A message from the CEO

Welcome to Painaustralia’s first newsletter for 2020. We hope that you have all had a safe and sound start to the year.

With the devastating and collective toll catastrophes have taken this summer, we would like to take the time to acknowledge the huge impact climate related uncertainty has on everyone, including those living with chronic pain conditions. Don Firth, a member of our Consumer Advisory Group shares his experiences on the frontlines as a volunteer firefighter with us.  

We begin the year by welcoming our new Chair, Professor Ian Chubb AC. We are all delighted to have him lend the tremendous weight of his experience to our organisation and are looking forward to working with him to improve outcomes for the millions of Australians living with chronic pain today.

It has been a busy start to the year with some major submissions to RACGP, the Productivity Commission as well as The Senate Committee of Community Affairs References Committee's Inquiry into current barriers to patient access to medicinal cannabis in Australia.

I also had the immense privilege to share our experience of developing the National Strategic Action Plan on Pain Management with our colleagues in Halifax, Nova Scotia earlier this year. This invaluable opportunity highlighted to me how fortunate we are in Australia to be among countries like Canada and the US in leading the world in best practice pain management policy and strategy.

I would also like to thank each and every one of the applicants for Painaustralia’s Consumer Advisory Group. We have had some truly exceptional responses and we look forward to announcing the new members in the coming days.

With an eventful start, 2020 promises to be yet another action packed year. We have many exciting opportunities on the agenda and look forward to accomplishing so much more in collaboration with our members this year.

Carol Bennett
Painaustralia CEO