Home | 2024 Melbourne

2024 ACM National Conference

We can't wait to welcome you to the 2024 ACM National Conference at the Pullman Albert Park, Melbourne!

Get set to immerse yourself in an enjoyable three days of inspiration, education and collaboration.

This conference features plenary sessions from international and local experts, 5 breakout rooms with over 80 presentations, workshops and interactive sessions as well as a series of networking opportunities. The Gala Dinner is the standout social event which includes the announcement of the ACM Midwifery Awards and presentation of ACM Honours.

There is a strict capacity limit in 2024 and this is a sold out event.

National Conference App

Delegates will be given access to the Conference App one week prior in order to plan their time at the conference and book into concurrent sessions and workshops. Simply add the session to your schedule to reserve your spot. All plenary sessions are already included in your personal schedule. Please check the email address you used to book, for more.

Onsite Parking

ACM has organised a discounted parking rate of $18 per day. To access this special rate please follow the instructions below.

Enter the car park, find a park. (Any issues on finding a car park there is a 15 minute grace period, where you can exit with no charges)
Enter you number plate at the link above at any point proir to your departure of the car park. There will also be a QR code to access this link, at the ACM stand.
On exit, your number plate will be associated with the discount. Please pay at the terminal on B1 or at the boom gate.

PARKING REGISTRATION

view PROGRAM here:

PROGRAM

tickets

Three day registration (includes Gala Dinner)

Non-Member $1,530

ACM Member $1,100

ACM Graduate, Affiliate, Pacific Member $660

ACM Student Member $600

ACM Event Cancellation Policy

The theme for the 2024 ACM National Conference Gala Dinner and Annual Midwifery Awards presentation is Futuristic Fashion. Think unconventional materials and bold silhouettes. Recycled, repurposed, reflective! Start work on your fantastic foil fantasy today!

If you have purchased a conference ticket but don't intend coming to the dinner, please email events@midwives.org.au and tell us, to avoid food waste.

PRE CONFERENCE DRINKS

If you're local or arriving on Monday 9th, join us for a casual pre conference get together at The College Lawn Hotel, 36 Greville St, Prahran from 5:30pm; walking distance to the Pullman Hotel. ACM will provide snacks, purchase your own drinks. Register for the conference from 4:00-5:00pm at the Pullman before heading down.

keynote Speakers

Dr Hazel Keedle

Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University

Dr Hazel Keedle PhD is a Senior Lecturer of Midwifery at The School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. Hazel has more than two decades of experience as a clinician in nursing and midwifery and as an educator and researcher. Hazel’s research interests are vaginal birth after caesarean, birth trauma and maternity experiences explored primarily using feminist mixed methodologies.

Hazel's work is recognised nationally and internationally, with many invited conference and seminar presentations including academic publications and a book for women based on her PhD findings ‘Birth after Caesarean: Your Journey to a Better Birth’. Hazel is the lead researcher on the largest maternity experiences survey, The Birth Experience Study. Hazel is also the Co-Editor in Chief of The Practising Midwife Australia from All4Maternity which was launched in September 2022.

Dr Nisha Khot

Clinical Director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Peninsula Health and Vice President of RANZCOG

Dr Nisha Khot is the current Vice-President of RANZCOG. She is clinical director of obstetrics and gynaecology at Peninsula Health in Melbourne. She also holds clinical appointments at the Royal Women’s Hospital and Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. She combines her passion for equitable healthcare for migrant and refugee women and rural women with her additional leadership positions as board director of Rural Doctors Association of Victoria (RDAV) and Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH).

As Clinical Fellow for the Living Evidence for Australian Pregnancy and Postnatal care (LEAPP) guidelines group, Dr Khot supports the development of national evidence-based guidelines in consultation with expert clinicians and consumers. Her experience as an overseas trained doctor in the UK and in Australia have shaped her advocacy for gender equity and diversity in healthcare leadership as a means to address racism, sexism and discrimination experienced by women of colour in healthcare.

Professor Cath Chamberlain

Director of Onemda Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing and Head of the Indigenous Health Equity Unit at The University of Melbourne

Professor Catherine Chamberlain is a Palawa Trawlwoolway woman (Tasmania), Director of Onemda Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellbeing and Head of the Indigenous Health Equity Unit at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne. A Registered Midwife and Public Health researcher, her research aims to identify perinatal opportunities to improve health equity across the lifecourse. She is inaugural Editor-In-Chief of First Nations Health and Wellbeing Lowitja Journal and Principal Investigator for two large multi-disciplinary projects – Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future – which aims to co-design support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents experiencing complex trauma; and Replanting the Birthing Trees, which aims to transform intergenerational cycles of trauma to cycles of nurturing and recovery.

Distinguished Professor David Simmons

Professor of Medicine at the Western Sydney University Macarthur Clinical School, Head of the Campbelltown Hospital Endocrinology Department.

Distinguished Professor Simmons, MA, MBBS, FRACP, FRCP, MD (Cantab), is the Professor of Medicine at the Western Sydney University Macarthur Clinical School, Head of the Campbelltown Hospital Endocrinology Department. With over 400 refereed publications he was the 2020 American Diabetes Association Norbert Freinkel and 2022 Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group Pederson Awardee. He is the current president of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS) and was a member of the World Health Organisation technical working group on the criteria for hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. He remains a practising endocrinologist with diabetes in pregnancy and young adult diabetes clinics.

Alison Eddy

ICM Western Pacific Representative and CE of the NZ College of Midwives

Alison Eddy is serving her first term as the ICM Western Pacific region representative and is currently the Chief Executive of the New Zealand College of Midwives. Alison has broad based midwifery practice experience, from community based case-loading midwifery led continuity of care settings to tertiary hospital care. She holds a Masters of Public Health from Otago University and also has experience in policy and contract management roles within the Ministry of Health.

Alison’s work has included significant advocacy within her own country for midwives to achieve fair and reasonable pay and sustainable working conditions. She has served on numerous committees and in governance roles and has significant experience in developing and leading programmes which support the ongoing development of the midwifery profession. She has an interest in advancing the health system settings and policies which are needed for the midwifery profession to thrive.

Melina Connors

First Nations Midwifery Director, Office of the Chief Midwife Officer, QLD Health

Melina is a proud Gurindji woman from the Northern Territory. Melina’s journey into midwifery was through personal experience and identification of the necessity to create maternity experiences that are not only culturally safe but that also meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and families.

Melina is passionate about making a difference in maternity care and the development of best practice when partnering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and families through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of Knowing, Being and Doing. In her current role, Melina oversees the coordination and ongoing implementation, governance, and expansion of the Growing Deadly Families Strategy. She also supports the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Midwifery workforce to expand, drive health equity and support the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

Dr Meghan Bohren

Associate Professor of Gender and Women's Health, University of Melbourne

Dr Meghan Bohren is an Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Health at the Nossal Institute for Global Health, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. She holds an NHMRC Emerging Leadership and Dame Kate Campbell Fellowship. Dr Bohren leads primary mixed-methods, implementation research and systematic reviews related to improving women’s experiences with pregnancy and childbirth care, and works primarily with groups who are disadvantaged by systems of power. Dr Bohren has a particular interest in using innovative qualitative research methods to bring community and health worker voices to the public health guideline development process.

Professor Caroline Homer AO

Burnet Institute

Despite a growing Australian population, there are fewer midwives on the national register than there was five years ago and only marginal growth of graduate numbers from midwifery programs. Led by Professor Caroline Homer AO, Burnet Institute is partnering with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) to conduct a comprehensive review of the Australian midwifery workforce to ensure the continued growth and sustainability of the profession. Caroline will present the Midwifery Futures report, a projection of workforce supply and demand in Australia, a synthesis of the information gained throughout the analysis, literature review and consultation, and recommendations for the sustainability of the profession.

Paula Medway

Deakin University

Paula is an experienced senior advisor with 30 years experience across a variety of health care settings. Skilled in midwifery, policy analysis, public policy, public health and the regulation of the nursing and midwifery professions.

Paula holds a Master of Public Health from Charles Darwin University, and First Class Honours in midwifery from Flinders University. She is currently a PhD student at Deakin University researching the impact of national maternity policy. Paula has ten years experience as a regulator of the nursing and midwifery professions.

Dr Zoe Bradfield

Associate Professor. Midwifery and Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn Health. Joint Appointment Curtin University and Women and Newborn Health.

Associate Professor Zoe Bradfield is an experienced clinician with >26 years working in rural and metropolitan health settings, with an outstanding track record for her stage of research career. She is appointed as Western Australia’s only Associate Professor of Midwifery with a joint position, between Curtin University and WA’s largest maternity service, the Women and Newborns Health Service based at King Edward Memorial Hospital. She also holds adjunct and honorary positions at The University of Western Australia, Monash University and the Burnet Institute in Melbourne. In these roles, she leads demand- and investigator-driven translational research with a focus on improving the impact and outcomes of care for women with a focus on the preconception and perinatal periods.

Zoe is the President of the Australian College of Midwives.

Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg

Oxytocin Specialist

Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg is a specialist in women’s health and female physiology and has worked within these fields for more than 30 years. She is a pioneer in research about oxytocin, ”the hormone of love and wellbeing”, and was one of the first researchers to point out the behavioural, psychological and physiological effects of oxytocin during birth, breastfeeding and menopause. She was also one of the first to study the role of oxytocin in response to closeness and touch and its role during interaction between parents and children.

Kerstin found, among other things, that oxytocin reduces pain and anxiety, decreases blood pressure and reduces the levels of stress hormones in both sexes. These discoveries have helped to stimulate the development of oxytocin to become a pharmaceutical drug, to be used to increase social competence in autistic individuals, to decrease anxiety, stress and depression and to increase wellbeing.

VISIT MELBOURNE

Set on the shores of picturesque Port Phillip Bay is Melbourne; the city where creativity and innovation come together to deliver great events, exciting places to explore and cutting-edge advancements that are globally acclaimed.

Melbourne is easy to navigate and perfect to explore on foot or via our extensive transport network. It invites delegates to discover its creative culture, expressed in its food, fashion, events, arts and music scene.

For those wanting to explore further afield, the unique natural beauty of regional Victoria is just a short trip away. Inspiring day trips are waiting to be enjoyed just over an hour from the city centre. Discover some of Victoria’s rugged and dramatic coastlines, incredible food and boutique wineries, wellbeing experiences and charming regional villages that will really make for a memorable visit.

Partners of midwives

Want to bring your partner to Melbourne with you but worried they'll be at a loose end? This year we're delighted to announce social events for Partners of Midwives or 'POMs' which will take place at the same time as the National Conference.

Below are a few options of activities. Please indicate your interest and preference by emailing ben.hartz@shiftmatch.com and from there two events will be decided.

Golf at Yarra Bend Golf Course

$111

Hidden Bar Walking Tour

$89 (plus drinks)

Laneways Walking Tour

$99

Self Drive River Cruise

$49

18 holes, green fees, club and cart hire (2 players per cart)

Melbourne history, 4 unique Melbourne establishments, hidden bars

Street art, quirky cafes, origins of the city and historic buildings, local guide

2 or 4 hours, self catering not included in price

Pre Conference Workshop

This practical one day workshop is with Sara Kindberg and Karina Mulvad from GynZone focusing on perineal repair and the continuous stitching method. In addition, there is a pre-workshop component of 3 hours, allowing participants to obtain 9 hours of CPD.

BOOK NOW

FREE POST CONFERENCE WORKSHOP