Welcome to Day One RMA25 Plenary
| Thursday, October 23, 2025 |
| 8:15 AM - 10:00 AM |
| Crown Ballroom 1 & 2 |
Details
Welcome to Day One Opening Plenary I Dr Norman Swan
Official Opening | Dr Rod Martin
Politician Address I Minister Meredith Hammat, WA Minister for Health and Mental Health and the Member for Girrawheen
RDAA President Address I Dr Raymond RT Lewandowski
Politician Address I Sam Birrell MP
Opening Keynote Address: Doctors for Bricks: Why Housing Justice is Every Doctor’s Business I Dr Simon Quilty
Keynote Address: Water, Heavy Metals and Tooth Fairies in the Desert | Dr Christine Jeffries-Stokes and Annette Stokes
Speaker
Meredith Hammat
Minister for Health and Mental Health
Politician Address
Biography
Meredith Hammat is the Minister for Health and Mental Health, and the Member for Girrawheen.
Meredith was elected to the Parliament of Western Australia in 2021.
She was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education; Aboriginal Affairs; Citizenship and Multicultural Interests in 2022. In 2023, she was additionally made the Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier; Treasurer; Minister for Transport and Tourism.
Prior to entering Parliament, Meredith served on the panel of experts that wrote the Sustainable Health Review, which has informed many changes to the health system and remains the blueprint for the future.
Meredith spent more than 20 years advocating for working people in various roles in the union movement including serving as President and later Secretary of UnionsWA between 2008 and 2020.
She grew up on a farm near Broomehill in regional WA and is committed to improving health access for regional and remote communities across Western Australia.
Meredith has held a number of positions on Boards and Government advisory committees, including the State Training Board, My Leave (the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Fund), and Triathlon WA.
Sam Birrell MP
Member for Nicholls
Politician Address
Biography
Sam Birrell MP, member of the Health, Aged Care and Disability committee, and the deputy chair for the standing committee on education.
Dr Simon Quilty
Chief Operating Officer
Wilya Janta
Opening Plenary: Doctors for Bricks: Why Housing Justice is Every Doctor’s Business
9:03 AM - 9:28 AMBiography
After decades treating the downstream effects of poverty and heat in remote NT clinics, Simon came to a blazing realisation: it’s not just the patient, it’s the home. This epiphany for Simon and his best mate Norman Frank Jupurrurla sparked Wilya Janta, a housing innovation project rooted in Aboriginal knowledge, community design, and the unshakable belief that health begins with culturally safe, climate-proof homes.
A long-time NT remote doctor with a background in engineering and health policy, Simon now splits his time between writing grants, wrangling funding bodies, and championing a future where doctors don’t just treat illness—they help build the damn houses.
At RMA '25, he’ll be explaining Doctors for Bricks and how RDAA helped kick it off, a rogue movement to rally the medical profession around housing justice. When he’s not founding campaigns or fixing the spacebar on hislaptop, you’ll find Simon listening to Warumungu Elders, writing papers about heat and mortality, or chasing a mud brick machine through the desert.
Dr Christine Jeffries-Stokes
Heavy Metal Tooth Fairy Project
Plenary: Water, Heavy Metals and Tooth Fairies in the Desert
9:30 AM - 9:55 AMAbstract Overview
The Western Desert Kidney Health Project revealed no difference in the prevalence of risk factors for renal disease and diabetes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children living in remote areas and much less difference than expected between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adults. The results suggested a toxic exposure might be the common factor.
The natural environment in Australia is rich in minerals and this may contribute to exposure to environmental toxins. Drinking water in most remote towns and communities across Australia is supplied by groundwater that is commonly naturally elevated in contaminants at concentrations above drinking water safety guidelines (for example nitrate, heavy metals).
The Heavy Metal Tooth Fairy Project is an observational study that will analyse deciduous teeth from children from remote area (125 children from the towns and communities in the Goldfields and Central Desert) and from Perth (125 children from the ORIGINS Project) for heavy metal exposures. The children and families will provide a family history of where they have lived to identify areas of potential exposure.
The Project will engage school children in a citizen science project to evaluate drinking water quality and environmental dust to identify and map problems with drinking water contamination and environmental exposures.
The natural environment in Australia is rich in minerals and this may contribute to exposure to environmental toxins. Drinking water in most remote towns and communities across Australia is supplied by groundwater that is commonly naturally elevated in contaminants at concentrations above drinking water safety guidelines (for example nitrate, heavy metals).
The Heavy Metal Tooth Fairy Project is an observational study that will analyse deciduous teeth from children from remote area (125 children from the towns and communities in the Goldfields and Central Desert) and from Perth (125 children from the ORIGINS Project) for heavy metal exposures. The children and families will provide a family history of where they have lived to identify areas of potential exposure.
The Project will engage school children in a citizen science project to evaluate drinking water quality and environmental dust to identify and map problems with drinking water contamination and environmental exposures.
Biography
Dr Jeffries-Stokes AM is a Paediatrician who has been working in clinical practice and research in the Goldfields of Western Australia for more than 30 years. She has been working with the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia since it began. She has a PhD and a Masters in Public Health. She is Chief Investigator for the Western Desert Kidney Health Project, which has demonstrated new and innovative methods of community engagement. She has a strong record of collaborative research with the Aboriginal community and has established strong community networks. In 2024 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia.
Annette Stokes AM
Heavy Metal Tooth Fairy Project
Plenary: Water, Heavy Metals and Tooth Fairies in the Desert
9:30 AM - 9:55 AMBiography
Annette is a senior Wongutha and Ngadju woman of the Goldfields. Her father’s people are from the northern Goldfield and her mother’s people are from the southern Goldfield which made it easy for her to be able to go freely across the Goldfield. She spent Her early life around the Goldfields with her family, learning the language and culture of her people. She has a background in early childhood education and completed Aboriginal health worker training. She have been involved in several major health and research projects in the Goldfields region and her contribution to medicine was recognised in 2005 when she was awarded the Fiona Stanley medal and in 2017 when she was made a Member of the Order of Australia. In 2024 Annette was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Western Australia. Annette has combined all her amazing talents as a chief investigator for the Western Desert Kidney Health Project and the Heavy Metal Tooth Fairy Project.
