Good morning everyone
Lots of news this month. The first Australasian Conference will be held in the middle to late 2013 with the initial support of FARE and offers coming in by Universities if we decide to hold the conference at their facility. We have requested a quote from a conference organiser so we know exactly what we are up against and will start the formation of a steering group with representatives from each state/territory. So far we have representatives from every state/territory and NZ who have agreed to be on the committee. Please keep your diary as free as you can for July August next year.
If you have any news you would like distributed around the individuals and organisations on our database which have now reached 1050, please let me know. Also if you have colleagues or friends who would like to add their names to our list of supporters please let me know.
Kind Regards Anne Russell
First Australasian FASD Conference to be held in 2013
We have had support from a number of organisations to hold a national (including NZ) FASD conference in Australia. More on this fantastic news as it comes to hand. Donations welcome
FASD Inquiry next Public Hearing Notice
The Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee is holding a public hearing for its inquiry into FASD in Sydney on Friday, 13 April 2012. The public hearing will include a roundtable discussion on FASD and the criminal justice system. I understand that you are based in Melbourne, however it would be beneficial to have the Aboriginal Disability Justice Campaign as part of the roundtable and thus the Committee invites 2 representatives (particularly those who are Sydney-based) of the ADJC to appear at the hearing. There will be an opportunity for each group to provide a brief opening statement (3-4 minutes) before questions.
- Date: Friday 13 April 2012
- Time: 10.45–11.45 a.m
- Location: Macquarie Room, NSW Parliament House, 6 Macquarie Street, Sydney
The hearing will be recorded by Hansard so that Members can later refer to the transcript. Attached is a Hansard contact form, to ensure that names are recorded correctly. Could each person who will attend please fill in and return the form by email (reps [dot] spla [at] aph [dot] gov [dot] au) or fax (02 6277 4427) by Thursday 5 April 2012. Please contact the Secretariat if you wish to send more than 2 representatives.
Michael W. Miller Responds to New Study on In Utero Alcohol Exposure, Urges Caution in Reading DataA New Study Shows That Alcohol Has Truly Damaging Effects on the Developing Fetus, and Suggests That Alcohol May Actually Prove More Detrimental Than Cocaine and Other Narcotics — But According to Scientist Michael W. Miller, This May Not Be Entirely Accurate
Arsonist guilty over deadly Black Saturday blazeA former Victorian Country Fire Authority volunteer has been found guilty of killing 10 people by deliberately lighting a bushfire on Black Saturday. Sokaluk is autistic and has a mild intellectual disability. He told police he may have accidentally started the fire when he threw cigarette ash out of his car window
Killer suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, jurors are toldBy Dianna Hunt CLEBURNE — An expert on fetal alcohol syndrome told jurors Monday that convicted killer Mark Anthony Soliz has brain damage from fetal alcohol syndrome caused by his mother’s heavy drinking during pregnancy. Dr. Richard Adler, a Seattle…
Parents and Carers Support Group The rffadanow has a Facebook page for parents and carers and people who are living with FASD. It is a closed and moderated group and anyone interested in joining must be able to be non-judgemental and confidential about what happens in this group. The group can be found at rffada – parents and carers group. We also have the main group which provides general information on the condition and which is available to everyone including service providers and medical professionals. The general group can be found at Russell Family Fetal Alcohol Disorders Association. I trust that anyone wishing to find out more about FASD will be able to do so between this website and the FaceBook pages. Kind Regards Anne
Researchers take a closer look at Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Examining children’s faces has long been used to help determine whether fetal alcohol syndrome is present. An unusually short eye opening, or “palpebral fissure,” for example, is one sign that the brain hasn’t developed properly.
See all stories on this topic
Should packaged alcohol display health warnings? Sydney Morning Herald, Page 12, 10 March 2012
The Question A study shows that only 5 per cent of Australians are able to identify safe drinking levels. THEWINEMAKER STEPHEN STRACHAN WINEMAKERS understand why some people like the idea of health warnings on alcohol containers Even the work of leading anti-alcohol groups commissioned by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand found that they have no impact on drinking behaviour especially among the at-risk groups we most want to target Australia is trying to reduce business costs and red tape not increase them for no return.
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Threatens Public Health 2 March 2012
An editorial to be published by the scientific journal Addiction has been made available online, revealing that negotiations are underway behind closed doors for a far-reaching new trade and investment agreement that could tie the hands of governments’ future alcohol and tobacco control policies in perpetuity.
New board to ‘name and shame’ alcohol ads The Advertiser – Online
A NEW national health body has been established to “name and shame” irresponsible alcohol advertising.
Chaired by former Australian of the Year and children’s health advocate Fiona Stanley, the independent Alcohol Advertising Review Board
was launched in Perth today, promising to hold advertisers to account for what it says is a growing problem of alcohol abuse across the nation.
Drunk kids spark supply laws plea
The West Australian, Page 11, 17 March 2012
WA ambulance paramedics were called out to treat almost 200 drunken children nine of them under 12 in the last six months of last year McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth director Mike Daube said the figures showed more under-12s treated than for the whole of the previous year when seven cases were reported
Honesty and alcohol Australian Medicine Online — The national news publication of the Australian Medical Association Headline News 19 March 2012
Alcohol affects every part of the body and causes many health problems.
These include poor nutrition, memory disorders, difficulty with balance and walking, liver disease, high blood pressure, muscle weakness, heart rhythm disturbances, anaemia, clotting disorders, decreased immunity
to infections, gastrointestinal inflammation and irritation, acute and chronic problems with the pancreas, low blood sugar, high blood fat content, interference with reproductive fertility, increased risk of cancer of the liver and oesophagus, weakened bones, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression. And that’s just a start. Urgent reform is needed to address the estimated $36 billion in social and excess health costs that excessive alcohol consumption causes each year.
RFFADA REP: WHERE IS FASD? NOT INCLUDED IN THE HARMS AND NOT INCLUDED IN THE 36 BILLION DOLLARS