WED 9 OCT - FRI 11 OCT 2024
Hotel Chadstone, Melbourne
REDEFINING THE FUTURE OF WOMEN'S MENTAL HEALTH
THE CONFERENCE FOR TRAILBLAZERS AND
CHANGE-MAKERS
The Second Asia-Pacific Conference on Women's Mental Health is proudly hosted by Monash University’s HER Centre Australia, in collaboration with Alfred Health, Cabrini Health and the IAWMH, at Melbourne's Hotel Chadstone.
This conference is far from a standard academic gathering; it marks the dawn of a new era in gender-focused mental health outcomes, and we want you to be part of it!
If you attended last year’s conference, you’ll know the format is unconventional, with cross-disciplinary panels, lived experience insights, dynamic discussions, and networking opportunities all geared towards collaborative learning.
One year on from the inaugural event, we’re back for another two days of revolutionising women’s mental health in 2024. This year we’re delving deeper into the uniquely female challenges that face women, from eating disorders to ADHD, trauma, and the role of hormones across the lifespan
Join our acclaimed speaker line-up sharing expert opinions, personal battles, and innovative solutions in women’s mental health.
*Early bird registration is open. Ends 30 June 2024.
2024 THEMES
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VIOLENCE, TRAUMA & cPTSD
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EATING DISORDERS
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ADHD
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AUTISM
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PMDD
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PERIMENOPAUSE & MENOPAUSE
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SERVICE DELIVERY
CLINICAL RESEARCH
CLINICAL PRACTICE
LIVED EXPERIENCE
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
GRACE TAME, AUSTRALIA
Grace Tame is a survivor of child sexual abuse, author, columnist, campaigner and advocate for fellow survivors. She is the Founder of The Grace Tame Foundation (GTF), a not-for-profit organisation which creates and funds initiatives to prevent, disrupt and respond to child sexual abuse. In 2022 she released her number one best-selling memoir, The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner, which was shortlisted for three Australia Book Industry Awards. Between the ages of 18 and 24, Grace lived and worked in the United States as an artist.
She now resides in her hometown of Hobart and regularly competes in ultramarathons around the country. On 2 December 2023, she broke the female course record for the Bruny Island 64km Ultra in a time of 5:04:07. She is a regular columnist for titles including The Monthly and the Saturday Paper. For her contribution to legal reforms that allow child sexual abuse survivors to tell their own stories publicly, Grace was named the 2021 Australian of the Year.
PROF JAYASHRI KULKARNI, AUSTRALIA
Professor Jayashri Kulkarni AM graduated in Medicine from Monash University in 1981 and became a Fellow of the College of Psychiatrists in 1988. Jayashri commenced her appointment as Professor of Psychiatry at The Alfred and Monash University in 2002.
Professor Kulkarni founded and directs two research centres – HER Centre Australia and the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc). She is also Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinical School, Monash University - Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences.
Jayashri has conducted ground-breaking clinical research and is internationally acknowledged as a leader and expert in the field of Women’s Mental Health, in particular, for her innovative work on reproductive hormones and mental illness. Her world-first research in hormones and mental health has led to the development of new treatments for women with mental ill health. She developed and launched Australia’s first women’s mental health hospital at Cabrini Health in September 2021.
Jayashri received an Order of Australia (AM) in 2019 for her services to Psychiatry.
DR J.J. SANDRA KOOIJ, THE NETHERLANDS
(Virtual Presenter)
Psychiatrist and professor on Adult ADHD at Amsterdam University Medical Center/VUmc, the Netherlands.
She is also head of the Dutch Expertise Center Adult ADHD at PsyQ, founder and president of the DIVA Foundation that distributes the Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in adults (DIVA-5) in currently 30 languages (www.divacenter.eu), as well as chair of the European Network Adult ADHD (www.eunetworkadultadhd.com) and of the section Neurodevelopmental Disorders at EPA.
In 2002 she started a specialised department for adult patients with ADHD and the Dutch Expertise Center adult ADHD at PsyQ, the Hague, where she still works. She is involved in education, lecturing, publishing books and research papers, as well as webinars and podcasts. Her research focuses on ADHD in women, ADHD in elderly, and on ADHD, sleep and health.
SENATOR LARISSA WATERS
Australian Greens Leader in the Senate & Spokesperson on Women
Larissa Waters is the first Greens Senator for Queensland and is the Greens Leader in the Senate of the Australian Greens. She took office in July 2011 and is the Federal spokesperson on Women and Democracy.
She is passionate about representative democracy and public participation, accountability in government, equality for women, and protecting our environment. As Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate, she is working to improve federal laws to put an end to domestic and family violence, promote gender equality and empowerment of women and girls, and clean up politics by ending corporate donations to political parties which buy favours for the big end of town.
She lives in Meanjin (Brisbane) with her two young daughters, the younger of whom caused a bit of a stir when she became the first baby to be breastfed in our federal parliament.
MORE SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON
Other speakers include:
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Dr Suzy Redston, The Melbourne Clinic - Topic: Eating Disorders
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Dr David Chapman, Consultant Psychiatrist - Topic: ADHD in females
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The National Eating Disorder Collaboration (NEDC) - Topic: Eating Disorders
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Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Respect Victoria - Topic: Violence, trauma & cPTSD
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Associate Professor Caroline Gurvich, HER Centre Australia - Topic: ADHD and cognition
CPD HOURS
A certificate of attendance will be provided to all delegates. The conference will be registered for CPD educational points with RACGP and RANZCP.
CONFERENCE PARTNERS
We respectfully acknowledge that the APAC Conference on Women's Mental Health is taking place on the Traditional land of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin, and HER Centre Australia pays respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.