Violet Vines Marshman Oration

The Violet Vines Marshman Oration is an annual event designed to engage people in discussion about rural health and wellbeing.

Orators are chosen for their expertise in areas that impact rural communities and for their ability to inspire people at all levels.

Consistent with the philosophy of the Centre, the Oration is not focused on a purely academic audience. Rather, it is a community celebration of rural Australia where guests are informed about rural health and social issues, and encouraged to think about how they can contribute to meaningful change.

2019: Professor Patrick McGorry AO

Although quality of life in Australia is above the OECD average in terms of health, wealth and education, almost half of all Australians will experience a mental health condition at some time in their lives. In Victoria, mental health problems and mental illnesses are one of the major causes of poor health. Professor Patrick McGorry AO explored the causes, prevention and recovery of this pandemic.

Professor Patrick McGorry is the Executive Director of Orygen, Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, and a Founding Director of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation (headspace). He is a world-leading researcher in the area of early psychosis and youth mental health, and has been directly involved in research and clinical care for homeless people, refugees and asylum seekers. Professor McGorry has published extensively in the specialist literature and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Early Intervention in Psychiatry. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science. He is current President of the International Association of Youth Mental Health and past President of the Society for Mental Health Research (2013-17) and the Schizophrenia International Research Society (2016-18).

2018: Emeritus Professor Stephen Duckett

The antecedents of the poor Indigenous health status reflects the dispossession of prior generations and are not going to be addressed quickly or simply. The solutions include putting more authority into the hands of Indigenous communities to manage their own health services, to set their own priorities and to work in culturally appropriate ways. Professor Duckett explored the complex interaction of factors involved in the creation of health and disease, including the social and cultural context, the family environment, and the physical environment.

Emeritus Professor Stephen Duckett is Health Program Director at the Grattan Institute. He has a reputation for creativity, evidence-based innovation and reform in areas ranging from the introduction of activity-based funding for hospitals, to new systems of accountability for the safety of hospital care. From 1996-2006 he was Dean of the then Faculty of Health Sciences at La Trobe University, and a Pro Vice-Chancellor for much of that period. He was appointed an Emeritus Professor of the University in 2014. An economist, he is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.