ANZAPS 2016 Conference October 28-30 Western Sydney University

The School of Social Sciences and Psychology at the Western Sydney University cordially invites you to join the annual ANZAPS conference in Sydney on October 28-30 2016. The school will host the conference at the historic Female Orphan School at WSU Parramatta Campus. The Orphan School is the oldest three story brick building in Australia. The building was recently and tastefully restored. Whitlam Museum is housed in this building. Gough Whitlam campaigned actively to establish a university in western Sydney and remained a very close friend of WSU until his death. Located on the banks of Parramatta River with beautifully restored old and blended in new buildings the campus is an excellent location for the conference. The conference theme for ANZAPS 2016 is:

“Planning Education and Research for Planning and Planners of Tomorrow”

Planning reforms in Australia have major implications for planning education, research and practice. Increasingly development assessment aspect of planning is becoming speedy, automated and privatized. Community engagement in planning is weakening. Council mergers are taking place. Local strategic planning is getting replaced by metro and state planning endeavours. All of these developments point to reduced need for planners produced by planning education in Australia today. Planners of tomorrow will perhaps need very different skill sets. Research and discussions on where planning is headed and what transformation planning education needs would be timely.

Registration for ANZAPS 2016 is now open at www.uws.edu.au/ANZAP2016 . We have also organised for a conference accommodation deal at a nearby hotel, Rydges Parramatta. Details on how to book can be found on the webpage. A shuttle service will also be provided from the hotel to the Western Sydney University campus and back each day.

For any inquiries about the 2016 conference please contact Awais Piracha a.piracha@westernsydney.edu.au