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27th Governor of Queensland Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM

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Official Opening ICMM 45th World Congress

Secretary General, ICMM, Lieutenant General Pierre Neirinckx MD [pron. Near-nink]; Australian Defence Force Chief of Personnel, Lieutenant General Natasha Fox AO CSC; Surgeon General, Australian Defence Force and Commander Joint Health, Incoming Chair, Rear Admiral Sonya Bennett AM RAN; members of the Australian Defence Force and all military medical personnel; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I also thank Tribal Experiences for the warm welcome they have extended to participants in this Congress, and pay my own respects to Jagera and Turrbal Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people with us this afternoon.

Conflict, regrettably, is fundamental to the human condition, and while it may have produced countless deaths and immeasurable injury and distress, it has led to one very positive and important outcome – the emergence of the discipline of military medicine.

It is a discipline that has now had a profound impact on societies around the world for millennia.

Here in Australia, for instance, for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, our Indigenous peoples used native plants with antiseptic qualities to treat spear wounds and other battle injuries; in Ancient Greece, the physician Hippocrates outlined the first systematic approach to battlefield injuries; and the Romans, 2,000 years ago, developed a highly advanced system of field hospitals as well as sophisticated surgical techniques.

The Crusades of the Middle Ages and 19th century conflicts such as the Napoleonic wars and the American Civil War enabled doctors, surgeons and other health professionals to build on that knowledge, but it has been the scale of conflict and the severity of injuries in the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries that have brought us to where we are today, with military medicine as one of the most valued and influential fields of medical practice and research.

Since it was founded in 1921, the International Committee of Military Medicine has played a pivotal role in building that reputation by fostering collaborative research, promoting humanitarian medical practices within the military context, and by sharing knowledge and experience among military medical services globally.

Today, the Committee not only enhances battlefield medical care and rehabilitation but enables nations to better address challenges such as pandemics, disaster relief, disease prevention, and the provision of mental health support for military personnel.

It’s a long and proud record, and the importance of the Committee, its courses and congresses in shaping global health will continue to grow.

As a medical practitioner and former Chief Health Officer, I know the immense personal and professional value that a gathering like this can bring, but I also know that, in this case, it enables you, together, to demonstrate that dialogue between nations is not only possible but is an indispensable tool in the quest for peace.

It is with that expression of hope in the future that I now declare open the 45th Congress of the International Committee of Military Medicine. Enjoy the Congress!