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The J.O. & J.R. Wicking Trust seeks to support organisations that are well placed to affect systemic change in the wellness and quality of life of the aged and/or those with, or at risk of, Alzheimer’s disease.

Each year the Wicking Trust hosts a symposium to bring together researchers, policy makers and practitioners across the aged care and dementia sectors to canvas issues of interest,  innovation and best practice, and the broad research and policy landscape.

Read these reports on the three panel sessions at the 2019 Wicking Trust Symposium, held at Vision Australia in Melbourne on 12 November 2019.

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The three panel discussions were:

Panel 1: Older women as agents of their own well-being

Article: Writing a new script for women who are ageing

Moderator:
  • Amanda Wilson, a member of the Wicking Strategic Review Panel and the NSW Board of the Medical Board of Australia, a strategic communications consultant and a former Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.
Panellists:
  • Dr Jenny Onyx, Emeritus Professor of Community Management in the Business School at the University Technology Sydney (UTS).
  • Ms Trees McCormick, retired educator in schools, tertiary colleges and university.
  • Associate Professor Amy Brodtmann, a stroke and cognitive neurologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Austin Health, and Eastern Health, clinician-researcher at the Florey Institute, and a member of the Wicking Strategic Review Panel. 

Panel  2: Updating the policy and research landscape

Article: Time of transition looms in dementia research, policy and practice

Moderator:
  • Ian Hardy AM, Chair of the Wicking Strategic Review Panel, founding Chair of the Aged Care Workforce Industry Council and the former CEO of South Australian aged care provider Helping Hand.

Panellists:

  • Jo Mond, Assistant Secretary, Dementia and Supported Ageing Branch at Australian Department of Health.
  • Janice Besch, Director of NHMRC National Institute of Dementia Research (NNIDR).
  • Professor Colin Masters AO, laureate professor of pathology at the University of Melbourne, and a member of the Wicking Strategic Review Panel.

Panel 3: Ruminations in an age of outrage

Article: Imagining a safer better aged care system

Moderator: 
  • Conjoint Associate Professor Colm Cunningham, a member of the Wicking Strategic Review Panel, Director of the Dementia Centre at HammondCare, and a Conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW’s School of Public Health and Community Medicine.
Panellists:
  • Meredith Gresham, currently co-ordinating an international study on improving dementia diagnosis and post diagnostic support at the University of NSW and consulting to HammondCare after many years as its Head of Design and Research.
  • Associate Professor Stephen MacFarlane, Head of Clinical Services at The Dementia Centre, HammondCare and Chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry’s (RANZCP) Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age.

Philanthropy has the ability to make real and measurable differences to causes and people. A collective effort can make real and lasting impact.

A stunning example of this is demonstrated through the legacy of John and Janet Wicking. After a vibrant lifetime of partnership and generosity, they left behind the J.O. & J.R. Wicking Trust. It was established in 2002 and is now one of Australia’s most significant charitable trusts distributing around $4 million annually. Through its major grants program the Trust aims to achieve systemic change in the areas of ageing and Alzheimer's disease, and also enjoys well-established partnerships with Vision Australia and the O'Brien Foundation (formerly the Microsurgery Foundation).

The Wicking Symposium is a part of the Trust’s contribution to actively supporting the collaborative search for answers to the issues and challenges facing ageing Australians and those with Alzheimer’s disease to age well and die well. The Wicking Trust’s approach to achieving this change has evolved over time and continues to evolve.

As Australia’s leading trustee company, Equity Trustees is proud to manage the Wicking Trust and promote the work it supports.

Equity Trustees is a specialist in philanthropy as trustee to more than 250 individual philanthropic families/clients on their structured giving, and trusted advisor and manager of more than 650 charitable trusts and foundations, granting more than $80 million annually to the for-purpose sector.

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