Our People to Live Stronger & Longer

TAMS Cultural Family Fun Day

TAMS Cultural Family Fun Day (Community event) took place on Wednesday, July 12th at Viaduct Park. The event was organised by TAMS staff and featured a variety of exciting activities for attendees of all ages. Lenny Waters and Mark Atkins warmly welcomed everyone to the event.

The AH&MRC Ear Health Programs provided valuable support to the TAMS team, with Kristy Cooke, Katrina Millgate, and Sheleaka O’Leary-Cloake emphasszing the importance of including kids’ ear health checks in the Cultural Day event. In addition to the health checks, there were numerous fun activities available, such as pony rides, cultural activities, face painting, jumping castles, and an Elders tent.

TAMS expressed their gratitude to their local partners for their support in making the event possible. These partners included JobLink Plus, Aboriginal Lands Council Bumbira, TACCS, Family Support, Justice Health Centre Care, Health Wise, UNE, Fire Brigade, FACS, BARB’S 2340, and Service Australia.

Over 40 people, including adults, participated in the ear health checks. Dr. Emma, a TAMS GP, provided valuable assistance with Otoscopy and Video Otoscopy, while offering educational information to the attendees. The community members were pleased with TAMS’ dedication to the well-being of the community, with one individual remarking, “It’s great to see the work TAMS does for the community.” The local media, represented by Tamworth’s Leader newspaper, attended the event and published an article about it.

The TAMS staff members were commended for their hard work, and the event saw a fantastic turnout. Inspired by the success, the TAMS staff have expressed their interest in planning an even larger event next year, with a focus on establishing key partnerships and involving more stakeholders.

The first AH&MRC HREC Ethics Forum 2023, held June 27th.

On Tuesday, June 27th, we hosted the first-ever Ethics Forum at the Novotel Brighton Beach. The event drew a crowd of 180 individuals from various universities and government departments. The forum surpassed our expectations, receiving positive feedback from attendees and numerous requests to hold it more frequently.

The forum aimed to cater to academics, affiliated health professionals, and groups, providing them with educational opportunities regarding the significance of Aboriginal ethics, requirements for approvals and processes, and the governance structures. It represented the beginning of AH&MRC HREC’s expansion and growth plans for the coming years.

Kelly Jones, the AH&MRC Research Ethics Coordinator, emphasized, “This forum is to educate all attendees on the HREC’s processes and governance structures when submitting an ethics application. The committee reviewed over 100 applications annually in which they needed to ensure that all submissions were culturally and ethically appropriate.”

We would like to give a special shout out to the Ethics Team, whose efforts brought this fantastic event to life and ensured its tremendous success. Initially projected to have only 50 ticketed attendees, the event quickly sold out with all tickets sold.