AAIMH National Conference 2024

Aerial UTS Function Centre | Sydney
7-9 November 2024

This year’s conference will highlight the role of infant mental health as the building block for future mental health and wellbeing. Drawing on Winnicott’s seminal work conceptualising infant development in the context of the parent-child relationship and external systems, our conference theme will be “The infant, the family and the external world: Building infant mental health into the future”.

With this theme, our program will seek to deepen understanding of infant mental health and the ways it can be nurtured, within the context of the multiple intersecting ‘systems’. With this systemic lens, we will explore infant mental health development, impacts and interventions with an awareness of both the immediate caregiving/family environment as well as the ‘outside’ world and its various psychosocial influences, potential clinical supports and interventions, and systemic issues and opportunities.

Our program will feature an exciting array of invited presentations from leading national and international researchers, clinicians, and policy/health service leaders. There will opportunities to attend in-depth pre-conference workshops, and for individual submissions for oral and poster presentations to explore new clinical approaches, perspectives, and research findings.

The conference program will be of interest to a broad range of individuals and groups including practitioners from health, early childhood education and community sectors; researchers; and policy, health service development and health promotion workers.

We look forward to participation and engagement from delegates from across Australia and internationally, brought together by a common interest and commitment to infant mental health. Together, we will reflect on current and past infant mental health practices and challenge ourselves to explore new directions that will build infant mental health in Australia and beyond, for the benefit of individuals, families, communities, and society.

Please save the date and plan to join us in beautiful Sydney 7-9 November for this exciting national event!

2024 AAIMH National Conference Organising Committee