Policy Forum | Celebrating the Whitlam Community Health Program: Lessons for the Future

The Stretton Institute, the University of Adelaide, and the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney, in partnership with Flinders University, La Trobe University and the University of Sydney invite you to join us a very special health policy forum.

Community health services deliver a wide range of services and programs across Australia, but their role and extent is not well understood. Their considerable potential in addressing contemporary health issues receives inadequate attention in national and state health policies. 

The Whitlam Community Health Program was launched in 1973, planting the seeds for a transformative advancement of the Australian healthcare system. By 1976, the Program funded over 700 projects, including community health centres in metropolitan and rural areas, women’s refuges and health centres, family planning services, Aboriginal community health services, workers health centres, specialist training for general practitioners and foundation chairs of Community Medicine in universities. Fifty years on, the enduring benefits of the Program offer important lessons for the future of healthcare policy.

This event is free but tickets are limited.

DATE : Friday 3 November 2023
TIME :  11.30am    Registration
            12.00pm    Light Lunch
            12.30pm    Event Commences
            5.00pm     Event Concludes

FEATURED SPEAKERS

• Nicole Bartholomeusz - Chief Executive of cohealth, Director VHA
• Professor Fran Baum AO - Program Director of Stretton Health Equity
• The Hon. Mark Butler - Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care
• The Hon. John Faulkner - Chair, Whitlam Institute
• Dr Ben Harris-Roxas - Health Services Researcher, UNSW
• Professor John Juriansz - Director, Whitlam Institute
• Tony McBride - Chair of Your Community Health in Melbourne’s Inner North, a Director of the Victorian Healthcare Association

RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS

• Dr. James Dunk - Research Fellow and Historian, University of Sydney
• Dr. Toby Freeman - Director of Research, Stretton Health Equity
• Denise Fry - Research and Evaluation Officer, Community Health Services, Sydney Local Health District
• Associate Professor David Legge - Scholar Emeritus, School of Public Health and Human Biosciences La Trobe University
• Associate Professor Tamara Mackean - Discipline Lead for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HealthCollege of Medicine and Public Health Flinders University
• Dr. Connie Musolino - Research Fellow, Stretton Health Equity

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ARC History of Community Health Investigators and Researchers: Prof. Fran Baum, University of Adelaide, A/Prof. Tamara Mackean, Flinders University, Prof. Warwick Anderson, The University of Sydney, Prof. Colin MacDougall, Flinders University, Prof. Virginia Lewis, La Trobe University, A/Prof. David Legge, La Trobe University, Dr. Toby Freeman, University of Adelaide, Patricia Turner, CEO NACCHO, Denise Fry, Sydney Local Health District, Paul Laris, Paul Laris and Associates, Tony McBride, Tony McBride & Associates, Jennifer Macmillan, La Trobe University, Dr. Helen van Eyk, University of Adelaide, Dr. Connie Musolino, University of Adelaide, Dr. James Dunk, The University of Sydney

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