14th Australian Health Promotion Association Annual Conference

The 14th Australian Health Promotion Association Annual Conference was held in Sydney from the 16 – 20 June. The conference theme, ‘Made in the future’, a conference on leadership, capacity building, evidence and advocacy, highlights factors that are vital to successful Indigenous health practice and policy at all levels.

Of particular relevance to Indigenous health promotion practitioners was the National Indigenous Health Promotion Network Leadership Forum, titled Building vision and purpose: linking past events with present strategies to create a better future. The morning session enabled members to explore and discuss the development and focus of the Network: its activities, its directions and its purposes. The afternoon forum provided a structure for looking nationally at successes in Indigenous health promotion. Guest speakers provided examples of how strategic leadership and capacity building were working in their local areas.

The conference also provided the HealthInfoNet with an opportunity to share its work with health promotion professionals from around Australia. An Internet café, along the lines of those conducted at earlier conferences, introduced conference delegates to the HealthInfoNet‘s online services and technology, and its role in empowering Indigenous people by providing them with access to relevant, high-quality information and knowledge on Indigenous health.

The café, conducted by Bronwyn Gee and Sandy Angus from the HealthInfoNet, and Donna Daly from the Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, offered delegates the opportunity to explore the HealthInfoNet site. New users were guided through its major sections and offered assistance to seek out material pertaining to their specific health interests. The café also provided a forum to showcase the latest edition of the Indigenous health promotion resources publication produced by the Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal. The publication was of particular interest to many health promotion practitioners attending the conference.

Another positive aspect of the HealthInfoNet café was the opportunity it offered to exchange information on creative and innovative programs and projects currently being implemented across the nation. Staff used the digital camera to take photos of many people involved in these projects, some of which are displayed here.

The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet would like to thank the Australian Health Promotion Association for their support of our initiative, and Hire Intelligence for the much appreciated sponsorship.