1 WESTERN Australia’s leading child health researcher is standing down as director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

Professor Fiona Stanley’s retirement at the end of this year will mark the end of an era for the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, which she has run for more than two decades. The former Australian of the Year said she would continue as a patron of the institute after publicly announcing her retirement in May.

2 Raising awareness of alcohol’s impact on the developing brain WA Government media release

Changing the harmful drinking culture in Western Australia is the first step to preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), according to Mental Health Minister Helen Morton. Mrs Morton’s comments came while opening the inaugural Impacts of Alcohol Forum: Brain Development and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder for McCusker Centre for Action on Youth and Alcohol.

3 Call for Radical Intervention on Juvenile Justice

The head of the St Vincent de Paul Society in New South Wales says it must be recognised that juvenile justice in Australia is an Aboriginal problem and that it needs to be dealt with accordingly. A national report on young people in detention soon to be released calls on the Federal Government to adopt a radical preventative approach.

4 AUSTRALIA’s first screening and diagnostic service for children with alcohol-related birth defects could be up and running by the end of the year

Elizabeth Elliott, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the Children’s Hospital said it was hard to know exactly how many children were affected by FASD because of a lack of research and diagnostic clinics. However she estimates that at least two per cent of all Australian babies are born with FASD each year. “That’s likely a significant underestimate because doctors aren’t recognising it and aren’t asking women about alcohol use in pregnancy,” she said.