Centre for Health Equity

McCaughey Oration 2018

Date of Seminar: 1 PM Monday 07 May 2018Venue:   Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Level 4, Seminar Room 410, 207 Bouverie Street,The University of Melbourne

CHE PhD Confirmation Seminar: Georgia Dempster

PhD Confirmation Seminar: Raelene NixonMelbourne School of Population and Global Health and The Poche Centre for Indigenous Health

PhD Confirmation: Tui CrumpenMelbourne School of Population and Global Health and The Poche Centre for Indigenous Health

PhD Completion Seminar: Patricia RarauWhen: Thursday 22nd March at 3.00pmVenue: Arole Conference Room, Nossal Institute for Global Health, Level 5, 333 Exhibition Street

PhD Completion Seminar: Dianne Cox

We are please to announce that Professor Anne Kavanagh has been appointed to a new Chair in Disability and Health within the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, where she will lead the Disability and Health Unit within the Centre for Health Equity.  She will also play a vital role in the soon to be established Melbourne Disability Institute as its Academic Director.

Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker comments in the Age on recognising the King's Domain Resting Place on the National Heritage List.

Congratulations to Professor Anne Kavanagh (Disability/CHE) for being awarded an ARC Linkage Project Grant (administered by the University of New South Wales) - Stewarding thin markets: improving public sector market effectiveness.

Presented by Alana Pirrone, The Jack Brockhoff Child Health & Wellbeing ProgramWhen: Tuesday, 27th February 2018 at 10amVenue: Seminar Room 516, 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton(Strictly only for MSPGH staff)

PhD Completion Seminar: Maureen Murphy

PhD Confirmation Seminar: Yamna Taouk

PhD Confirmation Seminar: Shaira Baptista

PhD Confirmation Seminar: Alex Devine

By Professor Anne KavanaghThe Conversation

Professor Lisa Gibbs, Dr Allison Milner and Ms Alana Pirrone were recipients at the annual MSPGH Awards Ceremony 2017

PhD Completion Seminar: Claire Wilkinson

PhD Confirmation Seminar: Caroline Ong

PhD Confirmation Seminar: Christine Marie Habito

Promotion to Professor (Level E)

MPhil Completion Seminar:  Rebecca Madill

Blindness is a devastating disability that impacts disproportionately on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but the good news is that some solid progress is being made

Blindness is a devastating disability that impacts disproportionately on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but the good news is that some solid progress is being madePursuit article By Professor Hugh Taylor, University of MelbourneLaureate Professor Hugh Taylor AC

Pursuit article by Andrew Trounson, featuring Associate Professor Lisa Gibbs, Director, Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Dr Rosalind McDougall, The Age, SMH, 31st October 2017 and ABC Breakfast program with Virginia Trioli and Michael Rowland

Dr Rosalind McDougall and Professor Lynn Gilliam are featured in the Pursuit article by Kathryn Powley

Indigenous eye health is improving, but more needs to be done.

A new initiative to reduce the incidence of violence against women in the Asia Pacific region will be lead by Dr Kristin Diemer and Dr Cathy Vaughan from University of Melbourne.

Griffth Health Alumni Awards Night - Monday 16th OctoberAllison Milner received one of 5 awards on the night: The Outstanding Higher Degree Research Health Alumnus of the Year Award.

Is there a space for participatory action research with children in disaster risk reduction programs?

Assoc. Professor Bec Bentley interviewed by Scott Stephens and Waleed Aly on The Minefield, ABC Radio, Wednesday 20 September, 2017.

Meet our Chief investigators

Decolonising ethics? A critical analysis of researchers intended ethical research practices and the role of Indigenous communities in ensuring ethical research

The Indigenous Eye Health group (CHE)

Save the Children and the University of Melbourne are collaborating to achieve generational health improvements among Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples.

CRE in Disability and Health blog in Croakey on the Labor Health Summit - March 30 2017

Professor Anne Kavanagh shares how changes in her own life led her to question our understanding of the health of those living with a disability.

Most research into teen bullying tends to focus only on the victim. This means we know little about how the bully is affected. A new Australian study shows that teenagers who have been both a victim and a bully are at greatest risk of mental health problems, including self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Allison Milner, University of Melbourne; Anne Kavanagh, University of Melbourne, and Belinda Hewitt, University of MelbourneDespite the fact more women are employed than ever before, a gender pay gap is still a reality in Australia. Most recent figures show a pay difference of around 23%, with men earning on average A$26,853 more than women a year.But it’s not just the long-term financial consequences of the pay gap being felt by women. Evidence shows it also impacts on their physical and mental health.

Voices of Parents from Brockhoff Child Health Program on Vimeo.

Aaron Reeves, London School of Economics and Political Science; Emma Baker, University of Adelaide, and Rebecca Bentley, University of MelbourneFor many families living on very low incomes who rely on state support to help pay their rent, it’s just got even harder to make ends meet. A new benefits cap was introduced on November 7 in Britain, lowering the maximum amount of social security that families are now able to receive from the government in a single year from £26,000 to £20,000, with a higher rate of £23,000 for those who live in London. This change is not being phased in gradually: it is an immediate reduction that will leave many of the estimated 88,000 affected families struggling to pay their rent.

Belinda Hewitt, University of Melbourne; Anne Kavanagh, University of Melbourne; Lyndall Strazdins, Australian National University, and Zoe Aitken, University of MelbourneAustralian government proposals to end so-called “double dipping” with paid parental leave may scale back health benefits for women who take time off work to care for their babies.

Rebecca Bentley, University of Melbourne; Aaron Reeves, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Emma Baker, University of AdelaideAustralia’s long run of “home ownership for all” appears to have ended. Smashed avocado aside, young people are now much less likely than their parents to ever own their own home. Almost one-third of the nation rents, mainly from private landlords.

Prof Brian Oldenburg's interview for Australian ABC radio about ENCORE program and our research between India and Australia.

Launch of a new series by The Lancet at a high-level scientific event hosted by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, The Lancet, The Government of Germany and The Permanent Mission of Singapore to the United Nations.

A University of Melbourne ethicist is encouraging doctors to recognise the autonomy of parents, even if this could mean “less than optimal” treatment decisions for their children.

Hugh Taylor, University of Melbourne; Emma Stanford, University of Melbourne, and Fiona Lange, University of MelbourneThis article is the first in our three-part series on the blinding, deafening and sometimes deadly conditions in Indigenous Australian children that have little to no impact on their non-Indigenous counterparts. The next two articles will look at rheumatic heart fever and disease; and otitis media.

Emma Baker, University of Adelaide; Andrew Beer, University of South Australia, and Rebecca Bentley, University of MelbourneTruth be told, most Australians live in good housing. This is good news for all of us because our housing is a major determinant of our health and wellbeing. But our very recent research findings, published this month in the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, and the lessons of history tell us this good news story is at risk.

Wendy Stone, Swinburne University of Technology; Emma Baker, University of Adelaide; Liss Ralston, Swinburne University of Technology; Peter Phibbs, University of Sydney, and Rebecca Bentley, University of MelbourneFollowing revelations that more than 300,000 children are living in poverty, the New Zealand government has announced the creation of a ministry for vulnerable children. This should cause Australian leaders to pause and think – how many vulnerable children live in poverty here? And should we be doing something about it?

Australians with Type 2 diabetes are invited to trial a new digital health program to help them stay on top of their condition.

Professor Brian Oldenburg has dedicated his career to understanding how human behaviour can influence the way we manage chronic disease.

International guest, Professor David Stuckler (Oxford University) delivered the McCaughey 10 Year Anniversary Oration on Wednesday 17 February at the Melbourne School of Design.

Living close to a bottle shop, pub or club has a greater impact on health for those in disadvantaged areas compared to people in well-off areas, a new study has found.

Health agencies are closer to eradicating preventable blindness in Indigenous Australians, according to an update on progress released today by the University of Melbourne.

The contributions to health equity and advocacy of Professor Anne Kavanagh, Director of Gender and Women's Health Unit in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health were celebrated recently at the MDHS Faculty Staff Equity and Diversity Awards.

Despite prisoners having some of the highest rates of mental illness and communicable diseases, Medicare exclusions mean that they are rarely able to access appropriate health services before they return to the community.

Senator Fiona Nash announced additional funding to improve and expand eye care services to Indigenous Australians. Professor Hugh Taylor Chair of Indigenous Eye Health has been advocating to close the gap in eye health for decades.

Ex-prisoners with a history of risky drug use, mental illness or poverty are more likely to end up back behind bars, a new University of Melbourne study has revealed. And those who are obese, are chronically ill or have attempted suicide are more likely to remain in the community, the research found.

The First Thousand Days is a global movement addressing child development in the first 1000 days of life from conception to age two. Professor Kerry Arabena, Chair of Indigenous Health, is co-ordinating a comprehensive approach for Indigenous infants and their parents.

Indigenous Eye Health at the University of Melbourne have led a community initiative to close the gap in vision loss.