Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we will gather, beautiful Walyalup (Fremantle). We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded; this always was and always will be Whadjuk Boodja. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across this vast country and to Māori, Pasifika, and all First Nations people who we warmly invite to APSAD 2026.

This is Whadjuk country, where the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River) meets the ocean, and stories of creation are carried on the sea breeze. Boorloo (Perth) is the longest city on the planet, a wide urban sprawl stretched along a coastline of brilliant white coral-sand beaches. From this city, our minds and hearts turn outward across the Wheat Belt plains, through great forests of the South West and along the rugged south coast, then up through the million square kilometres of the Western Deserts and into the red earth pindan of the Pilbara and the mangrove coasts and ancient stone country of the Kimberley. Western Australia spans more than a third of this continent. It holds stories across more than 80 Aboriginal language groups, each carrying deep cultural knowledge, law, and connection to Country that has sustained people for tens of thousands of years.

Theme: Storytelling as Healing

This year’s conference theme, Storytelling Shapes Us: Community, Clinical Practice, Research, and Healing, foregrounds the critical role of interdisciplinary knowledge exchange in advancing alcohol and other drug (AOD) research, policy, and practice. The program emphasises methodological rigour, scientific integrity, and the translation of evidence into effective clinical and community outcomes.

Within this framework, storytelling is positioned not as an alternative to science, but as a complementary mode of knowledge that can enhance the interpretation, communication, and application of evidence. This includes First Nations ways of knowing, being, and doing, which offer important contributions to culturally informed and contextually responsive research and practice.

APSAD invites researchers, clinicians, policy-makers, and community practitioners to contribute to a program that prioritises high quality empirical research, critical scholarship, and innovative policy and practice responses. Alongside this, the conference will create space for lived and living experience to inform and strengthen evidence informed approaches.

The conference remains firmly grounded in scientific excellence while fostering inclusive, respectful dialogue across diverse knowledge systems. In doing so, APSAD continues its commitment to advancing rigorous research and supporting its application in ways that are ethical, culturally responsive and impactful.

APSAD 2026 Convenors, Whadjuk Noongar Boodja (Perth, Western Australia)