What's happening in the ACT?

Upcoming events

2026 Art of Anaesthesia ACE Meeting

On behalf of ACE, we warmly welcome you to this year's ACT Art of Anaesthesia meeting. Anaesthesia is at a crossroads. We are caring for an increasingly older and more medically complex population while offering surgery to patients who, in the past, would never have been considered suitable candidates. How do we balance the needs of the individual with those of the wider population? 

This year's meeting “Where we are, where we've come from, and where we're going” provides an opportunity to reflect on this evolution and consider the future of our specialty. Our program will take a multidisciplinary approach to these challenges, highlighting how anaesthetists can apply the principle of justice within our departments and healthcare systems. We will explore how advances in surgical techniques are creating new opportunities for meaningful recovery in higher-risk patients, and how emerging technologies and predictive tools can help identify who is most likely to thrive after surgery and who may require more intensive perioperative support. We will also discuss how anaesthetists can contribute more broadly within the multidisciplinary team to optimise patient care, improve perioperative pathways, and allocate resources more effectively to enhance efficiency and outcomes. 

The program has been designed to support annual CPD requirements, incorporating emergency response activities and practice evaluation sessions throughout the day. We look forward to welcoming you to Art of Anaesthesia 2026.

Dr Nik Kuruvilla and Dr Jess Gray, Co-convenors.

The Franklin River Rescue: teamwork and trust in wild Tasmania

In November 2024, an expert Lithuanian rafter became entrapped in swiftly moving water in one of the wildest and most remote rivers of the world. The rescue effort quickly escalated in scale and complexity to become one of the most complicated and challenging in Tasmania’s history. Hundreds of people and many agencies worked together to get Valdas Bieliauskas out alive before the river levels rose or hypothermia claimed his life. More than 20 hours later the only remaining option involved an underwater amputation and a race against the clock to extract a critically unwell man in cardiac arrest from one of the remotest corners of the planet. 

A story about Valdas, the rescue, the people, the teamwork and what could possibly go wrong in this scenario. Join us to hear Dr Jo Kippax recount this incredible rescue.