Call for Papers
The Conference Committee seeks proposals covering current and emerging research, evidence-based practice and interventions, which support people with a mental illness to participate in everyday activities in the community.

The deadline for abstract submission is now Monday 25 January, 2010.

VICSERV has set the standard for Australasian community mental health conferences with always challenging content and leading edge thinking. We are seeking presentations that help us maintain this standard in terms of concept, content, presentation and use of evidence.

The conference theme acknowledges that 25 years after deinstitutionalisation, people with mental illness tend to fare badly on many of the key dimensions of social inclusion: health, housing, education and employment…

This is the ‘unfinished business’.

The conference will focus on pathways to greater social inclusion for people with a mental illness. It will showcase the excellent work occurring across different sectors, present the latest research into what works, and point to the way forward.

The Conference Committee seeks proposals covering current and emerging research, evidence-based practice and interventions, which support people with a mental illness to participate in everyday activities in the community.

Conference theme and streams

The conference theme is Unfinished Business: pathways to social inclusion. There are three streams:

Inspiration: How exasperation led to a great idea
Determination: How inspiration led to a change for the better
Aspiration: A vision for the future

Sub themes include:
» Housing and Support: a platform for recovery
» Economic Participation: employment and education – changing outcomes
» Health Inequalities: policy and practice failure?
» Prejudice: reducing stigma contributes to social inclusion
» Integrated Services: a continuum of care from early intervention to recovery
» Community Engagement and Development: building social capital through peer support

International Keynote Speakers

Gregor Henderson (GB)
Gregor Henderson works as an adviser and consultant to a number of UK and overseas Government Departments, public and private sector organisations on mental health and wellbeing. Gregor was the first Director of Scotland’s innovative and now internationally renowned National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing from April 2003 to March 2008. Gregor worked as both Programme Director and adviser to the Scottish Government Gregor lives in Edinburgh.

Tina Minkowitz, J.D. (USA)
Tina Minkowitz is founder of the Centre for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry and was one of many individuals who contributed to drafting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, representing the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry throughout the CRPD negotiations and serving on a 40-member working group that drafted the official text. Ms. Minkowitz has given expert presentations to the United Nations, government officials and NGOs in several countries, and consults with interested parties analysing draft legislation in light of the CRPD.  She is the author of The Right to be Free from Non-consensual Psychiatric Interventions, which includes arguments on torture and ill-treatment, and has presented with the Special Rapporteur on Torture on this subject.

Key Dates

Registration Fees

Registration will be available online shortly. All amounts include GST except Consumer & Carer fees which are GST free.