2025 Primary Care Conference Wrap Up
Thank you to everyone who attended our Primary Care Conference over Friday and Saturday last week, we were delighted to host more than 250 health professionals from across western Victoria at the Goods Shed in Ballarat. It was lovely to do some learning, meet people in person and mingle with colleagues from across the region.
There were many highlights from the two days, but it was hard to go past our two keynote speakers.
On Friday, actor and philanthropist, Samuel Johnson, from the cancer charity, Love Your Sister, gave an incredible presentation full of pathos and humour that left many of us fighting back tears one moment and laughing the next. It was deeply moving to hear about his incredible life, his sister Connie’s long battle with cancer, and their shared passion for raising funds to cure cancer – from the madness of unicycling around Australia to creating a gigantic heart out of coins. He was followed by Dr Vanessa Wong, an oncologist from Grampians Health, who spoke about how the precision cancer treatment that Love Your Sister has funded works, and how it is changing and extending the lives of people with cancer, including in rural and remote areas.
On Saturday, we heard from disability advocate, Paul Pritchard, who spoke about the importance of the dignity of risk and the pervasive discrimination that many people with disability face. Paul is a British-born climber and writer who now lives in Hobart with his family. In 1998, while climbing the Totem Pole, a spectacular 60m-high dolerite spire sticking out of the ocean at the end of Cape Hauy in Tasmania, he dislodged a laptop-sized block of rock that split his skull open. His partner, Celia Bull, managed to save his life by hauling him up to a ledge and then running back out to civilisation to organise a rescue. The injury left Paul with hemiplegia and permanent loss of use of the right side of his body. It was moving to hear how Paul had come to terms with his injury, accepting it as a blessing rather than an impediment. It was also inspiring to learn he’s since gone on to take part in many more adventures, from reclimbing the Totem Pole to his most recent adventure, walking the Larapinta Trail with a number of other people with disabilities (there is a documentary about this trip that will soon be on SBS On Demand). Paul was followed by a practical presentation on balancing the dignity of risk with duty of care by Leeanne Rule and Sarah Rain.
There were too many other highlights over the two days to mention them all, but it was hilarious on Saturday afternoon after a long day of learning and deep concentration, to hear from comedian Dilruk Jayasinha about his various medical travails, some of which will, unfortunately, be difficult to forget.
Some other personal highlights were hearing about adolescent health from the Royal Children’s Hospital psychiatrist, Dr Felix McMillan, and Lister House’s Dr Felix Ritson (AKA Felix One and Felix Two), with a particular focus on school refusal. During the Aged Care session, it was fascinating and inspiring to hear from Dr Jagdeesh Singh Dhaliwal, a specialist Aged Care GP, who shared why he loves working in aged care and how it works well with his family life. Associate Professor Chee Khoo, a GP from Sydney, gave an incredible talk on diabetes and metabolic management. There were great sessions on AI, our future workforce and chronic pain – as I say, too many to mention.
I’d like to thank everyone who presented over the two days. Our two conference facilitators, Western Victoria Primary Health Network (WVPHN) Board member, Catherine Jenkins, and Dr Niamh Logue from Surfcoast Women’s Health Group, did an incredible job, thank you.
Thanks also to WVPHN’s Workforce Development Team, particularly Fiona Quigley and Katrina Pilbeam, who organised the event – it’s going to be hard to top next year. Lastly, a big thanks to our sponsors who made putting on such a fantastic array of speakers possible: Deakin University’s Western Victoria Regional Training Hub, AstraZeneca, Epworth Healthcare, Kieser Geelong, 4DMedical, Palliative Care Advice Service, Outcome Health, WorkSafe Victoria, Lake Imaging, Avant, CSL Seqirus, Novo Nordisk , Healthily, RWAV and Hartmann.
See you next year.
Craig Wilding, WVPHN CEO
15 October 2025