AICAFMHA:
promoting mental health for young Australians
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd
ABN 87 093 479 022
The following is a summary of the Adelaide conference report. This conference was held in 1995.
Inaugural National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference, Adelaide 1995
The Conference
The Conference was held under the auspices of Southern CAMHS at Flinders Medical Centre and Northern CAMHS at the Women's and Children's Hospital. The conference was supported in principle by the Boards of the two hospitals. We acknowledge the financial support of the Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health ($20,000), Foundation South Australia ($2,500), South Australian Health Commission ($1,000), SIR Pty Ltd ($200), Eli Lilly ($350), Pro-Ed Aust ($450), Helios Bookshop ($680), the Psychological Corporation ($350) and Ramsay Health Care ($400). From a financial view point the conference achieved budget with approximately $ 1,000 surplus. It is the intention of the Organising Committee to use the small profit towards costs of a newsletter as part of the development of NAFCAMH (National Association for Family, Child, and Adolescent Mental Health).
The Conference was an overwhelming success. Credit is due to the organising committee, other supportive committees, the detailed and careful work by SAPMEA, and the Ramada Grand Hotel who provided the excellent hospitality and conference venue.
Program
Ninety papers and seminars were given over three days in seven concurrent sessions, streamed according to the program design - Mental Health Policy and Management of Services, Clinical Practice Issues, Innovations in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Prevention in Practice and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Care in the Community.
The Conference was opened by Senator The Hon Rosemary Crowley, Minister for Family Services. Keynote addresses were highly praised and focused on our major themes:
The National, Mental Health, Strategy: Implications for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Dr Harvey WhitefordInternational Perspectives on Mental Health Policy.
Great Britain - Dr Rachael Jenkins
United States of America - Professor Robert McKelvey
Canada - Assoc. Professor Clark FalconerMental Health Goals and Targets for children and adolescents.
Professor Don Nutbeam, Professor of Public Health, University of Sydney
Dr Dianna Jolly, Manager, Health Advancement Unit, CAFHS, SA Professor Robert Kosky, Professor of Child Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, SAThe Development of a National Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Dr Winston Rickards, VIC.
Dr Victor Storm, NSW.
Ms Eileen Anderson, Vie.Prevention in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Professor Beverley RaphaelThe Child's Consent to Psychiatric Intervention.
Dr Donald Batten, Cheltenham, United Kingdom7he Consumers' View of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Ms Trish Goddard, NCAG
Ms Jane Knowles, Qld.
Objectives
The following objectives were set by the Organising Committee, appeared on flyers and other documentation and were part of the original application to the Commonwealth.
Objective 1 To bring together multi disciplinary mental health professionals working in the area of child adolescent mental health.
Objective 2 To bring together consumers and consumer groups with an interest in child and adolescent mental health.
Objective 3 To share and consider Australian best practice in child and adolescent mental health in the light of a national mental health policy.
Objective 4 To develop a national coalition for professionals involved in child and adolescent mental health.
Objective 5 To provide input into the development of national goals and targets for child and adolescent mental health.
Objective 6 Contingent upon national support, develop and hold a follow up conference.
Media Coverage
Throughout the Conference, newspaper, television and radio coverage was good, both within South Australia and nationally.
It is clear to the organising committee that paying for specific media work, over and above what could be supplied through local hospital departments, was of inestimable value. This could not have occurred without the financial support of the Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health, unless the individual registration fees had been increased to an untenable level.
International and Interstate Speakers
This, too, is an area which, without the direct support of the Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health, could not have played such a vibrant part in the process of the Conference. Our international guests provided a broad view of parallel developments in three countries from the English speaking world - United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada and a counterpoint to the key presentation on Australian Mental Health Policy by Dr Harvey Whiteford. This broad based contribution provided an important backdrop to the deliberations on Mental Health Policy.
Further, the extensive discussion around Health Goals and Targets, in particular, would not have been possible without the organising committee's ability to find several relevant interstate guests. It is to be hoped that in the long term, a national association will accrue such funding as may be necessary to; ensure that future conferences occur at regular intervals; ensure that suitable international and national guests can be available to influence conference deliberations; ensure that consumers/ carers can continue to play their rightful role in the partnerships that are necessary to develop adequate mental health for children and adolescents in Australia. In the meantime, it is to be hoped that the Commonwealth will look favourably on applications to assist the funding of further conferences on child and adolescent mental health.
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