Miwatj Health Staff Travel Interstate in October
October 2023 saw a lot of Miwatj Health staff travelling interstate for conferences, professional development, and networking opportunities. Two of the month’s key events included the National Aboriginal Community Control Organisation (NACCHO) Members’ Conference in Perth, and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) WONCA 2023 Sydney World Conference.
NACCHO Members’ Conference in Perth
The NACCHO Members’ Conference was held in the last week of October, in Perth. There, Miwatj Health CEO, Steve Rossingh, was joined by Sexual Health Nurse, Jess De Tenon, and Public Health’s Demi Forward, Sylvia Wanybarrnga and Brando Yambalpal for a week of meetings, panel discussions, presentations and more.
During the conference, Sylvia and Brando sat on an Environmental Health panel, taking part in a Q&A session that focussed on their djäma with the Healthy Homes Program and Rheumatic Heart Disease. Demi joined them to practice using an Echo Machine, and they all had the opportunity to meet with, listen to and share ideas with other Environmental Health Workers from ACCHOs around Australia.
Jess’s NACCHO presentation followed on from one she gave at the Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASHM) Conference in New South Wales in September. She focussed on the theme, Syphilis Outbreak Response in ACCHOs alongside representatives from 3 other ACCHOs and chaired by Dr Daniel Hunt from Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service. Jess was also accompanied by Brando for part of the presentation, with the pair dressing as iconic Indigenous Sexual Health campaign characters, Lubelicious and Condoman.
RACGP Wonca 2023 Conference in Sydney
On Wednesday 25 October, Dr Lou Sanderson, Dr Stephen McKernan, and Michelle Napier (Learning & Development) represented Miwatj Health at the RACGP WONCA Sydney World Conference.
Over four days, the group met with and learnt alongside over 4000 people from 82 countries. Michelle looked after the Miwatj Health stall in the conference exhibition foyer, alongside Lisa White from AMSANT. There, the pair spoke to countless people about our services in East Arnhem Land and gave them all an insight into what goes on at Miwatj Health’s 7 Primary Health Centres.
WONCA 2023 provided an incredible opportunity to connect with GPs from all over the world, and we’re looking forward to the positive outcomes this will have for the Miwatj community, and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations around Australia.
