Today is R U OK? Day and I’d like to encourage everyone to stay connected and make asking R U OK? part of their every day.
It has been a busy month in public policy, with state and federal activity and announcements on healthcare, prevention, and the disability sector. Our members’ contributions continue to support evidence informed policy in all these areas, working with our partners to identify effective responses to the healthcare workforce challenges in metro and rural areas, and demonstrating the need for strong public policy to restrict gambling and unhealthy food marketing.
It was a pleasure to attend the launch of Public Health Association of Australia (Victoria)’s report, Public Health in Victoria: Ten Successes to Guide a Healthier Future at Victoria’s Parliament House. It was an honour to contribute to its development and to hear the strong support for public health from speakers including the Honorable Nicola Roxon, the Honorable Andy Meddick and the Honorable Ted Baillieu.
I’m looking forward to our next IHT morning tea on 14 September and encourage everyone to attend if you can. We’ll be hearing from the Vice-Chancellor Professor Iain Martin and it will be a chance to meet our Board members. The morning tea will run from 10.30-11.30am in the IHT Hub at the Burwood campus, building BC.
We’ll have another chance to come together on Monday, 3 October at the next IHT All Members Day. Visit the Members’ Portal to find the agenda for the day, and book in to have a new headshot taken.
This week we released IHT’s 2021 Impact Report. If you haven’t already, I encourage you all to take a moment to read the report and reflect on everything we achieved in 2021. I’d also like to thank everyone once again for their hard work, flexibility and resilience in what was a challenging year for us all.
Congratulations to all our members mentioned in the Highlights, Announcements and Funding sections of the newsletter, and particularly to Dr Miranda Blake, who was announced as the Dietitians Australia’s 2022 Young Achiever of the Year, and to Professor Linda Sweet, who has been made a lifetime member of the Australian College of Midwives.
I would like to extend a welcome to our new members, listed below, and to Associate Professor Serene Yoong, who started with us this month. Serene is a globally recognised implementation scientist, who will be working with Professor Steve Allender and Professor Alison Hutchinson. Serene has consulted for the World Health Organization and Australian government, and her work has led to international changes in tobacco control policies and influenced the nutrition intake of young children nationally.
Welcome to our new members:
- Ben Wood, Research Fellow, GLOBE
- Kate Sievert, Associate Research Fellow, GLOBE
- Alethea Jerebine, PhD Student, DoH
- Kimberley Watson-Mackie, PhD Student, DoH
- Theresa Heering, PhD Student, DoH
- Yordanas Gizachew Yeshitila, PhD Student, DHE
- Olivia Tierney, PhD Student, QPS
- Sophie Di Falco, Senior Administrative Officer, DHE
