Latest News
March 2023 News
2023 Injury Matters’ Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Awards and Summit
Nominations for the 2023 Injury Matters Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Awards are open. The Awards recognise individuals and organisations who are working to improve safety and reduce injury in WA. Applications are encouraged from the diverse sector, including schools, not-for-profit organisations, the private sector, community groups and government bodies. A breakfast event to celebrate all the nominees and winners will be held on Thursday, 11th May 2023 at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. Applications have been extended until Friday, 10th March 2023. You can find out more please click here to download the nomination booklet.
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We encourage you to apply and share with your networks.
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Following the Awards, the biennial Injury Prevention Summit 2023, funded by the WA Department of Health through the Know Injury program, will bring together injury prevention experts, policymakers, and local government representatives from across WA to exchange knowledge and enhance their ability to incorporate injury prevention and safety promotion practices into their work.
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The Summit’s theme, "Injury is Everyone's Business", reflects the idea that everyone has a responsibility to share knowledge and develop their skills in addressing important and emerging injury prevention issues. The Summit will showcase speakers who will explore key emerging issues in the injury prevention space, ranging from alcohol-related injury to safer built environments.
New national strategy for safe and healthy work
A new 10-year national strategy to reduce workplace fatalities, injuries, and illnesses in Australia has been released.
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The Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2023-2033 sets a national vision of safe and healthy work for all and provides a platform for delivering key work health and safety (WHS) improvements.
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The Strategy was developed under Safe Work Australia’s tripartite governance processes and has been agreed by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments. It represents a national commitment to work together to reduce worker fatalities, injuries and illnesses over the next decade.
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It outlines targets to measure progress over the next 10 years, including a reduction in worker fatalities caused by traumatic injuries by 30%.
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More than 150 stakeholders were consulted on the development of the Strategy.
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Read the Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2023-2033.
AIPN Member Spotlight
How did you get into Injury Prevention?
Like many who work in injury prevention, it was a bit of an accident! I started off in biomedical sciences but quickly discovered that lab research wasn’t for me. I had always been passionate about improving mental health in the community and found myself working on a research project looking at mental health and recovery after injury. This showed me the importance of addressing mental health-related factors in injury prevention, leading me to my current program of research on the role of alcohol and other drug use in injury events.
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What is your favourite part of being involved with the AIPN?
In my day-to-day work, I don’t always get to spend a lot of time with other people working in injury prevention. Being involved with the AIPN has helped to connect me with a passionate and supportive community of people who have similar interests and don’t mind chatting all things injury prevention!
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A favourite book you’d recommend for everyone to read?
Educated by Tara Westover. I was given this book during Covid lockdowns by a fellow PhD Candidate. It’s an incredibly moving memoir on overcoming adversity that brings to life how social determinants can impact on health and opportunity.
Georgina Lau
PhD Candidate
School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine,
Monash University
National Firearms Register consultation
On 3 February 2023, National Cabinet tasked Police Ministers to report back to National Cabinet in mid-2023 with options to implement a National Firearms Register.
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The primary objective of a register would be to preserve community and police safety, by ensuring police have the timely and accurate information necessary to assess the firearms risk an individual poses, and protect the community from harm.
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A register could also have a range of other benefits, including:
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reducing illicit diversion of firearms
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facilitating the effective administration of licensing regimes
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reducing duplication between jurisdictions and associated regulatory impost on the firearms community.
Opened: 3 April 2023
Closes: 25 April 2023
Contact: firearms.policy@ag.gov.au
Four in 5 alcohol-related deaths and 3 in 5 hospitalisations among males
Many hospitalisations and deaths involve injury where the person injured had consumed alcohol, referred to here as “alcohol-related” injury. This report presents data from 2019–20 on 30,000 hospitalisations and almost 1,950 deaths from alcohol-related injury. For both males and females, falls, intentional self-harm and assault were the leading causes of hospitalisation. Among all hospitalisations for injury, 1 in 4 intentional self-harm and 1 in 5 assault cases involved alcohol.
“Most injury events are preventable, but the consumption of alcohol can increase the risk of injury.” said AIHW spokesperson
Kidsafe WA Webinar: Keeping Kids Safe on the Road
Join Kidsafe WA for their free webinar – ‘Keeping Kids Safe on the Road’. This webinar will discuss common passenger and pedestrian related injuries and tips on how to prevent them. This webinar is suitable for parents and carers.
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When: 12th of April at 10am (AWST)
Where: Zoom
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For more information, please contact olivia@kidsafewa.com.au
National sports injury data strategy
This consultation report summarises the feedback received on the draft National Sports Injury Data Strategy. There was a high level of support for the draft strategy.
Further work was needed to develop data collections, support data collectors, and clarify privacy, consent, and access arrangements. Frequent data provision to organisations is needed to sustain data collection and support injury prevention.
Concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports
On 1 December 2022, the Senate referred an inquiry into concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 21 June 2023.
Further detail about the scope of the inquiry is provided in the terms of reference.
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Submissions are sought by 17 February 2023.
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Committee Secretariat contact:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Phone: +61 2 6277 3515
community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au
Podcasts
The Injury Prevention podcast
The Injury Prevention podcast is released monthly. Subscribe via all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.
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The Injury Prevention podcast is a peer-reviewed online journal that offers the best in science, policy, and public health practice to reduce the burden of injury in all age groups around the world. It offers a free monthly audio podcast on topics relating to the prevention of unintentional, occupational and intentional (violence-related) injuries.
Subscribe via all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.
Podcasts
Reports & Publications
In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated their car safety seat (CSS) guidelines to recommend that children ride rear-facing as long as possible, yet evidence from observational studies on rear-facing CSS effectiveness is limited. This study estimated the association between rear-facing CSS use and injuries among children aged 0–4 years who were involved in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs).
Rear-facing child safety seat effectiveness: evidence from motor vehicle crash data
Publications
Conferences
"The aim of the inaugural Right to Recovery conference by the Australian Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence Recovery Alliance is to engage with colleagues and stakeholders about the importance of trauma recovery and healing in a relaxed informal environment. The conference will educate, inform, support and activate professionals, decision makers, and researchers about the need to focus on recovery and healing and best practice if, as a nation, we want to end gender-based violence.
The conference content will be determined by the Four Pillars of Recovery which guide the activities and policy recommendations of the Alliance.
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The pillars are:
Holistic models of health care
Housing and economic recovery
Responsive, safe, and accessible pathways to justice
Centreing children and young people
The conference has attracted high quality national and international speakers who are leaders in the recovery and healing sector.
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Date: 4 May - 5 May 2023
Location: Novotel Wollongong Northbeach
It will include 2 days of conference program, plus an opening dinner on the evening of Thursday 4th May."
The Inaugural Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Recovery and Healing Conference
2023 ASICS Sports Medicine Australia Conference
Year-on-year, the SMA Conference is a platform for the world's most celebrated sports medicine researchers and practitioners to network and exchange ideas. This year will be no different.
The 2023 ASICS SMA Conference is a unique multidisciplinary event, and includes representation from medical practitioners, allied health professionals, academics, students, and others interested in sports medicine. The rich array of professions is reflected in the Conference program, and fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange across the disciplines. The outstanding clinical program and practical workshops are supplemented by an excellent social program with multiple opportunities for networking, including the Welcome Reception, Gala Dinner and Scientific Poster Session.
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Submission Deadline: 14 April 2023
The 10th Biennial Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Conference (ANZFP) will for the first time be run as a joint conference with the World Congress on Falls and Postural Stability at the Perth Convention Centre, from the 26-28 November 2023. ANZFP is an initiative of the Australian and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society (ANZFPS). The 1st World Congress on Falls and Postural Stability was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 2019-joint initiative of the Malaysian Society of Geriatric Medicine and the British Geriatrics Society.
ANZ Falls Prevention Society and World Falls Congress 2023
World Conference on Drowning Prevention
The confirmed dates for the conference are 4 to 7 December 2023. However, the co-hosts are offering more than just a 3-day conference, extending the events from 1 to 8 December.
Check the Program page for more details.
