News & Events

Symposium recap: Advancing community-engaged health research

Held on Friday 6 December at the University of Wollongong, the symposium brought together researchers to explore how citizen and community engagement can strengthen health research for marginalised populations.

Presentations examined key tensions in community-engaged research, including balancing individual and collective interests, navigating intersectionality, maintaining rigour without homogenising perspectives, and translating research into policy and practice.

Keynote speakers Professor Jackie Leach Scully (UNSW) and Dr Danielle Muscat (University of Sydney) shared critical insights into disability innovation, health literacy and ethical engagement. The symposium fostered strong cross-disciplinary discussion and reinforced the value of community partnership in high-quality health research.

Symposium recap:Exploring values in health research

Held on Thursday 12 October 2023 at the University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus, the ACHEEV symposium brought together national and international researchers to examine how values are understood in theoretical and empirical health research.

Discussions explored how values are conceptualised across disciplines, how participant values are elicited and analysed, and how researchers navigate the relationship between lived experience, theory and evidence.

Keynote speakers Professor Kieran O’Doherty (University of Guelph) and Dr Bryan Mukandi (University of Wollongong) led conversations on deliberation, non-conformity and ethical reflexivity. The symposium concluded with a panel discussion on what it means to research values in health contexts.

Researching speculative issues in health seminar

Held on Wednesday 13 September, 2023 at the University of Wollongong, this seminar examined how researchers can investigate health questions that extend beyond participants’ direct experience or involve speculative and future-focused issues.

Presentations explored methodological approaches to researching health technology assessment and healthcare artificial intelligence, including person-centred interview design, the use of analogies in expert engagement, and strategies for moving beyond deficit models in public research on AI.

Chaired by Dr Jane Williams, the seminar featured presentations from Dr Marcus Sellars, Dr Yves Saint James Aquino and Emma K. Frost. The session concluded with a panel discussion and Q&A, encouraging thoughtful reflection on how speculative health topics can be examined with rigour, ethics and inclusivity.

Held on Tuesday 22 August 2023 via Zoom, this seminar examined the relationship between health, wellbeing and youth reoffending within the Australian justice system.

The presentation explored findings from the Queensland Department of Youth Justice Navigate Your Health program, which provides nurse navigators to young people receiving non-custodial sentences. The program aims to reduce reoffending by improving access to health assessment, care coordination and ongoing support.

Dr Sam Boyle (Queensland University of Technology) presented preliminary results showing improvements in participants’ health and wellbeing, alongside positive changes in other known predictors of reoffending such as housing stability, engagement and family connection. The seminar highlighted the potential for health-focused interventions to contribute to long-term reductions in youth reoffending.

View the recorded session: The Privacy Dilemma 

Presented by the Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values in collaboration with Health Consumers New South Wales, this webinar examined community perspectives on the use of health data by private sector organisations.

The session explored how health information is routinely collected and used for public benefit, including service improvement, population health research and treatment evaluation. While broad public support exists for these uses, discussion highlighted ongoing concerns about commercial access to health data, particularly where profit may be involved.

Belinda Fabrianesi and Professor Annette Braunack-Mayer (University of Wollongong) presented findings from two community studies on attitudes toward private sector data use. These presentations were followed by a consumer-focused discussion led by Dr Anthony Brown (Health Consumers NSW), which reinforced the importance of trust, transparency and public accountability in health data governance.

Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (ACHEEV) website

Health Consumers NSW website

This webinar examined the potential impact of healthcare artificial intelligence on clinicians’ skills, decision-making and professional judgement.

Drawing on preliminary findings from the NHMRC-funded project The Algorithm Will See You Now, the presentation explored how clinicians, developers, regulators, entrepreneurs and consumer representatives تصور the future role of AI in healthcare. Discussions focused on whether AI will enhance clinical practice or contribute to deskilling in areas such as diagnostic reasoning, practical judgement and professional autonomy.

The session concluded with expert panel responses from specialists in quality and safety, clinical AI development and medical education. Organised by ACHEEV in collaboration with the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, the webinar encouraged critical reflection on how AI should be integrated into healthcare in ways that protect and strengthen clinical expertise.