Monday 26 October 2026
HIMAA 2026 Conference Program
 Time |
Stream 1 | Stream 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Registrations Open | |
| 08:15 | Guided Breathing, Chair Yoga & Meditation | |
| 9:00-10:30 | OPENING PLENARY SESSION 1 — Plenary Room — Chaired by Sallyanne Wissmann | |
| 9:00-9:10 | Welcome to Country Uncle Brendan Kerin, Arrernte and Barkindji Elder, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council | |
| 9:10-9:20 | Formal Opening and Welcome Address Catherine Garvey, President, HIMAA | |
| 9:20-9:50 |  How International Patient Classification Systems are Transforming Data into Better Care Deniza Mazevska, President, Patient Classification Systems International (PCSI) |
|
| 9:50-10:10 | How the National Digital Health Agenda is Transforming Data into Better Care Amanda Cattermole, CEO, Australian Digital Health Agency |
|
| 10:10-10:30 | How Internationally SNOMED is Transforming Data into Better Care Bettina McMahon, Management Board Vice-Chair, SNOMED International and CEO, Healthdirect Australia |
|
| 10:30-11:00 |  Morning Tea |
|
| 11:00-12:30 |  CONCURRENT SESSION 1 |
|
| Health Information Management Stream — Chaired by | Clinical Coding Stream — Chaired by | |
| Room | Room | |
| 11:00-11:15 | Leading and Retaining HIS Teams through Uncertainty During Significant Organisational Change that Had No Clear Outcome Leanne Hawke, Healthscope | Autonomous Clinical Coding in Practice: International Experience in Workforce Integration, Quality and Governance, with Insights from Canada Stephen Badham, Beamtree |
| 11:15-11:30 | Decoding Stroke RSI – Using Health Information Insights to Improve Performance and Patient Care Kirsten Duggan, Tasmanian Health Service | Code Like it’s 2026: Wallenberg in ICD-11, Powered by SNOMED CT and What ICD-10-AM/CM/CA Misses) Michelle Badore & Lana Freydenzon, Solventum |
| 11:30-11:45 | A Unified Approach to Complaints: Integrating Clinical Governance and Privacy Through a Shared Incident Management Process Rebecca Polak & Martin Royce, Far West Local Health District | Improving Capture of Cancer Stage Across Victoria: a Wicked Problem with Emerging Solutions Assoc Prof Luc te Marvlede, Cancer Council Victoria |
| 11:45-12:00 | A Collaborative Approach to Reducing Preventable Admission Cancellations Through Improved Outpatient Pathways and Enhanced Documentation Accuracy Jodie Chapman & Solange Altarac, Monash Health | Transforming Data into Better Care: the Role of Health Information Managers in Applied Learning System Patience Onuogu, Cabrini Health |
| 12:00-12:15 | Speaking the Same Language: How ICD-11 Connects Us Islam Ibrahim, University of New South Wales | The Use and Application of Clinical Terminologies and Classifications in the OCEAN Study Julie Gordon, University of Sydney |
| 12:15-12:30 |  Q&A |
Q&A |
| 12:30-13:30 |  Lunch & Poster Display |
|
| 13:30-15:00 | PLENARY SESSION 2 — Plenary Room — Chaired by | |
| 13:30-13:50 | The Future Health Information Professional: Leading Through AI, Automation and Workforce Transformation Thea Campbell, President, AHIMA |
|
| 13:50 - 14:00 | Platinum Sponsor Presentation — iMedX |
|
| 14:00-15:00 | Motivational Speaker — Resilience, The Power in Taking Complete Ownership, Leadership, Mental Health, and Thriving Through Change Luke Kennedy, Motivational Speaker, Best Selling Author, Mental Health Advocate | |
| 15:00-15:30 | Afternoon Tea |
|
| 15:30-16:45 | CONCURRENT SESSION 2 |
|
| Health Information Management Stream — Chaired by Joanne Fitzgerald | Clinical Coding Stream — Chaired by | |
| Room | Room | |
| 15:30-15:45 | The Pathway to ICD-11: Progress, Priorities and Next Steps Anne Elsworthy, Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority | Back to the Future: Redefining Data Quality Through Intelligent Auditing and Collaboration Tools Patricia Savino, Northern Health |
| 15:45-16:00 | Analysis of the Potential Impact of ICD-11 on Future Health Data Reporting in Australia Filippa Pretty & Vicki Bennett, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) | Connecting Audit Intelligence to Coding Quality: End to End Audit Management for Funding Assurance and Governance Corey Shannon, St Andrews Toowoomba Hospital |
| 16:00-16:15 | Getting Ready for a Big Bang Go-Live - a Hybrid Paper Medical Record to an Electronic Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR) Sharon Bowen & Natasha Millerd-Stevens, Hunter New England Local Health District | Rules, Burden, and Better Data: It’s Time to Re-imagine Australian Clinical Coding Standards Nicole Ah Yick & Ashleigh Dunscombe, Cabrini Health |
| 16:15-16:30 | Modernising Documentation Audits Post-EMR Implementation Lana Austin, Northern Health | Connecting Coding Intelligence to Clinical Governance: Strengthening Data Quality and Collaboration Through Retrospective Analysis Peter Jackson, Peninsula Health |
| 16:30-16:45 | Q&A |
Q&A |
| 16:45 - 18:00 |  User Group Sessions — iMedx and Solventum |
|
| 18:00 |  Welcome Reception |
|
Tuesday 27 October 2026
HIMAA 2026 Conference Program
| Time | Stream 1 | Stream 2 | Stream 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Registrations Open | ||
| 08:15 | Guided Breathing, Chair Yoga & Meditation | ||
| 9:00-10:30 | PLENARY SESSION 3 — Plenary Room — Chaired by | ||
| 9:00-9:20 | NSW’s Single Digital Patient Record Dr Teresa Anderson AM, Chief Executive, Single Digital Patient Record Implementation Authority | ||
| 9:20-9:40 | The Impact of AI on the Health Information Professional: Lessons from South Korea Professor Young-Joo Won, Chair, International Affairs Subcommittee, KAHIME | ||
| 9:40-10:00 | Australian Research Data Commons Dr Adrian Burton, Deputy CEO and Director, People Research Data Commons, Australian Research Data Commons | ||
| 10:00-10:20 | Perspectives on Safety, Quality and Health Information Management Dr Paul Miles, Director of Digital Health and Chief Information Officer, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care | ||
| 10:20-10:30 | Platinum Sponsor Presentation — Solventum | ||
| 10:30-11:00 | Morning Tea | ||
| 11:00-12:30 | CONCURRENT SESSION 3 | ||
| Health Information Management Stream — Chaired by | Clinical Update Session 1 — Chaired by Mary-Ellen Wetherspoon | ||
| Room | Room | ||
| 11:00-11:15 | From First Connection to Lasting Partnership – A Bottom-Up Approach to International Collaboration in HIM Willy Chan, EHealth NSW | Clinical Update 1 Cardiac Interventional Procedures and Cardiac DevicesTom Readford, Lecturer in Medical Imaging Sciences, The University of Sydney |
|
| 11:15-11:30 | Connecting the Silos: Building a Collaborative Information Sharing Framework for Better Incident Management Response in a Complex Health Environment Kirsty Toms, Central Coast Local Health District | ||
| 11:30-11:45 | Launch of the Victorian Childhood Cancer Outcomes Registry Belinda Zambello, Victorian Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service | ||
| 11:45-12:00 | Applying Lean Principles in Health Information Management: a Case Study of Optimising a Health Records Scanning Service Kathleen Rogers, HIMAA | Clinical Update 2 Advanced Oncology TherapeuticsProfessor Geraldine O'NeillHead, Children's Cancer Research Unit, The Children's Hospital at WestmeadConjoint Professor, University of Sydney | |
| 12:00-12:15 | Victorian MH ABF Rollout: a HIM’s Role in the Multi-disciplinary Approach to Funding Changes Across the Admitted and Community Mental Health Landscape Emma George, Barwon Health | ||
| 12:15-12:30 | Q&A | ||
| 12:30-13:30 | Lunch & Poster Display | ||
| 12:30-13:30 |  Beamtree Lunchtime Symposium | ||
| 13:30-15:00 | CONCURRENT SESSION 4 | ||
| Health Information Management Stream — Chaired by | Clinical Update Session 2 — Chaired by Andrew Wooding | ||
| Room | Room | ||
| 13:30-13:45 | Designing a Multi-jurisdictional Cancer Registry: a Collaborative National Approach to Modernising Data, Architecture and Practice in Cancer Data Dwayne Richards, Cancer Council Victoria | Clinical Update 3 PaediatricsDr Nicholas Fancourt, Staff Specialist Paediatrician, The Children’s Hospital Westmead, and Senior Lecturer, The University of Sydney | |
| 13:45-14:00 | Strengthening National Public Health Intelligence: Scaling Classifications and Terminologies for CDC Reporting Chris Moser, Australian Centre for Disease Control | ||
| 14:00 -14:15 | National Data Harmonisation for the Multi-jurisdictional Cancer Registry Kelli Anderson, Victorian Cancer Registry | ||
| 14:15-14:30 | Synthetic Data Governance: Challenges and Opportunities Selina Li, Department of Health WA | Clinical Update 4 Hypertension and Blood Pressure MonitoringDean Picone, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Sydney | |
| 14:30-14:45 | Getting to “Yes” on Digital Change: AaHIM‑Led Method for Using Small Wins to Earn Executive Trust Nicholas Caruana, Northern Health & Aaron Woods, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne | ||
| 14:45-15:00 | Q&A | ||
| 15:00-15:30 | Afternoon Tea | ||
| 15:30-17:00 | CONCURRENT SESSION 5 | ||
Workshop A — Room Workshop B — Room Workshop C — Room | |||
AI and Technology Transparency Obligations: Navigating Privacy in the AI Era Fiona Chui & Chelsea Gordon, Minter Ellison ICD 11 in Practice: Preparing for the Next Generation of Coding Filippa Pretty, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Have You Ever Walked Away from a Record and Thought… “That Was a Tough One?” — Exploring the Human Side of Working with Health Data Melanie Tassos, La Trobe University | |||
| 19:00 | Conference DinnerTheme: Bridges of ConnectionSponsor: and | ||
Wednesday 28 October 2026
HIMAA 2026 Conference Program
| Time |
Stream 1 | Stream 2 | Stream 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Registrations Open | ||
| 08:15 | Guided Breathing, Chair Yoga & Meditation | ||
| 9:00-10:30 | CONCURRENT SESSION 6 | ||
| Health Information Management Stream — Chaired by | Clinical Coding Stream — Chaired by | ||
| Room | Room | ||
| 9:00-9:15 | Shaping Professional Practice: a Normative Framework for HIM Professionals' Contributions to Patient Safety Trixie Kemp, Charles Sturt University | Improving Clinical Coding Quality through Training and Development - Developing a National Program in a Large Private Hospital Provider Tammy Ware, Ramsay Health Services | |
| 9:15-9:30 | Are HIM Students Ready for the Future Workforce? The Perspectives of those Who Supervise Student Placements Natasha Prasad, La Trobe University | A Collaborative Approach to Improve Paediatric Documentation, Coding Accuracy and Acuity Recognition Michelle Tudisco, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network | |
| 9:30-9:45 | Developing a Normative Framework to Support the Sustainability of the Health Information Management Profession in Australia Wei Wang, Charles Sturt University | A Collaborative Approach to Capturing Complexity Through Clinical Documentation and Clinical Coding Gowri Sriraman, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District | |
| 9:45-10:00 | A Documentary Analysis Exploring the Research Competencies and Skills Utilised by Health Information Managers in Their Professional Practice Grant Smith, La Trobe University | TBA | |
| 10:00-10:15 | Why Health Information Management Needs More PhDs: Strengthening the Evidence Base and Building the Future Workforce for a Data-Driven Health System Panel Discussion, University of Sydney | Australian Mental Health Care Classification in Community Settings Tony Kalathil Jose, Women and Newborn Health Service | |
| 10:15-10:30 | Why Health Information Management Needs More PhDs: Strengthening the Evidence Base and Building the Future Workforce for a Data-Driven Health System Panel Discussion, University of Sydney | Connecting Systems, Collaborating Across a Precinct: Delivering the Solventum 360 Encompass Platform to Transform Documentation, Coding and Care Dreda Heard, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | |
| 10:30-11:00 | Morning Tea | ||
| 11:00-12:30 | CONCURRENT SESSION 7 | ||
| Workshop A — Room | |||
| Sharing Safely, Responding Smartly – HIMAA Privacy and Security CoP Sharon Campbell, NT Health & Natasha Prasad, La Trobe University | |||
| 12:30-13:30 | Lunch & Poster Display | ||
| 13:30-15:00 | CLOSING PLENARY SESSION 4 — Plenary Room — Chaired by Cathrine Garvey | ||
| 13:30:13:45 | Recent Research Outcomes in Health Information Management Joan Henderson, Editor, HIMJ | ||
| 13:45-14:00 | HIMAA Update: Growing and Enabling the Health Information Management Workforce Danika Bakalich, Director Workforce Advocacy & Development, HIMAA | ||
| 14:00-14:40 | Panel: The Future Health Information Management Workforce Professor Young-Joo Won, Chair, International Affairs Subcommittee, KAHIME & Vicki Bennett, IFHIMA Immediate Past President & Meegan Snell, International Revenue Cycle Business Director, Solventum & Thea Campbell, President, AHIMA | ||
| 14:40-14:45 |  Conference Awards Catherine Garvey, President, HIMAA | ||
| 14:45-14:50 | Passport Competition Prize Draw Naomi Venturato, Conference Partnerships Manager, HIMAA | ||
| 14:50-15:00 | Conference Close Catherine Garvey, President, HIMAA | ||
| 15:00 - 16:30 | Post-Conference Networking | ||
Health Information Management Association of Australia
- Level 17, Angel Place, 123 Pitt Street, SYDNEY NSW 2000
- 1300 79 20 30
- himaa@conferencenational.com.au
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This event is supported by ConferenceNational.
If you have any questions or require any assistance, please contact:
Phone: 1300 79 20 30
International: +61 2 4201 0447
Office opening hours: 9:00am-5:00pm, Mon-Fri, AEST
