From the Congress Convenors

Everyone working with the young has something vital to offer at this Congress: "Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Nurturing Diversity".

We invite your participation enthusiastically. As we all know, many children and young people confront great hurdles in life - through disasters, such as the tsunami in our own region, social catastrophes such as HIV AIDS, and continuing wars, displacement, abuse and violence. Many suffer great struggle with ongoing personal, family or social difficulties. In every corner of the world, we share the mission to enhance the well being and chances in life of our young. At this upcoming Congress, we look forward to sharing of new knowledge, reflecting upon experiences in all dimensions of our work, and thinking together about problems arising, and solutions being tried in different countries and cultures.

After the tragic loss in a fatal accident of our inspiring Convenor, Howard Cooper, our Congress Organising Committee has doubled its efforts to provide for an enjoyable and productive Congress. The Committee represents a consortium of infant, child and adolescent mental health organisations in Australia, and emphasises the collaborative nature of our work. For the first time for IACAPAP, too, young people and families from Australian communities who are concerned about mental health services will be expressing their concerns directly. This opens the door for consumers and professionals to work jointly for advances in services and in research. A spirit of exploration is expected to guide the Congress overall.

There will be presentations of many kinds. State of the Art and keynote addresses and symposia will be complemented by workshops and opportunities for creative discussion. Your own participation will enrich the Congress, as we gather as an international group with common values and concerns that flow from our diverse knowledge, experiences and questioning.

Overseas colleagues may be able to combine attendance with exciting travel adventures in Australia. The State of Victoria itself offers a wealth of cultural and geographic interest, to say nothing of the beaches, reefs, deserts, mountains, forests and the unique wildlife across our remarkable country.

Known as "the world's most liveable city", Melbourne is a centre of great cultural depth and diversity. Seated upon beautiful Port Phillip Bay, and surrounded by mountains and plains, its three million plus people share wide interests in the arts and scholarship, in all sports and recreations, in food and wine, and in an enormous range of commerce. The city has a proud history of openness to international visitors from all walks of life.

Wherever you come from and whatever your particular work, we hope you are able to join us, and look forward to welcoming you and hosting you at the Congress in September.

Suzanne Dean
Co-Convenor, Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist

Campbell Paul
Co-Convenor, Child Psychiatrist

From the Patron of the Congress

A warm welcome awaits you here in Australia and your host city, Melbourne. We trust we will all be enriched by this scientific congress, so carefully planned by the Congress Organising Committee.

IACAPAP has been to these shores before, in 1978. That 9^th Congress addressed the theme "Children and Parents in a Changing World ". Well, the world has indeed changed. These 28 years have witnessed many developments, with much exciting and diverse progress in many areas. We see now broader participation of our multicultural society in Australia, in working towards our goal of mental health for children, adolescents, their families and their neighbourhoods, as well as an increasing inter-dependence among countries throughout the world. Community concerns have brought together not only the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) and the wider Australian Infant Child Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association (AICAFMHA), but also community movements throughout the nation. The Committee has wisely given a lead in its theme, which recognises our need to nurture diversity.

All of us suffered the death of the Convenor, Dr Howard Cooper, an outstanding leader, who is very sadly missed. He would be pleased with the preparations for the Congress as they are progressing.

As we work together in the Congress, the more I think you will find the host city, indeed the host nation, welcoming you in every way, and introducing you to some of the joys, delights and vagaries of "down under".

"To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield".

Winston Rickards AM
Patron of the 2006 IACAPAP Congress

From the President of IACAPAP

IACAPAP Congresses have traditionally provided an opportunity to highlight the leading clinical and research advances in the field of child and adolescent mental health. Importantly, the focus has been on inter-disciplinary exchange. For the past several decades, great efforts have been made to bring together those at the beginning of their careers from developing countries or places around the world enduring particular stresses or the evolution of their societies. The inter-disciplinary exchange, the presence of Fellows, and the participation of scholars makes the congresses a unique opportunity for gaining information, networking and finding out about areas of our field that are not usually accessible.

The Melbourne Congress is very special in several ways. First, the congress is being held in Melbourne where it was last held three decades ago. At that time, Winston Rickards, an internationally recognized pioneer in our field, was the Chair. Now, as Patron of this Congress, Winston Rickards stands as a symbol of the roots of our professions and the high ideals to which we can aspire. Second, tragically in September 2005, Dr. Howard Cooper died. This loss of a very special child psychiatrist, who was full of energy and had a multitude of gifts, represented a profound loss for many of us and particularly his colleagues in Australia and New Zealand. It is most remarkable that, in the wake of this loss, Campbell Paul MD and Suzanne Dean PhD took up the leadership of the Congress. Along with their Organising Committee and the Scientific Committee, under the leadership of Drs. Brett McDermott and Barry Nurcombe, they are putting together the strongest of congresses, appealing to a broad audience and incorporating the largest number of collaborators in the history of IACAPAP.

I hope that you will participate actively in the Congress with papers, symposia and attendance at the rich scientific program. As our Australian colleagues remind me, this will also be a time to enjoy a unique culture and have an exhilarating experience.

Myron Belfer
IACAPAP President