National Symposium on Australian traditional medicine
(L-R) Professor Sheryl Lightfoot, John Watson, Gerry Turpin and Dr Virginia Marshall
The inaugural National Symposium for Traditional Australian Medicine was held in mid-November at NICM Health Research Institute in Sydney. The joint ANU-WSU sponsored symposium was co-chaired by Aboriginal legal scholar and RegNet Research Fellow Dr Virginia Marshall, and NICM Director Professor Dennis Chang. RegNet’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Binota Dhamai, and Research Officer Paul Marshall, both presented as well as serving on the organising committee.
The event explored and celebrated the rich heritage of Indigenous Australian medicine, bringing together First Nations scholars, academics, regulatory and healthcare professionals to share knowledge and insights about Traditional Australian Medicine.
Dr Marshall presented on the Australian Research Council Aboriginal medicines research project, of which she is lead Chief Investigator, as did the project’s other Chief Investigators Professor Emeritus Ron Quinn (Griffith) and Distinguished Professor Emma Kowal (Deakin).
Other distinguished presenters included UBC Professor Sheryl Lightfoot, current Chair of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Professor Daniel Robertson (UNSW), Professor Joanne Jamie (Macquarie), Professor Gerald Muench (WSU), Professor Yasmina Sultanbawa (UQ), Associate Professor Quan Vuong (Newcastle) and Associate Professor Kumal Dua (UTS).
Researchers from ANU, WSU, Griffith, Deakin, UNSW, UQ, UTS, Charles Sturt and Uni SA gave presentations on their research and seven PhD scholars gave rapid-fire presentations. More detail on these can be found at NICM HRI | National Symposium On Australian Traditional Medicine. A selection of symposium presentations will be published in an edited volume.
John Watson, Senior Nyikina Mangala Elder, Anthony Watson, Chair of the Kimberley Land Council and Gerry Turpin, from the Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany Centre also participated on the First Nations Panel chaired by Dr Marshall. The Symposium Welcome to Country was given by Dharug man, Kayden Edwards, and the opening address by WSU Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Freya MacMillan.