ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 64 | August 2003
Kenneth Myer Lecture
2003
Fiona Stanley: ‘Before the Bough Breaks—Children in Contemporary Australia’
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Professor Fiona Stanley and the Kenneth Myer Lecture audience |
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On 24 July, the Friends of the National Library presented the annual Kenneth Myer Lecture. The Lectures are an opportunity for eminent Australians to speak on a topic of their choice, and this year the Library had the pleasure of presenting Professor Fiona Stanley, Australian of the Year for 2003.
Professor Stanley heads two major organisations headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. She is inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth—a national organisation of researchers, practitioners and policy-makers established to improve the health and wellbeing of Australia’s young people. She is also founding Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, an innovative, multi-disciplinary centre of research excellence. The Institute has forged an international reputation and is widely recognised for its comprehensive approach in bringing together clinical, laboratory and population health scientists to tackle the major issues in child health. Professor Stanley’s research involves conducting and supervising studies in both maternal and child health. It is these interests that have formed the basis of her advocacy for Australia’s children.
Professor Stanley’s lecture was a serious and disturbing presentation, originating from her professional observation of an alarming deterioration in key health indicators for Australian children. Her personal commitment and passion were obvious as she outlined the monumental increases over the last few years in the prevalence of complex diseases such as asthma, diabetes and obesity; of mental health problems; and the impact of lifestyle risk factors, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, behavioural problems, substance abuse, juvenile crime, and youth unemployment. One could have been forgiven for lapsing into depression at the statistics, but the message was buoyed by Professor Stanley’s evident compassion and her capacity to bestow hope and to initiate change. Her aim of securing a national commitment to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people was summed up in a final quote:
We need to place social and environmental sustainability and population health ahead of economic growth as a national goal, and develop social policies that enhance equity, social stability and trust. Our response must extend beyond the conventional frameworks for social and economic policy.
—James Halligan, Executive Officer,
Friends of the NLA
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