VAADA Conference Update - Register Now

 

The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) will be holding its 2011 Conference on 17-18 February 2011. The Conference theme Transitions: people, policy, practice implies change and moving forward. The program focuses on transitions and movements within the alcohol and other drug (AOD) field as we move towards 2020. The conference brings together those working directly in alcohol and drug treatment services with those working in related sectors including prevention, health promotion, harm reduction, justice, child and family services, mental health, research and policy.

 

To register for the conference go to:                              conference.vaada.org.au/registration

 

To view the conference program go to:          conference.vaada.org.au/program  

 

The conference will be opened by the new Victorian Coalition Government’s Minister for Mental Health, Women’s Affairs and Community Services, The Hon. Mary Wooldridge MP.

John Challis is the Director of Training and Technical Assistance at New York State Health’s centre for Excellence in Integrated Care, providing training and technical assistance in co-occurring disorders to the more than 1,200 mental health and substance abuse outpatient clinics certified in New York State. Prior to his current role, Mr. Challis, was the State Project Director for SAMHSA’s Co-Occurring Centre of Excellence (COCE) and delivered Technical Assistance to COSIG, Policy Academy and all other States requesting assistance over its 5-year life of the centre. John has over 22 yrs experience in the Substance Abuse Treatment Sector and, for more than 17 yrs, developed and led co-occurring treatment programs for adults, adolescents and parents with children in both residential and intensive output settings. Before moving to the U.S., he worked in both New Zealand and Australia and was the CEO of Odyssey House New Zealand, for over 18 years. His areas of expertise include: the treatment of severe mental illness in substance abuse treatment settings, workforce development, clinical supervision, systemic development, executive management and strategic planning, and the therapeutic community treatment model.

 

Alison is Associate Professor at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. She has a clinical psychology background, was Deputy Director of Turning Point, and is currently director of an international illicit drug policy research program, the ‘Drug Policy modelling Program’ which seeks to advance illicit drug policy through improving the evidence-base, developing new policy decision-making tools and understanding policy processes. Alison was the immediate past president of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol & Drugs (APSAD), Executive Editor of the Drug and Alcohol Review, and Vice President of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy.

 

Ian Gray is Chief Magistrate of Victoria. He initially practiced as a private solicitor, before beginning work as a community lawyer at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. Following this, he began practice as a barrister, specialising in criminal law. In 1990, Ian was appointed a Magistrate in the Northern Territory becoming the Chief Magistrate in 1992. In 1998, he returned to the Victorian bar, specialising in criminal, administrative and employment law and in 2001 was appointed Chief Magistrate of the Magistrates' Court of Victoria, where he leads over 100 magistrates, covering 52 locations across the State of Victoria.