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 Melbourne conference report. This conference was held in 1996.

Melbourne Conference Summary

The Second National Conference on Child and Adolescent Mental Health continued the work of the successful inaugural National Conference held in Adelaide in February 1995. There the theme "From Rhetoric to Reality" provided an excellent forum for the development of active concerns for the mental health of Australia's young.

This Second National Conference focused on the important issues relating to outcome. The theme "Who Counts? Mental Health Outcomes for Australia's Young" provided a meeting point for professionals of every discipline and consumers involved in promoting the psychological and social well being of families and their young throughout Australia.

Professionals from mental health settings, other fields of health care, community services and welfare fields and from the education sphere participated and provided a wide range of scientific papers, workshops, poster series, forums highlighting critical issues of national importance.

The conference was sponsored by the Coalition of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Professionals of Victoria, formed in 1988, which conducted successful conferences on the themes of "Resilience in the face of adversity " and "Creative Collaboration", where important tasks were reviewed and future directions considered. The Coalition of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Professionals is a multi-disciplinary umbrella organisation involving constituent members originally of child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, child psychotherapists, occupational therapists, family therapists and speech and language pathologists and involving a wide range of educational and community services. The Inaugural National Conference in Adelaide gave evidence that developments could proceed at a national level.

The theme of Outcome was planned to raise issues which are of critical importance for the provision of child psychiatric and mental health services not only for the professionals and consumers involved, but also for those directly involved in political decisions.

The Organising Committee acknowledges and is grateful to the Psychiatric Services Branch, Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services for strong support of the development of the congress and financial backing. Also the congress was financially supported by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services. This managerial and political support made it possible to encourage a wide ranging national response in the planning process; all states contributing representatives, who have worked for many months.

The multidisciplinary Conference Organising Committee had representatives from each State and Territory. Committees were set up to deal with the Scientific Program, Finance, Social Committee, Media Relations and Consumer liaison/involvement subcommittee. Their reports give evidence of sustained, competent and successful work and indicated what structures and organisations are necessary for a successful conference, tasks to be developed, questions to be asked, structures to be established, in order to honour the recommendations and wishes of the participants, and to further develop those things which are mandatory for the mental health of our infants, children, adolescents and families in Australia and to foster these developments on a national basis. In particular the report of the Scientific Program Committee is comprehensive, challenging, showing how a program embracing keynote speakers, plenary discussions and panels, a symposia, forums, study group conceptualisations, poster sessions, workshops and even an international video conference link up can be highly successful within the time constraints of a conference.

The involvement of consumers was an important component of the work. The Consumer subcommittee worked very actively to ensure active and helpful participation and not only did consumers contribute meaningfully, but also laid the groundwork for future developments.

The Governor General and Lady Deane graciously accepted the invitation to attend and His Excellency Sir William Deane opened the Conference. His address was inspired and far reaching, embracing a vast range of mental health issues critical for children and families

International speakers brought a range of perspectives from the Asian region, the European sphere, the United Kingdom and the United Sates of America. We were honoured that the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions; IACAPAP, agreed to co-sponsor this conference, Professor Kari Schleimer, Vice President, and Professor Kosuke Yamazaki, the Secretary General, brought current information about the world scene. Professor William Yule, who has contributed much to the literature and psychological research, particularly for traumatised children, brought perspective from the United Kingdom and Europe. Professor Nurcombe, after a distinguished 20 year career in the United States stimulated thought by his presentation and his ready participation.

The truly national perspectives of the conference were reinforced by a special plenary meeting to plan for future directions for national activity and to consider the feasibility of the formation of a National Association. Also National Mental Health Policy issues for children and adolescents would include the recognition of the needs of children and adolescents and their families. A group was formed to set up a steering committee which would bring firm recommendations to the next National Conference.

Therefore, the conference committee did provide a conference where there was opportunity for free exchange between professionals and consumers, where participants could discuss the range of clinical and consultative work being done, or could be developed across the spectrum of mental health settings and professional needs. Papers did explore issues of accountability and evaluation regarding accessibility and effectiveness of this work in Australia's communities. The conference did provide a forum in which professionals involved with infant, child, adolescent and family mental health did engage with both policy makers and consumers to share mutual concerns.

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Last Modified: 18-01-2003 13:17:06