SA Division President's Report- June 2024

Winter is upon us and thankfully with it a little bit of rain!  I was pleased to have the opportunity to attend the Council of Presidents meeting in Melbourne as part of the AVA Conference last week.  It was great to hear the similar challenges faced by all the states as well as what is planned for the next 12 months. An amazing, passionate and committed group of people.

I attended the THRIVE symposium and was reminded about the incredible work that AVA is doing in the space of mental health. The speakers challenged previous thinking and helped the audience to understand the steps to identify psychological hazards in the workplace, make plans to mitigate them and create a psychologically safe workplace for all. One of the key takeaways for me was the shift from high performance to healthy performance culture, creating workplaces where employees can perform at their best while also staying well.  

We are also pleased to confirm the imminent formation of 3 branches in SA, a Northern Adelaide, Southern Adelaide and Rural Practitioners. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to assist in getting these off the ground. This is very exciting as it allows us to plan and run events, bringing topics of interest to you. On that note, if you have a topic that you would like to hear about, AVA related or otherwise, please get in touch and we will see what we can arrange.   

Dr Catherine Harper