Apu Karajagi
Editor’s note: In the third of a series of Western Australia-based blogs, Apu Karajagi from Injury Matters summarises insights from the 2023 Injury Prevention Summit.
The Injury Prevention Summit 2023, hosted by Injury Matters through the Know Injury program, was held on Thursday 11 May at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. Its theme, ‘Injury is everyone’s business’, showcased the importance of sharing knowledge and building capacity in key emerging issues in injury prevention, ranging from alcohol-related injury to a safer built environment.
More than 130 people attended in person or online as we gathered on the lands of the Wadjuk people. The day began with a warm Welcome to Country from Walter McGuire, followed by an address from Injury Matters’ acting CEO Rachel Meade, and an inspiring speech from Jodie Nikolic who is a Paraplegic Benefit Fund speaker. The event was MC’d by Injury Prevention General Manager, Samantha Menezes.
Clockwise from top: Walter McGuire giving a Welcome to Country; Jodie Nikolic from Paraplegic Benefit Fund giving an opening address, Injury Matters’ acting CEO Rachel Meade giving a welcome address; and Samantha Menezes MCing the event.
The Summit had three sessions; one was ‘Evidence-informed injury prevention’, with keynote Dr. Denise Sullivan speaking about emerging issues, challenges and possible solutions within the Injury Prevention sector. Dr. Delia Hendrie then spoke on the Cost of Injury report findings, and Lauren Humphreys on the use of Power BI as a visual data tool for data dissemination.
What is evidence informed #injuryprevention?
Tweeting live from the @InjuryMatters 2023 Injury Prevention Summit pic.twitter.com/ydiFdvN7BN
— Drowning Prevention Evidence & Evaluation Project (@DEEP_Curtin) May 11, 2023
The second session discussed Safe Streets, with keynote Lucy Saunders, founder of the Healthy Streets framework, joining online from Germany to speak on the framework and why it’s key to consider safe streets to prevent injury. Tim Judd from Phil Jones Associates (PJA) then provided a local context to the Healthy Streets Framework. Katherine Celenza from WA Local Government Association gave a local government context to why safer urban design is important and the role local governments can play in better street design.
The closing session focused in on a cross-cutting injury risk factor discussed throughout all sessions – ‘Preventing harm from alcohol’. Professor Tanya Chikritzhs gave a keynote on where we’d be without alcohol in WA, and the latest alcohol-related injury statistics. Jo Woodruff from Holyoake Wheatbelt followed, sharing their award-winning program ‘Within Your Wallet’, a successful youth-based alcohol-reducing initiative in regional WA. Allison Grainger from The Behaviour Change Collaborative closed the session by sharing findings from her research study on perceived barriers to reducing alcohol consumption in high-risk drinkers.
The event had great panel discussions after every session, and networking opportunities throughout with breaks, and stallholders with interactive activities. It was a great way to meet and network with other health professionals in the sector.
“Very professional and well-organised day! Good range of speakers/presentations. Also loved the panel discussions after each group. Well done!”
“Absolutely loved the day. The alcohol session was my absolute favourite. Loved hearing about current initiatives and research.”
“Excellent. Well organised. Brilliant speakers. Highly professional and very current, interesting info. Great engagement and networking opportunities.”
– Feedback received from the Summit attendees in a post-event evaluation survey.
The 2023 Injury Prevention Summit was a great success.
Injury Matters holds the Summit every two years, with ongoing opportunities to connect with the sector through their training and events, as well as their online networking CONNECT.ed program.
More insights from the Injury Prevention Summit 2023 are now available on the Injury Matters website for Session 1, Session 2, and Session 3.