Registrations open for the 2026 Western Alliance Symposium
We are delighted to announce that registrations are now open for the 2026 Western Alliance Symposium, on Gadubanud Country at The Mantra Hotel Lorne on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 November 2026.
Click here to find out more and register by 26 October.
All are welcome. Registration for the Symposium and the networking event at the Lorne Hotel Rooftop is free for employees of Western Alliance member organisations as well as associated health consumers and carers. On-site accommodation is available at The Mantra Hotel Lorne. To receive conference rates, email your reservation request to lorne.groups@mantra.com.au and note you are attending The Western Alliance Symposium in your email.
Western Alliance Symposium Program
Monday 16 November
We will kick off with a workshop delivered by our close partners at Deakin Rural Health focussing on Thinking Big: Transforming Research into Real-World Impact. Through presentations, practical examples, and discussion, participants will learn how to identify impact pathways, engage key stakeholders, and transform local research projects into meaningful outcomes for communities, health services, and society.
The afternoon session will provide inspiration for both local and large-scale research, collaboration and translation. Prominent clinician researchers and academics will update us about their large regional projects supported by Western Alliance, including the Western Alliance-led DELIVER Project. Our STaRR emerging researchers will take us through their projects that aim to influence local health policy and practice.
Monday night will feature the ever-popular Symposium networking event at the Lorne Hotel rooftop, including live music and a cocktail style dinner. This will book out so please book early if you would like to attend.
Tuesday 17 November
A Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony will welcome attendees to beautiful Gadubanud Country. The morning plenary will feature addresses to educate and inspire by nationally renowned keynote speakers and our consumer partners at Health Voices Victoria, and the announcement of Western Alliance Rapid Research Translation Grant recipients.
Our Concurrent Sessions will showcase a wide variety of projects influencing health policy, practice and outcomes across rural and regional Victoria. The Symposium will culminate in the afternoon plenary, including addresses by nationally renowned keynote speakers and Western Alliance Board Chair Emeritus Professor Brendan Crotty.
Keynote speakers
- Fiona Cornforth, Director of Yardhura Walani, the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the Australian National University
- Distinguished Professor Karin Verspoor, Artificial Intelligence expert and Dean of the School of Computing Technologies at RMIT
- Professor Michele Callisaya, Lead investigator, ParkinsonNet and Professor of Physiotherapy at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania
