Category Archives: Professional News

Upcoming Indigenous Health Conferences

Via Indigenous Conference Services:

Listed below are the conferences for 2016 and 2017.  calling for papers & are now open and sought for  Please submit your entry online.

Exciting upcoming 2016-2017 Conferences

  • National Indigenous Justice Conference
  • National Indigenous Board of Director’s Conference
  • Global Indigenous Domestic Violence Conference
  • International Indigenous Men’s Conference
  • International Indigenous Women’s Conference
  • International Indigenous Allied Health &  Chronic Diseases Conference
  • National Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Worker’s Conference
  • National Indigenous Aged Care Conference
  • National Indigenous Drug & Alcohol Conference
  • National Indigenous Children’s Conference
  • National Stolen Generation Bringing Them Home Conference
  • National Mental Health Conference
  • Save Our Mob, Stop the Closure of Our Communities Conference
  • National Indigenous Justice Conference

MEDIA RELEASE: Indigenous Conference Services (ICS Australia) proudly unveils this year’s successful papers for its 2016 World Indigenous Women’s Conference scheduled for the 12th – 14th September this year at the Stamford Beach Hotel Glenelg Adelaide in South Australia. More than 50 percent of the submitted papers accepted were from grassroots community organizations which clearly indicates the strong interests and dedication of community organizations and service providers working together to improve Indigenous women’s wellbeing.

Among our international First Nations keynote speakers are Metis activists and human rights advocates, MURIEL STANLEY VENNE and daughter, RACHELLE VENNE who founded the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women (IAAW) in 1995 and has worked tirelessly to defend the interests and rights of Aboriginal women, children and family. Muriel is a member of the Order of Canada (2007), received various national awards and named one of the 50 most influential people in Alberta Venture magazine (2006.)

Similarly, DR. NINA SIVERTSEN is an international Indigenous Sea-Sámi Nurse from Northern Norway and works as a lecturer within the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Flinders University. Her work focuses on women’s empowerment and leadership. With her PhD about Indigenous identity and historical biography of a travelling midwife from the arctic wilderness, she aims to contribute to the growing literature of Indigenous research by Indigenous researchers in a global context.

HON. LINDA BURNEY is one of the national keynote speakers. Linda is of Wiradjuri descent, grew up in a small farming community near Leeton and is one of the ‘Stolen Generations’ of Aboriginal children. Since her election for Canterbury 2003, she has been a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Children and Young People 2003-04 and the Legislation Review Committee in 2004.

In addition to the featured speakers and after due deliberation, the following presenters and their respective papers had been accepted for presentation during the 2016 World Indigenous Women’s Conference:

REGINA RICHARDSON is a proud Yamatji woman of the Amangu group in the mid-west region of Western Australia. She is also an Amangu Native Title Working Group member. Regina currently works at the Aboriginal Workforce Development Centre as a mentor to a group of Aboriginal women.

SUSAN MOYLAN-COOMBS is the Founder & Director of Leader for Change and leads the projects undertaken by the Gaimaragal Group. A First Australian, Susan’s ancestry is Woolwonga and Gurindji from the Northern Territory. She will be co-presenting with ELIZA PROSS, Leader for Change Consultant and is a Gaimariagal resident, and Yuin/Palawa woman from Southern NSW and Tasmania. Eliza has an extensive work history in  community care, disability and mental health sectors and in international community development projects.

WENDY WATEGO is the Co-Founder and National Program Director of STARS Institute of Learning and Leadership. Wendy began her professional life as a pre-school educator, became the first Black woman  Principal of Bwgcolman School on Palm Island, a leadership coach, author and healer. Wendy’s mother’s mob are Goenpil, Nughie, Noonuccal people from Minjerribah, North Stradbroke Island and her dad’s family are Aboriginal and proud South Sea Islanders from New Caledonia.

LUITA CASEY is currently working as an Aboriginal Women’s Health Nurse with the Women’s Health Network. She will be presenting a pilot program entitled, ‘Engaging Aboriginal Women to participate and tell their stories about what they feel cultural safety means to them”.

It is encouraging to see government, non-government organizations and grassroots communities join forces with us in choosing the agenda. This event is about sharing of information on successful Indigenous women programs being implemented in all corners of the world and offers interagency networking either at a local country, state, national and international levels. We encourage anyone interested in attending the conference to register early as numbers are filling fast! To register, please visit the event’s website: www.indigenousconferences.com or email us at adminics@iinet.net.au

Sydney MSIC Safer Injecting Workshop

Sydney MSIC Safer Injecting Workshop

Are you looking to enhance your skills in relation to working with people who inject drugs? Do you want to be able to offer the best Harm minimisation advice? Then book yourself onto the Safer Injecting Workshop run by the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC).

 

NEW COMPONENT ADDED FOR 2016: Administration of Narcan (Naloxone) in a community setting with your own take-home kit containing two doses of Narcan!

 

Monday 9 May 2016 (9am – 4.30pm)

Cost: $200 (includes cost for take-home Narcan kit)

Lunch and light refreshments provided

This workshop is aimed at workers or volunteers currently working with people who inject drugs and who have some level of training and/or experience.  The workshop provides a sound foundation to consolidate existing knowledge for those wishing to expand their skills in providing safer injecting advice.  This workshop is a full day course and aims to offer participants an understanding of:

  • Safer injecting practices including high risk injecting and related problems
  • Performance and image-enhancing drugs (steroids)
  • Drug filtration (particularly opioid tablets) for injection with a practical demonstration using wheel filters
  • An introduction to opioid overdose identification and management

Sydney MSIC trainers are in a unique position to offer you interactive and specialised training in the field of injecting drug use. Our training packages provide you with knowledge, skills and confidence to empower you to work effectively with people who use drugs. Training packages are interactive, engaging and give workers the chance to ask the questions they’ve always wanted to ask but were too afraid to…….

All participants can elect to attend an early morning tour of the service prior to the training start time. This tour commences at 8.30am. Please indicate if you wish to attend this at time of booking.

For a registration form to book a place on this course, please email:

rglasgow@uniting.org                                          NB: The closing date for applications is two weeks prior to the course date

Great AOD App for Android and iOS Users

The Australian Indigenous Alcohol and Other Drugs Knowledge Centre today launched an Android version of their free mobile phone app called AODconnect, which will support efforts to reduce harmful substance use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The new Android app provides a national directory of alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and can be used by the AOD workforce, and the very wide range of health practitioners working in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector.

The new Android version of the AODconnect app is the same as the iOS version launched in 2015, and now makes this valuable tool accessible to that large section of the workforce who use Android phones and tablets. The app is useful for those looking for a specific Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander AOD service by state, territory and/or region through an interactive map of Australia or by alphabetical listing. It has two filter options: focus (to identify the main focus of the service: Indigenous, mainstream with Indigenous focus or mainstream); or treatment categories (counselling and referral, harm reduction and support groups, outreach, mobile patrols and sobering up, residential rehab, withdrawal management, and young people).

AODconnect is available free for both Android and iOS devices (iPhones and iPads). Download it on the Knowledge Centre website, or Google Play and iTunes stores.

For more information: http://www.aodknowledgecentre.net.au/AODconnect

Please let us know if there is an AOD treatment service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that is not on the app and you think should be included.

Peer Helper Training (Victoria)

Association of Participating Service APSU @ SHARC will run the next Peer Helper Training course from 19 April – 5 May 2016. We invite people with the personal experience of problematic substance use, with or without mental health issues, to apply for this free training by 21 March 2016. The application will be followed by an individual assessment of each applicant before the final confirmation of enrolment.

APSU has been successfully running the Peer Helper Training since 2005. This training is designed to put a professional frame on participants’ lived experience. It particularly enables people who have had a disrupted education to test the waters, build their self-esteem, skill and knowledge level. Indeed, many people who have been through the Peer Helper Training have then moved on to further education or other socially engaging activities.

Training flyer with all the relevant information is available at http://sharc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/FlyerA4-11.pdf. Feel free to contact Edita at 9573 1776 if you have any further questions.

AOD PhD Scholarship Available

PhD SCHOLARSHIP – ALCOHOL’S HARM TO CHILDREN

Melbourne or Perth

3 years @ National Drug Research Institute (NDRI)

 

This three-year Curtin University/NDRI PhD Scholarship will be linked to NHMRC funded research on alcohol’s harm to children and will be for doctoral research into the prevention or reduction of such harms.

Applications are invited in any of these broad research areas:

  • Alcohol’s harm to others, particularly to children affected by others’ drinking due to intentional and unintentional injury
  • Alcohol’s impact on child abuse and neglect as identified in the child protection system
  • Finding interventions that work: How do alcohol-related policy and treatment initiatives for parents and carers assist their children?

 

Applications are open. Click for full details

 

Methamphetamine Treatment Workshops

Via ADACA Update list:

Sydney 9th and 10th March 2016 – early bird date approaching

Looking for better responses for methamphetamine users? Get practical skills from Australian leaders in methamphetamine treatment

Attend our special training days for health and welfare workers, AOD specialists and service managers and team leaders and walk away with real skills you can apply immediately to your work! Our workshops are skills based, practical sessions run by Australian leaders in methamphetamine treatment and research who have been working with methamphetamine users for more than 25 years: A/Prof Nicole Lee, Linda Jenner, Paula Ross.

Choose from one of three treatment skills workshops plus a special half day workshop for those working with families of people who use methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine treatment workshops: 9th March 9:30am – 4:30pm (full day; 3 streams)

Workshop 1Beyond the tip of the iceberg: Responding to methamphetamine use (health and welfare workers)

Workshop 2: Breaking the ice: Tailoring CBT and MI for methamphetmaine users (AOD specialists)

Workshop 3: On thin ice: Creating a methamphetmaine-responsive service (service managers and team leaders)

Early bird $299 (book by 1st Feb 2016)   |   Standard rate $450 (book by 1st Feb 2016)

Working with families workshop: 10th March 9am – 12.30pm (half day)

Workshop 4: Cracks in the ice: Essential skills for working with families of people who use methamphetamine (anyone working or wanting to work with families)

Early bird $199 (book by 1st Feb 2016)   |   Standard Rate $299 (book by 1st Feb 2016)

Special early-bird combined workshop discount rate $166***

*** Attend one of the ice treatment workshops and receive a special 15% off the Working with Families Workshop rate (combined price $465 instead of $498)

Bookings: www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=135067

Further info: www.leejenn.com.au/new-ice-training

Register your interest for workshops planned for Perth and working with families workshops in Melbourne early 2016: training@leejenn.com.au

Your workshop facilitators


ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR NICOLE LEE is a practicing psychologist with 25 years experience in AOD and mental health treatment, research and training. She is one of Australia’s leading experts in methamphetamine treatment. She established the Access Point Stimulant Treatment Centre in Melbourne and developed Australia’s gold standard psychological CBT and MI therapy for methamphetamine use. Nicole is Adjunct Associate Professor at NDRI and National President of the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy.


LINDA JENNER is a registered nurse with 36 years experience in clinical practice, research and training in AOD and mental health. She was the AOD sectors first CNC for Dual Diagnosis and has produced numerous clinical guidelines on methamphetamine for AOD and frontline workers. She has written numerous guidelines for specialist and frontline workers guiding responses to methamphetamine use.


PAULA ROSS is a practicing psychologist and holds a master’s degree in Counselling Psychology. She has worked in the drug and alcohol field for over 20 years and is highly regarded for her extensive experience in working with families. She has conducted research into AOD clinicians’ experience of working with families, is on the Advisory Committee of Family Drug Help at SHARC, and maintains a private practice working with individuals, couples and families with drug and alcohol and other issues.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research Seminars

The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) invites you to hear the findings from our two latest research reports followed by refreshments.  
All are welcome to join us so please circulate this invitation among your networks.

Paper 1.         Do domestic violence offenders receive more lenient sentences than non-domestic violent offenders?
                Dr Neil Donnelly & Dr Suzanne Poynton, BOCSAR

Paper 2.         Does going to prison reduce the risk of further offending: The impact of an offenders first prison episode
                Dr Judy Trevena and Dr Don Weatherburn, BOCSAR

Date:                Friday 4 December 2015

Time:         10:00am to 11:30am

Location:        Room 029
                Building 02 (CB02)
                University of Technology
                Broadway Sydney

Map:                link to pdf map

Cost:                Free

RSVP:        by Monday 30 November
                to bocsar_seminars@agd.nsw.gov.au

Brain Science and Drug Use Seminar

What can brain science tell us about CBT? Some say nothing!

Find out how brain science can improve understanding of drug use and its treatment.

 

A/Prof Nicole Lee is one of Australia’s leaders in drug treatment. She is particularly known for her work in methamphetamine treatment and treatment of co-occurring mental health and drug problems.

She is a translational scientist drawing on broad research to improve treatment outcomes.

Nicole is National President of the AACBT as well as Director of The LeeJenn Group, Associate Professor at the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction and Adjunct Associate Professor at the National Drug Research Institute.

How Drugs Affect the Brain

Drugs affect the brain – that’s why people use them! But both short term and long term users can experience significant brain changes that affect cognition, mental health symptoms and their ability to engage in treatment.

Some of these changes can last 12-18 months post abstinence and relapse rates are between 50% and 80% as a result.

Nicole uses examples from methamphetamine (‘speed’ and ‘ice’) and other drug use, and gives us the non-neuroscientist version of how drugs affect the brain in the long and short term, how that translates to the way users present in treatment and changes that we need to make to ensure treatment is more effective for this group.

When Wednesday 9 December 2015, (registration from 6:30pm) 7:00 to 8:00pm

Venue Bat and Ball, 495 Cleveland Street, Redefine

To download the flyer, go to: http://www.atoda.org.au/wp-content/uploads/AACBT-Pub-Discussion-Nicole-Lee1.pdf

Multi-lingual resource: what is drug and alcohol treatment?

What is drug and alcohol treatment?

A new resource produced by the Drug and Alcohol Multicultural Education Centre explains different types of drug and alcohol treatment, how to access treatment services, support available for friends/family, plus other commonly asked questions in simple, non-medical language.

The resource can be downloaded from www.damec.org.au

2nd National Complex Needs Conference – Details

The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) – in conjunction with the National Complex Needs Alliance (NCNA) – is holding the Second National Complex Needs Conference in Canberra on 17-18 November 2015.  This will be the second Australian conference to showcase successful programs/approaches in addressing complex needs – with the broader purpose of identifying what works and how.  Click here to register online.

Keynote speakers at the conference include:

  • Dr Tom Calma AO, National Coordinator, Tackling Indigenous Smoking; Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia

TOPIC: Justice Reinvestment – is it the policy solution for Australia’s Indigenous incarceration challenge?

  • Bernadette Mitcherson, Executive Director, ACT Corrective Services

TOPIC: Throughcare programs and initiatives for detainees with complex needs in the ACT

  • Kate Carnell AO, CEO, Chamber of Commerce and Industry

TOPIC: A hand up, not a hand out – how the business community can support disadvantaged Australians to re-enter the labour market

  • Kieran Palmer, Clinical Service Manager, Psychologist, Ted Noffs Foundation

TOPIC: Embracing the potential of youth: Integrated treatment approaches to improving outcomes and supporting greatness

  • Sue Miers AM, Chair, National Organisation for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (NOFASD)

TOPIC: Comprehensive responses to the needs of children and families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

  • Day 2 of the conference will also feature an Opening Address by Yvette Berry MLA, ACT Minister for Housing, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Community Services, Multicultural Affairs, Women and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Social Inclusion and Equality

TOPIC: ACT Government’s Human Services Blueprint and the related Strengthening Families and Local Services Network initiatives.

Among the other program highlights is the Political and Community Perspectives Panel – confirmed panellists include:

  • Kirsten Livermore, A/g Director, Health, Safety, Environment & Community Policy, Minerals Council of Australia and former Federal Member for Capricornia
  • Senator Deborah O’Neill, Chair, Senate Select Committee on Health
  • Dr John Falzon, Chief Executive Officer, St Vincent de Paul Society National Council of Australia
  • Julie Tongs OAM, Chief Executive Officer, Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service

The Hypothetical Plenary Session: Great expectations – can we meet complex need effectively? – will be facilitated by Genevieve Jacobs, Presenter of Mornings with Genevieve Jacobs on 666 ABC Canberra.  Panellists will explore options for providing comprehensive assistance to a hypothetical family with complex needs.  Panellists include:

  • Sue Murray, Chief Executive Officer, Suicide Prevention Australia
  • Lyn Morgain, Chief Executive, cohealth
  • Camilla Rowland, Chief Executive Officer, Marymead
  • Professor Valsa Eappen, Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • Tamara Stewart-Jones, Director, Multicultural Youth South Australia Inc.
  • Sharon Tuffin, Chief Executive Officer (Interim) Karralika Programs Inc.

Click here to view the full Provisional Program for the conference.