New Zealand Injury Information Portal

Injury Information Forum

Date:4 December 2009
Time:8.30am – 4.30pm
Venue:University of Otago Stadium Centre, Westpac Stadium, Waterloo Quay, Wellington
RSVP:Statistics New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand is hosting an Injury Information Forum on 4 December 2009 at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. The forum is free of charge to attend. PLEASE NOTE: REGISTRATIONS HAVE NOW CLOSED. For more information, email us.


The purpose of the Injury Information Forum is to bring together a wide range of stakeholders from across government agencies, non-government agencies, clinicians, and researchers to:

  • share the work that has been progressed over the last year
  • learn about what is happening in injury data collections
  • seek input on our next priorities and longer term goals.


The keynote speaker is Dr Penny Allbon, director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Other speakers include:

  • Cathryn Ashley-Jones (Deputy Government Statistician, Social and Population Statistics, Statistics NZ)
  • Shanthi Ameratunga (University of Auckland)
  • Julie Chambers (Safekids NZ)
  • Grant Christey (Trauma Committee, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons)
  • Carolyn Coggan (Safe Communities Foundation)
  • Colin Cryer (IPRU, University of Otago)
  • Paul Mackay (Business New Zealand)

pdf icon.  Programme (last updated 27 November 2009, PDF, 1 page, 84kb)

pdf icon.  University of Otago Stadium Centre – directions and map ( PDF, 1 page, 100kb)


This forum is being held in conjunction with the Australasian Mortality Data Interest Group (AMDIG) meeting on 2–3 December (also in Wellington). The theme for the AMDIG meeting is external causes of death.

Information about guest speakers

Penny Allbon

Dr Penny Allbon, Director, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Penny Allbon has been Director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare since February 2006. She has over twenty years of experience in government, at both Federal and Territory levels and within the financial, health and welfare arenas, including the position of Chief Executive of ACT Health.

Penny has a particular interest in translating the needs of policy makers into relevant data analysis and ensuring that data is user-friendly and timely. She has also run her own consultancy, working with government in various Pacific Islands.

Shanthi Ameratunga

 Associate Professor Shanthi Ameratunga, School of Population Health, University of Auckland.  Associate Professor Shanthi Ameratunga directs a research program in injury and trauma research based at the School of Population Health, University of Auckland. A paediatrician and epidemiologist by background, she has particular interests in data, research methodologies, and inter-sectoral collaborations that enable the best outcomes for injury prevention and control across the continuum of care. She has been the Deputy Head of the School of Population Health this year, and also directs a research program on traffic injury prevention in the Pacific.

Cathryn Ashley-Jones

Cathryn Ashley-Jones, Deputy Government Statistician, Social and Population Statistics Cathryn is the Deputy Government Statistician at Statistics New Zealand and is responsible for the Social and Population Statistics portfolio. This portfolio includes the leadership of the Population Census and an expanding new Programme of Official Social Statistics which is a ten year whole-of-government programme for the development of social statistics. Cathryn joined Statistics New Zealand in 2004, following a number of years in senior management in government. This began in the New Zealand Treasury, working on resource law reforms, financial management issues, and Māori grievance settlements. She then moved to the Ministry of Health and led the strategic advice on long term funding and health services policy issues. In 2000 Cathryn transferred to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where she advised the Prime Minister on health policy issues.

Cathryn began her career in independent economic research companies, undertaking a range of public and private sector economic research and forecasting work. Cathryn has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics/Statistics and Honours in Economics from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Julie Chambers

Julie Chambers, Safekids New Zealand

Julie Chambers is the Safekids New Zealand Senior Policy Analyst. Julie has a Masters in Public Policy (Victoria University of Wellington) and has presented on Child Safety at national and international conferences.

Trained as a nurse and midwife, Julie has worked in hospital intensive care units, both in New Zealand and Australia and lectured in nursing studies at the Auckland University of Technology.

Julie’s other work experience includes working as a consultant in training and team development, managing a not-for-profit training organisation and holding the role of a local government elected representative over nine years, including a four year appointment as a planning commissioner.

Grant Christey

Grant Christey, Trauma Committee, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Grant trained in New Zealand as a general surgeon and has a strong and long-standing interest in general surgery and trauma. He completed a trauma fellowship at Auckland Hospital followed by appointment as conjoint Trauma and General Surgeon at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney and Lecturer in Surgery at the University of New South Wales. Grant is currently a General and Trauma Surgeon and Director of Trauma at Waikato Hospital, and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Surgery at Waikato Clinical School.

Grant is involved in many facets of trauma education and research and continues to teach the broader topic of general surgery. He has special interests in liver resectional surgery, abdominal compartment syndrome, management of complex abdomino-pelvic wounds and disaster preparedness. Grant is currently focused on development of the Waikato Hospital Trauma Service and Midland Regional Trauma System. In all areas of his practice he is dedicated to providing patient-focussed care of the highest quality.

Carolyn Coggan

Director, Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand (SCFNZ).

Colin Cryer

Colin Cryer, Injury Prevention Research Unit, University of Otago

Colin is the surveillance ‘area coordinator’ at the Injury Prevention Research Unit, University of Otago, New Zealand. He trained in statistics originally, and taught biostatistics at the Wellington School of Medicine during the 1980s.

His current research is aimed at improving the validity of indicators and surveillance methods. With John Langley and other colleagues, in 2004 they developed valid national indicators for monitoring progress in injury prevention within New Zealand. These were accepted, and are being used, by the government. They continue to produce chartbooks based on these indicators for the whole population, as well as for children and for Māori.

Paul Mackay

 Paul Mackay, Business NZ Paul has extensive high-level experience in the fields of labour market policy, employment law, strategic planning, change management, human resources and industrial relations in government, state owned enterprise and the private sector. In the mid to late 1980s, working with the State Services Commission, he was extensively involved in the huge reforms of the environmental sector, public service and the education service. He spent the early 1990s in the rapidly reforming electricity sector before joining Ernst & Young as a change management consultant in 1996. In 1997 he was recruited to multinational forest products company Carter Holt Harvey where he was General Manager Employment Relations before joining Business New Zealand in January 2006. Since joining Business New Zealand, Paul has, on a number of a occasions, represented New Zealand employers at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), as well as acting as spokesperson for the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) on topics as diverse as decent work and climate change.