We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first custodians of the land, seas and waterways of Australia. We respect and honour Elders past, present and future; their culture and knowledges that have intrinsically cared for this Country. In this spirit, we commit to building a sustainable future together.

HEAL 2021

Join us at the 2-day live and virtual HEAL 2021 Conference to experience an inspirational forum for knowledge transfer, scientific debate, and community-wide conversations about research and policy priority setting on human health, climate and environmental change solutions in Australia.

It involves researchers, policy makers, health practitioners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, community members, charities, businesses and other stakeholders from across Australia and neighbouring countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

This highly innovative conference has a hybrid multi-node format, which will stimulate debate, provide in-person interaction and networking opportunities for participants in eight nodes covering all Australian jurisdictions, as well as an enhanced online experience for virtual participation from Australia and overseas.

We look forward to welcoming you to HEAL 2021.
Professor Sotiris Vardoulakis
Australian National University
HEAL 2021 Conference Chair

Conference Themes

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and knowledge translation for building resilience to environmental change
Health system resilience to environmental change and sustainability
Bushfires, air pollution, heatwaves, and other extreme events, and their impact on physical, mental, and community health
Food, soil and water safety and security in a changing environment
Biosecurity, COVID-19 and emerging Infections in the context of environmental change
Urban health, built environment and nature based solutions
Rural and remote health
Clean energy solutions for healthy environments and lives
At-risk populations, early life effects and life-course solutions
Data and decision support systems for environmental health applications
Science communication, citizen science, and risk perception
Planetary Health equity

To register for the Healthy Environments and Lives Conference, please click the below button.

Plenary Speakers

Day 1

Assoc Prof Linda Payi Ford

Senior Research Fellow at the Northern Institute at Charles Darwin University in the College of Indigenous Futures, Education and Arts.

Prof Carmen Lawrence

Emeritus Professor at the University of Western Australia, and first woman Premier and Treasurer of a State government in Australia.

Dr Janine Mohamed

CEO of Lowitja Institute, Australia’s National Institute for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Research.

Prof Mark Howden

Director of the Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions at the Australian National University, and Vice Chair Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Prof Andrea Hinwood

United Nations Environment Programme Chief Scientist and first Chief Environmental Scientist of Victorian Environment Protection Authority.

Prof Alistair Woodward

Epidemiologist, public health doctor, and Professor at the University of Auckland. Lead author in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 6.

Prof Tarun Weeramanthri

Public Health Association of Australia President and former Northern Territory and Western Australia Chief Health Officer.

Prof Sotiris Vardoulakis

Professor of Global Environmental Health at the Australian National University, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health. Director of the Healthy Environments And Lives (HEAL) Network.

Day 2

Prof Kris Ebi

Professor at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the University of Washington.

Dr Matthew Riley

Director of Climate and Atmospheric Science, NSW Department of Planning, Industry.

Prof Fay Johnston

Professor of Environmental Health at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and medical advisor for Public Health Services in the Tasmanian Department of Health.

Dr Rebecca Patrick

Director of Deakin University’s Sustainable Health Network, President and Chair of the Climate and Health Alliance, and co-lead of Oceania Planetary Health Hub.

Prof Tony Capon

Director of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Chair of Planetary Health in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University.

Assoc Prof Ying Zhang

Epidemiologist and Associate Professor at the School of Public Health, USYD. Co-Chair of the MJA-Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change in Australia, and Convenor of the Sustainability, Climate and Health Collaboration at USYD.

Prof Paul Beggs

Environmental health scientist and Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Macquarie University. Co-Chair of the MJA-Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change in Australia.