Newsletter No. 12

The 17th World Congress of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions is about to start at the Melbourne Convention Centre on Sunday 10th September running through to Thursday 14th September followed by some visits to various facilities.

This is the biggest and best child psychiatry congress in the world because it is not only for child psychiatrists (which is the case in the American Academy of Child Psychiatry meetings) but is also for all the other professions who contribute to this great field that we work in. It is 28 years since the Congress was last in Australia and we are making the most of this rare opportunity to see and rub shoulders with some of the greatest authorities in the field.

MHYF Vic is one of the sponsoring agencies, so you will see our logo on the publications. Several of our Committee members have been on the Organizing

Committee, most importantly Suzie Dean who has been Co-Chair of the Committee, backed up by Suzanne Robson who has been responsible for the Consumer and Carer contribution helped by Chantal Aiello, Paul Tribe who has been responsible for the Youth Forum, and Allan Mawdsley who has been responsible for the post-Congress site visits to facilities.

This is the first time in the history of IACAPAP that the Congress has actively included contributions by consumers and carers. We are very keen to make this a major feature of the Congress and MHYF Vic members are in the forefront. There are several symposia highlighting the importance of what consumers and carers can contribute to the effectiveness of service delivery.

Issues such as collaboration in treatment, reducing barriers to communication, improving quality of care and advocacy for better funding are among the benefits arising out of this involvement.
The Youth Forum also promises to be a remarkable event, with a full day of contributions by young people who have experienced the ups and downs of the mental health service delivery system.

MHYF Vic is also responsible for a symposium on dealing with stigma, because this was the issue that our members indicated was the greatest cause of distress. Committee members Allan Mawdsley and Suzanne Robson will be joined by Barbara Hocking of SANE Australia and Tracy Zilm of Mind Matters to lead discussion on practical interventions to improve understanding and reduce the stigma associated with mental disturbances.

Our new secretary, Jacinta Bleeser, is actively involved in the media subcommittee, and another of our members, Nichola Coombs, has taken on the task of providing delegate support.

Suzanne Robson is responsible for the Consumer/Carer lounge, and Paul Tribe will organize the Youth lounge.

The Congress is shaping up to be an extremely exciting event and we encourage all our members to be part of it.

Allan Mawdsley,
MHYF Vic President

Annual General Meeting

The MHYF Vic Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 25th October 2006. Once again, following the pattern of last year’s successful event, the meeting
will be held at the Portabella Restaurant on the beach at Albert Park right next to the Kerford Road pier.

The evening will start at 7.00pm with the machinery items of Annual Reports and election of office-bearers. There will then be a one hour break during which
members have a very sociable dinner. After dinner there will be a series of short presentations on important topics of interest to members. The timetable will be sent to members shortly before the date.

The menu is simple and inexpensive but good quality. For $20 there is a choice between a chicken salad, vegetarian foccacia or fish and chips. Orders are
taken at the start of the meeting so that everyone is served on time.

This pattern worked very well last year.

The food and wine were very good and the company was great! Come and join us this
year.