CONFERENCE POSTPONED – WATCH THIS SPACE
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the association has decided to postpone the AABHL conference from November 2020 to the 18 – 20 November 2021.
The meeting location and venue will remain the same. Please click here to sign up to the conference mailing list for further updates.
Preliminary Announcement
On behalf of the organising committee it is our pleasure to invite you to the Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law (AABHL) conference at Hobart Function and Conference Centre, Tasmania from the 18th to the 20th November 2021.
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Bek McWhirter & Lisa Eckstein Conference Co-Convenors

Conference Theme
The Stories We Tell: The Use of Fictions and Narratives in Bioethics and Health Law
Stories provide a key part of the human experience. The conference will explore the role of stories in all their guises in the development, understanding, and enforcement of bioethics and health law. Stories can provide us with context for case-based reasoning, along with a means for testing traditionally held legal and bioethical assumptions. Narratives can form a basis for empirical bioethical methodology. The way we present information to patients, research participants, and members of the public can shape their choices. We are seeking abstracts on the link between storytelling and bioethics and health law, including (but not limited to):
- Legal and bioethical fictions
- Scenario- and case-based reasoning
- Narrative bioethics
- Indigenous storytelling as a tool for bioethics
- Fiction/creative arts and bioethics
Confirmed Speakers:
- The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG
- Kate and Mandy, Too Peas in a Podcast
- Dr Ros McDougall, University of Melbourne
- Dr Kalinda Griffiths, University of New South Wales
- Prof. Fran McInerney, University of Tasmania
- A/Prof. Jon Merz, Penn Medical Ethics & Health Policy
Who Should Attend
This conference is targeted to academics and practitioners from the following professions and disciplines:
- All aspects of healthcare
- Policy development
- Medico-legal
- Education
- Ethics/Philosophy
- Research
Venue
Hobart Function and Conference Centre
1 Elizabeth Street Pier, Hobart TAS 7000
Hobart’s Function and Conference Centre enjoys a waterfront location like no other, situated as it is on Elizabeth Street Pier, spanning 100m out over the sparkling water of the Derwent, the centerpiece of Hobart’s bustling waterfront community.
