The 15th Winston Rickards Memorial Oration will be given by Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC, the national voice for aboriginal and Torres Strait islander children, on Wednesday 17th June 2026 at 7.30pm in the Ian Potter Auditorium, Kenneth Myer building, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville at Melbourne University. There is onsite car parking.
The title of the Oration is:
“Changing Minds and Changing Attitudes: Reframing systems to close the gap for aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children”
The Secretariat of Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) was established in 1981 to work for the safety, development and wellbeing of indigenous children and their families.
Registration for attendance or Zoom is at TryBooking.com, with payment of $40 to help defray costs. The Zoom link will be sent by email on June 16th.
Don’t forget to tell your colleagues of this exciting presentation. If you are not a MHYF member, you can join for an additional $30 (instead of the usual $50) valid until 30 June 2027, by direct funds transfer to BSB 033 090 A/C 315188, and email details to admin@mhyfvic.org
https://www.trybooking.com/DLTEV
MHYF is now a nationally registered company instead of an association incorporated in Victoria under the Associations Incorporation Act.
We are in the process of seeking registration as a not-for-profit charity for mental health promotion.
There are vacancies on our Working Groups, Committee and Board of Directors. Nominations for election are welcome.
Zoom Webinar: Monday June 22nd 2026, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Although suicide is significant among young people in Australia, it can be a largely preventable tragedy. Thoughts balancing the incentives of living versus an escape from misery are usually present for some time before any action, and during that time there are usually opportunities to recognize and respond to depressive thinking.
Planned for families and mental health clinicians alike, this Webinar opens up that recognition and response, and will lead to participant questions and discussion.
PLEASE REGISTER at TryBooking.com
Fee $40.
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED PROFESSIONS (IACAPAP): Connecting with colleagues world-wide………
THE UPCOMING 27th WORLD CONGRESS OF IACAPAP IN HAMBURG, JULY 1-4 2026 will be as stimulating and important as ever in our troubled world. Contributions are invited from all and any person interested in the child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing field, and individual papers and posters can be submitted until 20th January 2026. Full details about submitting an abstract are found at https://iacapap.org
INVOLVEMENT OF ALLIED PROFESSIONALS IN IACAPAP is highly valued. An international IACAPAP Group of Allied Professionals has been meeting during the past year, to brainstorm how IACAPAP can be of optimal use to the breadth of professionals active in the field. This led on to a very successful international webinar being organised by MHYFVic in September this year, which focussed, from an Australian perspective, upon the critical role of allied professionals in multidisciplinary teamwork.
Over 400 people from 60 countries participated. Two more such webinars are planned for 2026, featuring other parts of the world and other urgent issues. Anyone wishing to contribute to this effort in any way at all, please contact Suzie Dean at admin@MHYFVic.org, who will get back to you.
WEBINARS OF OVERALL RELEVANCE IN CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH are offered by IACAPAP on a regular, frequent basis. Highlighting complex issues, they are presented by excellent expert colleagues, and are of high quality. Also, surprisingly, they are often also free of charge. You can find out how to be notified ongoingly by going to the website: https://iacapap.org
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