Freedom Wellbeing Institute

The Final Programme is here!

We’re pleased to share the Final Programme for the Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium 2026, taking place in Brisbane on 27–28 August.

This is a deliberately focused and interactive symposium, bringing together researchers, practitioners and leaders to explore emerging research and practice across prevention, Universal Wellbeing, mental health, education and systems change.

Across two days, delegates will have the opportunity not only to hear the research, but to join the discussion, exchange perspectives, connect with presenters and build meaningful professional connections across disciplines.

📅 27–28 August 2026
📍 Novotel Brisbane Airport

Explore the Final Programme, speakers and sessions:
👉 https://www.nzcdi.ac.nz/au-symposium-programme

Registrations are now open, including 50% Student & Research Registration, group registration and one-day attendance options.

Join us in Brisbane this August.

👉 View Programme & Register: https://www.nzcdi.ac.nz/australian-uw-symposium-2026

Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium | Brisbane 2026 — NZCDI The Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium is a two-day, research-led intensive held in Brisbane on 27–28 August 2026. Grounded in Universal Wellbeing research and Implementation Science, the symposium brings together leaders, practitioners, and researchers focused on prevention-first strategy, ...

Our final keynote speaker is confirmed.

We are delighted to welcome Prof Justine Gatt to the Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium 2026, taking place in Brisbane on 27–28 August.

Prof Gatt is Scientific Director of the 18 and Up Study at the Sax Institute and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the UNSW, where she founded and led Australia’s first dedicated research program in the neuroscience of wellbeing and resilience. She is also the founder of Tilt Your Life.

An internationally recognised neuroscientist and mental health researcher, Prof Gatt has more than 25 years’ experience advancing the science of wellbeing, resilience and recovery across the lifespan, and has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed publications.

From Bench to Population to Practice

Her presentation will bring together three interconnected areas: the neurobiological basis of resilience, population-level cohort infrastructure, and the translation of validated science into accessible tools for everyday practice.

Her work includes the development and validation of the COMPAS-W Wellbeing Scale, while the 18 and Up Study provides capacity to investigate mental health and wellbeing longitudinally. Tilt Your Life translates wellbeing neuroscience into personalised, evidence-based activities matched to individual wellbeing profiles.

With our final keynote now announced and the full programme confirmed, we are looking forward to welcoming a select group to Brisbane.

This is not a large-scale conference. The symposium has been intentionally designed as a small, interactive gathering, creating space for discussion, exchange of ideas and meaningful connections between speakers and attendees.

📅 27–28 August 2026

📍 Novotel Brisbane Airport Hotel, Brisbane

Join us around the table for two days of discussion and learning focused on Universal Wellbeing.

Registrations are open. Places are strictly limited.

👉 Register now: https://www.nzcdi.ac.nz/australian-uw-symposium-2026

Are we still open and inclusive of new ideas and innovations?

I recently returned from six weeks of travel overseas and noticed a striking contrast between the openness of people I met abroad and the responses I typically encounter in New Zealand. More people overseas were saying yes to innovations and research than I usually experience here. That prompted me to take stock of the typical responses to new propositions and products in Aotearoa.

Common reactions I hear include:

“Who else is doing it?” — Code for: we prefer to follow rather than try new things, even when evidence supports them.

“We have no budget.” — Code for: an early, reflexive no, offered before any benefit analysis.

“We already have that product/service.” — Code for: we’re not interested in improving or partnering with new providers.

“I’ve never heard of you.” — Code for: we only engage with organisations that do heavy marketing; we won’t investigate unfamiliar propositions.

I began to wonder when and why curiosity and the drive to improve faded in some New Zealand organisations. There seems to be a palpable fear of considering the new. I worry this attitude may also affect young people in our communities—those seeking a break or an opportunity—who may be shut out by the same conservatism.

It is therefore unsurprising that New Zealand continues to struggle with entrenched wellbeing challenges. We have worrying rates of su***de, sexual assault, crime, chronic illness, addiction, family violence, low educational achievement, declining home ownership, and weakening social cohesion. These outcomes point to the urgent need for innovation and a fundamental shift in how we approach wellbeing.

Let’s begin by embracing inclusion, openness, listening, critical thinking, and new ways of working and being with one another.

Reflect on these questions:

How do your people and organisation shut down ideas?

Are you affecting the universal wellbeing of others and our society?

Are you and your organisation truly open?

🎓 50% Student & Research Registration Now Available

The future of prevention, public health and Universal Wellbeing will be shaped by the next generation of researchers, practitioners and leaders.

To support students and emerging researchers, we're pleased to offer 50% off Student & Research Registration for the Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium 2026.

Join leading researchers, educators, health professionals and policymakers for two days of evidence-informed discussions, practical insights and meaningful networking in an intentionally small symposium designed to encourage genuine conversation and collaboration.

Student & Research Registration

NZD $347.50 + GST (Standard: NZD $695 + GST)

Available to:

• Undergraduate and postgraduate students

• Master's and PhD candidates

• Research assistants

• Early career researchers

• Professionals undertaking postgraduate study

📅 27–28 August 2026

📍Novotel Brisbane Airport, Brisbane

Places are limited.

Register today: https://www.freedom-ihe.ac.nz/freedom-wellbeing-store/p/student-research-registration-50-off

💬 The conversations you remember most at a conference usually don't happen on the stage.

They happen over coffee.

During lunch.

After a presentation, when you finally get the chance to ask the question you've been thinking about all session.

✨ That's exactly why we created the Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium.

Rather than bringing together hundreds of delegates, we've designed an experience where meaningful conversations can happen naturally.

🤝 Our presenters don't simply deliver a presentation and leave.

They stay, participate in discussions, answer questions, exchange ideas and connect with attendees throughout the symposium.

Whether you're an educator, psychologist, researcher, health professional, organisational leader or policymaker, you'll have the opportunity to engage directly with the people behind the research, share your own experiences and explore practical approaches to advancing prevention and universal wellbeing.

⭐ Because sometimes the most valuable takeaway isn't another page of notes.

It's a conversation that changes the way you think.

If you're looking for more than just another conference, we'd love to welcome you to Brisbane this August.

📍 Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium

📅 27–28 August 2026

📍 Novotel Brisbane Airport

👉 Register today: https://www.nzcdi.ac.nz/australian-uw-symposium-2026

💬 Monday Testimonial

The best professional development doesn't just expand your knowledge, it changes how you see the people you support.

When Vashanie Naidoo, a Head of Department, completed the Certificate in Universal Wellbeing, she discovered a more comprehensive way of understanding wellbeing and the many factors that influence learning, growth, and human potential.

Reflecting on her experience, Vashanie shared:

"The Universal Wellbeing Model promotes a holistic approach to wellbeing that recognises the interconnectedness of physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual aspects of human health."

She found that the framework strengthened her professional practice by helping her identify where people may be struggling and how to provide more meaningful support.

"Understanding the Universal Wellbeing Model allows me to identify these areas early on and provide more support to create a positive and safe learning environment."

When we understand wellbeing more deeply, we don't just change our practice, we change the experience of the people we serve.

Thank you, Vashanie, for sharing your journey.

Meet one of the minds behind our research.

At the FREEDOM Wellbeing Institute, we're committed to ensuring that everything we share is grounded in research, not trends.

That's why we're excited to feature Professor Kay Fielden, our Research Manager and one of our leading experts in Universal Wellbeing and Mindfulness.

With decades of experience spanning research, business, information technology, and wellbeing science, Professor Fielden has devoted her career to understanding how evidence-based approaches can improve the way people think, work, lead, and live.

Today, we're pleased to release her latest guided practice:

🎥 Mindfulness Exercise: Observe Your Surroundings - https://lnkd.in/eyP-SspT

This simple exercise demonstrates how everyday moments can become powerful opportunities to improve focus, reduce stress, and cultivate greater awareness.

As we continue expanding our library of research-based wellbeing resources, Professor Fielden will be sharing practical mindfulness exercises that transform academic knowledge into real-world practice.

We invite you to watch, experience the exercise for yourself, and share it with someone who could benefit from taking a mindful pause today.

WATCH IT HERE: https://lnkd.in/eyP-SspT

Early Bird Ends Tonight.

Australia's leading wellbeing thinkers are coming together in Brisbane this August.

Researchers. Policymakers. Educators. Health professionals. Community leaders.

If you're passionate about prevention, mental health, education, public health, organisational wellbeing or systems change, this is your opportunity to be part of the conversation.

⏰ Early Bird pricing closes at midnight tonight.

Secure your place and join us in Brisbane.

🔗 Register today: https://www.nzcdi.ac.nz/au-symposium-registration

The 31st International Congress of Applied Psychology brought together leading researchers, practitioners, and thought leaders from across the world to explore the future of psychology and human wellbeing.

We are proud that our Director, Susan Stevenson, participated in this internationally recognised event, including the outstanding Welcome Event, which featured a spectacular opera performance alongside the opportunity to connect with global leaders in applied psychology.

International engagement like this strengthens our commitment to translating world-leading research into practical, prevention-focused approaches that improve wellbeing across communities, education, health, and public policy.

By building relationships with experts from around the world, we continue to bring global perspectives back to Aotearoa New Zealand and contribute to the growing international conversation on prevention and Universal Wellbeing.

The future of healthcare won't be decided in hospitals alone.

It will be shaped by how well we prevent illness before it begins.

That's why we're honoured to welcome Dr Karen Hacker, MD, MPH
as a Keynote Speaker at the Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium 2026.

Former Director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the U.S. Centers For Disease Control CDC Control and Prevention and now an Adjunct Professor at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Dr Hacker has spent decades helping reshape the way public health approaches chronic disease, prevention, and health equity.

Her keynote, "Chronic Disease and Social Needs: Moving Upstream to Prevent Illness," will explore one of the defining questions facing health systems around the world:

How do we stop treating the consequences of poor health and start preventing them?

Drawing on international evidence and practical examples, Dr Hacker will examine the role of social determinants, Community Care Hubs, healthcare innovation, and public policy in creating healthier communities through prevention.

This is more than a keynote.

It's an opportunity to learn from one of the world's leading voices on what it takes to move prevention upstream.

Join us in Brisbane this August.

📍 Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium 2026

🗓️ 27–28 August 2026

📍 Novotel Brisbane Airport

Early Bird registrations close 27 July.

Register now: https://www.nzcdi.ac.nz/au-symposium-registration