: https://www.holyrood.com/articles/comment/scotland-tying-one-hand-behind-its-and-children%E2%80%99s-backs-waiting-too-late-address 

On folic acid and pregnancy/birth outcomes (with Dr Linda de Caestecker):  https://www.holyrood.com/articles/comment/folic-acid-bread-barn-gates-and-neural-tubes

On FASD and the ASL Act: http://www.pinscotland.org/whats-new-pins-blog.html

For voluntary sector organisations: http://www.scvo.org.uk/blog/doing-the-rights-thing-for-next-generation-of-scottish-parents/

For politicians and policymakers (re: Holyrood baby): https://www.holyrood.com/articles/comment/life-chances-are-often-shaped-even-we-are-born

For parenting groups: http://www.parentingacrossscotland.org/info-for-practitioners/articles/preparing-for-the-next-pregnancy/    

For youth workers and youth groups:  https://youthlinkscotlandblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/23/falling-pregnant-versus-preparing-for-parenthood/ 

For the general public (Where Do Parents Come From?): http://www.productmagazine.co.uk/ideas/ten-things-4/ 

Email:  [email protected]

Gracelyn Smallwood is a Birrigubba, Kalkadoon and South-Sea Islander woman born in Townsville in 1951.  She has been advocating against the racism and violation of human rights against her people for the past 45 years and prior to this her parents for 50 years, and grandparents for another 50 years before that. She has dealt with almost every disease, both nationally and internationally, however, has never been able to come to terms with the ugly disease of racism.

Gracelyn Smallwood grew up in a condemned house with a dirt floor, 18 siblings (14 in one family, five more when her father re-married).  Her father was one of the Stolen Generation, taken from his family in the North Queensland town of Ayr and banished to the notorious Palm Island dormitories, for the ‘crime’ of having brown skin instead of black skin. Brown babies were proof of the relationships the white men of small towns were having, so the children were removed to spare the white men’s embarrassment.  Gracelyn lived under the threat of the Aboriginal Protection Act in North Queensland and struggled at school as did many Indigenous kids.  Many thought sport would pull them through, and they felt disengaged until a dynamic and caring Indigenous teacher made helped them realise they couldn’t rely on sport as a career move.   There were few options for Aboriginal girls, so Gracelyn decided to train to be a nurse.

In 1972, Gracelyn became a registered nurse and worked in communities such as Alice Springs, Palm Island, remote Western Australia and South Australia.  She was a volunteer member of the Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health service in 1974, and worked as a volunteer Registered Nurse with two volunteer Doctors.  She later became a registered midwife and worked with the Remote Emergency Nursing Services, which took her all over remote Australia delivering babies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with no benefits of modern technology.  Gracelyn has also worked in remote Australia with the late Dr Fred Hollows on the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program.

Gracelyn was awarded the Queensland Aboriginal of the Year in 1986 and an Order of Australia in 1992 for service to public health, particularly HIV-AIDS education.

In 1993, Gracelyn was the first Indigenous Australian to receive a Masters of Science in Public Health (JCU) for her work on HIV education in North Queensland Indigenous communities.  She has been employed as an advisor to the World Health Organisation on HIV-AIDS and Indigenous communities; the Queensland Health Minister Ken McElligot and the Queensland Minister for Family Services, Ann Warner because of her expertise on health and domestic violence inequalities.

In 1994 she became the first woman, first Indigenous person and first non-paediatrician to receive the Henry Kemp Memorial Award at the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.  She completed a Diploma in Indigenous Mental Health, and has worked with acute and chronic psychiatric patients, Indigenous and Non-Indigenous, for many years.

In 1997 Gracelyn was invited to be special guest for the then South African President, Mr Nelson Mandela, and used the time speaking with activists including the sons of the late Steve Biko, and giving HIV-AIDS prevention talks and workshops.  She was one of the small group of health practitioners who understood the risk of HIV-AIDS in Indigenous communities, and helped devise the now mainstream and famous Condoman to promote safe sex in a culturally appropriate way.

In 2007 Gracelyn received one of her greatest achievements, the Deadly Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Indigenous Health.  She was especially delighted with this award, as it is peer- and community judged.

From 2007-2011 Gracelyn held a part-time role as Special Advisor to the Vice Chancellor on Indigenous Matters at James Cook University where she was given the task of improving relationships between the University and the Indigenous community.

In October 2013 Gracelyn was awarded the United Nations Association of Australia Queensland Community Award - Individual, in recognition of service to public health, in particular HIV AIDS, contribution to Australian Universities, and consultation to the World Health Organisation.

In 2014, she received the prestigious award of NAIDOC Person of the Year and was also formally recognised for her contribution of 45 years to health and human rights advocacy and became a member of the Queensland Mental Health and Drug Advisory Council.  Gracelyn also received the James Cook University Outstanding Alumni Award in 2014.

In 2015 Gracelyn was appointed Member of The Harvard FXB Health and Human Rights Consortium; the North Queensland Primary Healthcare Network (NQPHN) Clinical Council for the Townsville-Mackay region; the Townsville Hospital and Health Board; and the Federal Ministerial Advisory Committee on Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections.  She was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM).

In 2011, Gracelyn completed her PhD Thesis Human Rights and First Australians Well-being.  Her PhD has been published by Routledge in London as a hardback monograph and the publication is titled Indigenist Critical Realism.

Professor Gracelyn Smallwood will talk about her experiences in Indigenous health over forty five years.  Gracelyn has worked in rural and remote communities and will give first hand case histories of avoidable deaths within the system owing to the lack of understanding of cultural standards.  She will also discuss the importance of all health staff being culturally competent within hospitals in both rural, remote and regional communities.  Whilst speaking about the problems, she will close with the simple solutions and most importantly, give the understanding of the past traumas of the impact of colonisation, with unresolved trauma.  “Together we can all collaborate in closing the gap.”

Warren was born and raised in Canberra where he attended school and studied a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the Australian National University. After gaining a Diploma in Education from Murdoch University, he moved to the Northern Territory to work as a teacher.

Warren’s experience as a research worker and a teacher in the Northern Territory made him very passionate about the Northern Territory region, and he remains determined to deliver key Labor reforms in employment and education for the diverse peoples of his electorate.

“The seat of the Northern Territory has a proud Labor tradition… I place on record my indebtedness to the people whose support for me and the Australian Labor Party in the last election has been rewarded with a system of government that is both practical and concerned for their welfare.”

After co-authoring several papers, a book on Indigenous culture and education, and working as a senior policy officer at the Central Land Council in Alice Springs, Warren was elected to Parliament in 1987.

In the previous Labor Government, Warren served as Minister for Veteran’s Affairs, Defence Science and Personnel, Indigenous Health, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Centenary of ANZAC.

He now serves as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Indigenous Affairs.

Warren and his wife Elizabeth live in Alice Springs where they have been for more than 30 years, having raised four children. Warren is an avid sports enthusiast, and a lifetime supporter of the Geelong Cats

Warren will talk about rural health and the Rural Parliamentary Friendship Group, Co-chaired with Warren Entsch MP.

Trent is the Chairman of Northern Queensland PHN.  He is also the Chairman of Advance Cairns, the peak economic development and advocacy organisation for Tropical North Queensland, a National Councilor of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, a member of the Council of James Cook University and the Chairman of the Northern Australia Alliance.

Trent is an Adjunct Associate Professor at James Cook University, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Council Member of the Queensland Futures Institute, a trustee for the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, a fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a fellow of the Australian College of Pharmacy.

Trent and his wife are both pharmacists and together they are partners in a group of seven pharmacies. They live with their two children in Cairns.

Primary Health Networks (PHNs) have been established with the key objectives of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of primary health services for patients, particularly those at risk of poor health outcomes, and improving coordination of care to ensure patients receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

A failing across Northern Queensland is that many government systems, including but not limited to education, health, employment, commerce, tourism and local government, do not align with each other and thus are poorly connected – contributing to ineffectiveness and inefficiencies, leading to inequalities in access to health services.

This presentation will focus on a number of recommendations to align Commonwealth, State and Local Government in a coordinated effort to address the social determinants of health.

Michael is the Director-General Queensland Health where he leads a public health and hospital system for a population of 4.7million people.  Prior to this role, Michael was the inaugural Chief Executive / CIO of eHealth NSW, providing eHealth and ICT services to the NSW Health System.  Michael has also worked as Chief Executive of HealthShare NSW, the NSW Health shared service provider. Michael has extensive experience at the Government Senior Executive level in both NSW and Queensland and has worked in the private sector including for a leading consulting firm.

Michael has led large organisational strategy and change programs including major departmental integrations; significant ICT programs; and, large hospital infrastructure programs such as the $10 billion Queensland Hospital rebuilding program including the Gold Coast University Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Queensland Children's Hospital.

Michael has a strong background in public sector governance and leadership. Michael also has strong experience in portfolio, program and project management, business case development and implementation of major government initiatives.

Michael Walsh, Director-General, Queensland Health will be presenting a keynote address at the 14^th National Rural Health Conference on Healthcare for rural and remote areas. The presentation focuses on advancing healthcare for rural and remote areas through digital innovation at a national and state level with a focus on the challenges and opportunities for making healthcare access and delivery easier, better, faster and safer for those living in rural and remote communities.

Cultural competence is a central tenant of effective remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health service provision, and for us as health professionals or those involved in the health system, we need to stay open to learning Indigenous socio-cultural ways and applying this in practice, as well as understanding our own cultural bias if we are to improve health outcomes.