I would like to thank the outgoing Board members, Sallyanne Wissmann, Grant Duffill and the President, Cheens Lee, for their time, contribution and commitment to their roles and HIMAA. I welcome the incoming and returning Board members, Louise Edmonds, Shane Sanfilippo and James Katte. In a recent meeting, the Board also extended an invitation to Cassandra Rupnik, to join as a casual member. We are delighted to include her contribution and expertise to the Board.
My congratulations go to the award recipients announced at the Conference, in particular Life Membership awarded to Barbara Postle and Sue Walker for their dedication and contribution to the profession and the Association. They join an esteemed list of Life Members at https://www.himaa.org.au/membership/celebrated-members/. In addition, we announced the following State and National Practitioner and Student Awards:
| NSW PRACTITIONER OF THE YEAR | CATHERINE MURATORE |
| VIC PRACTITIONER OF THE YEAR | MERILYN RILEY |
| SA PRACTITIONER OF THE YEAR | CHRIS ROBEY |
| QLD PRACTITIONER OF THE YEAR | RACHEL THURSFIELD |
| QLD STUDENT OF THE YEAR | KERILYN DONG |
| NATIONAL PRACTITIONER OF THE YEAR | MERILYN RILEY |
| NATIONAL STUDENT OF THE YEAR | KERILYN DONG |
We are progressing well with organising the joint 2023 40th IFHIMA Congress and 20th HIMAA National Conference. Abstract submissions have closed and we are delighted to report we received over 100 submissions worldwide. We are aiming to have a draft program and registration ready in February 2023.
The new membership software and website have been launched. You use your elected sign-in email as User ID and reset your password to access. The new website contains:
- Updated content, including uploading 2022 Conference Prospectus in Member Resources
- Integrated Education Services with the main website
- Shop
- Member Directory.
Early in 2023 we will release an upgraded version of the Online Forum as well as the online CPD tracker once we re-review the Professional Credentialling Scheme later in 2023. If you do not remember your access details, please refer to our communication with the email address we have on our record. If this is no longer correct or you are having other issues, please contact websupport@himaa.org.au. We are excited to bring more features and functionality to our members with this implementation.
Consultation is taking place with our members on Aged Care Quality Standards and Diagnosis Complexity Level Masking. You can add your voice to these important issues through HIMAA as a member. Please see our social media posts and website on how you can participate.
The State Branches are planning end-of-year events, including Tasmania, NSW and Queensland. I enjoyed meeting with our Tasmanian colleagues on 18 November and look forward to meeting NSW and Queensland members at their branch events on 29 November and 9 December respectively. All the details are here.
Please feel free to reach out to me to chat.
Jae Redden
Chief Executive Officer
ceo@himaa.org.au