University hosts inaugural Allied Health Forum

Southern Cross University will host the inaugural Allied Health Forum at its Gold Coast campus on Wednesday, September 18.

Allied health practitioners from the Gold Coast and northern NSW will be able to engage and network with colleagues. Keynote speakers include Craig Dukes, the chief executive officer of Indigenous Allied Health Australia; Tanya Lehmann, president of SARRAH (Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health); Sheila Keane, of the Universities Centre for Rural Health; and Mary Hawkins, Quality and Provider Network manager within DisabilityCare Australia, who will present issues in the changing health landscape that are of interest and importance to allied health professionals in regional and rural areas.

Professor Susan Nancarrow and Beth Staunton from the School of Health and Human Sciences will also be presenting at the forum on their current projects – networked models of supervision and support, and expanding the scope of allied health through service learning and community engagement – and Professor Iain Graham, Dean of Health and head of the School of Health and Human Sciences, will open the Forum.

The Allied Health Forum is part of the School of Health and Human Sciences continuing professional development program that it offers to all allied health practitioners and builds on the successful nursing and midwifery forums that have been presented over the last two years. The Allied Health Forum has been sponsored by North Coast Medicare Local and the Universities Centre for Rural Health.

“It’s an inspiring array of keynote speakers we have visiting the University,” forum convener Associate Professor Ev Innes said.

“Practitioners will be able to establish networks with allied health colleagues and keep up to date with issues affecting regional allied health, such as the roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, engaging with Indigenous partners, attracting more Indigenous students to allied health professions and addressing cultural competence amongst clinicians. We hope that practitioners will be able to identify ways to develop their own networked models of support and engage with each other, the University and organisations such as Medicare Locals.”

The forum starts at 9am and concludes at 4.30pm and will be held in Building A at the University’s Gold Coast campus.

Photo: Associate Professor Ev Innes.