Here’s a quick snapshot of what we’ve been working on across the Hamilton Centre and what’s coming up:

• Our final regional pharmacotherapy workshop for 2025 (in Wangaratta) wrapped up with strong feedback – 100% of attendees were either very satisfied or satisfied. It has been a pleasure delivering this training across regional Victoria, and we look forward to running more sessions next year. If you’re based in Melbourne, there’s still time to register for our upcoming in-person workshop in November.

And thanks to the Wangaratta Chronicle for highlighting this important effort to improve mental health and addiction care for Victorians:

• Looking ahead to 2026, our team has been busy shaping next year’s education and training program. After consulting with stakeholders and past workshop participants, we’ve identified 16 priority topic areas and are now working to refine these further. If you’ve taken part in one of our training activities, you should have received a short survey to help us identify the most relevant topics for next year’s plan. The survey is open until Monday 27 October, and your input will help ensure the program stays relevant and responsive to the sector's needs.

• Our team had a productive visit with the Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health & Wellbeing this month. We focused on shared priorities for workforce development in the coming year, and reflected on the number of different workforce surveys currently circulating (including ours!). We really appreciate everyone’s efforts in completing training needs and workforce surveys – this directly informs our collective work plans. The Collaborative Centre team also highlighted their recent plans in growing their lived and living experience workforce educator team, which is really exciting to see.

• Next week, we’re heading to the Evidence & Implementation Summit 2025 in Melbourne. Our Education and Training Lead, Dr Katrin Oliver, will be presenting as part of the session Integrated Care in Action: Rethinking Implementation Through Relationships and Systems. Implementation science remains a core focus of our approach, and we’re excited to connect with colleagues to share insights and deepen our collective impact.

• We’re also proud to be part of the APSAD 2025 program. APSAD is the largest regional AOD conference, showcasing cutting-edge AOD research and care across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. I’ll be joining as a keynote speaker to share research findings from our Turning Point clinical research program on Innovation and implementation in integrated care: trauma, PTSD and addiction, exploring how we bring evidence-based approaches into routine practice, including lessons from emerging clinical trial innovations like psychedelic-assisted therapy. Dr Katrin Oliver and Research Fellow Dr Ali Cheetham will also be presenting updates from the Centre, including a co-presentation with VAADA on our work on the Victorian Integrated Care Compass tool (VICC). Keep an eye on our LinkedIn for more details, and check out the full program on the APSAD website.

As always, if you’d like to connect about any of these updates or explore how we can support your team, don’t hesitate to reach out.