Flinders University, along with partners from the University of Liverpool, Curtin University, the University of Sydney, SA Health, the South Western Sydney Local Health District and the Ceduna Koonibba Aboriginal Health Service, have been awarded a grant from the Australian Research Council. On 18 and 19 May 2016 the project team convened in Adelaide to discuss directions for the research. The meetings were followed by a policy forum on 19 May entitled ‘Health and Wellbeing as Whole of Society concerns’. During the forum Professor Dame Margaret Whitehead (University of Liverpool) shared experiences about intersectoral action from the European context, focussing on how social welfare reforms contributed to and detracted from health and wellbeing in the context of austerity measures. Professor Dora Marinova  (Curtin University) also spoke about the connections between environment policy and the promotion of health and wellbeing, focussing particularly on the environmental and health impacts of agricultural production. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion including panellists who have experience of policy development and practice in the justice, environment, urban planning and industry sectors.

For further information please go to the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity website