The Scientific Committee invites you to submit abstracts now for oral presentations, scientific posters, demonstration posters, instructional workshops, breakfast seminars and PhD platforms. We encourage multi-centre, multi-country submissions from both high and lower resource settings.
To accommodate a hybrid conference format, all presenters are asked to consider how best to engage with both virtual and in-person attendees within their sessions to ensure an effective learning opportunity is provided. This is particularly important for breakfast seminars and instructional workshops.
Conference policy reminders:
- Abstracts that have been presented at other meetings may be submitted if they have not been published as a full research paper.
- Abstracts accepted must be unbiased and free of conflicts of interest.
- Abstracts will be non‐promotional in nature and without commercial bias. Abstracts that are written in a manner that promotes a company, service, or product will not be considered.
Expectations of abstract submissions:
- Each author listed on the abstract is required to complete a Financial Disclosure, which will be found in the “Presenters and Authors” section of the submission site.
- Abstracts should be submitted in English in “people-first” language and avoid potentially pejorative terms, such as “wheel-chair bound”, “afflicted”, or any other terms that may be deemed insensitive to persons with disabilities.
- It is expected that all research involving human subjects or animals has been approved by the appropriate ethical review committee.
- Abstracts may not be submitted if they have been published as a full research paper at the time of submission.
- All presenters of accepted abstracts are required to register for the Annual Meeting (either in person or virtual). Fees are not reduced or waived for presenters.
The deadline for submission is: 23:59 (AEST) Friday 17 October 2025.
Submissions will be accepted for oral presentations, scientific posters, demonstration posters, instructional workshops, breakfast seminars and PhD platforms.
The AusACPDM welcomes abstracts that address all childhood onset disabilities, including, but not limited to, cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, spina bifida, rare diseases and movement disorders. We welcome submissions under the following themes:
Themes
- Adults and transitional care
- Best practice interventions
- Communication
- Consumer engagement and social policy
- Epidemiology, aetiology and causal mechanisms
- Equity and sustainability
- Innovations and new technologies
- Measurement and outcomes
- Mental health and well-being
- Nutrition and feeding
- Orthopaedics, muscle and bone health
- Other
- Participation, physical activity and fitness
- Preclinical and neuroprotection
- Reimaging service delivery including cultural and resource considerations
We encourage abstract submissions to highlight consumer involvement and inclusive research practices.
Members of the AusACPDM 2026 Scientific Program Committee will review the abstracts, blinded to the names of the authors and institutions affiliated with the submission. Presentations will be selected on the basis of their quality, relevance and impact determined by review of the research question or hypothesis, study design, methodology, conclusionsand importance as described in the abstract. Student status of the author will not affect the abstract submission type or the grading of the abstract.
Presentation Types
The Scientific Program Committee determines the presentation format of scientific presentations after review and selection. In order to make fair comparisons of the quality of submitted abstracts across a wide spectrum of disciplines, it is imperative that the format of a structured abstract be followed. A strict 400 word count will be imposed on the length of the body of the abstract. Please follow the templates provided to ensure consistency for inclusion in the program App and for publication of oral presentations in the Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (DMCN) Journal supplement.
The presentation types available are, also linked to their individual templates with specific guidelines:
⚠️ The templates are saved inGoogle Docs.Please make a copy or download it before using it.
Breakfast Seminars
These are 60-minute interactive sessions and should include approximately 40 minutes for presentation of material and 15 to 20 minutes of interactive discussion with attendees. Attendance is limited to encourage audience participation.
A maximum of 4 presenters will be accepted for breakfast seminars.
Content should be current, evidence based, practical, applicable and provide a balanced perspective.
Please consider audience participation in the schedule. In addition, prepare questions to encourage participation in the interactive portion of your session.
Instructional Workshops
An instructional workshop is 60 to 90 mins in length providing formal, in-depth instruction for continuing professional education combined with audience participation and interaction.
Content should be current, evidence-based, practical, applicable to the AusACPDM audience and provide a balanced perspective. Where appropriate, indicate the extent to which the session is based on research evidence or clinical experience in the course description.
The most positively evaluated courses are those which encourage audience participation in a variety of ways throughout the session. Preference will be given to courses that plan for audience participation.
Careful consideration should be given to the number of presenters. Involvement of two or three presenters is highly recommended, as having too many presenters often results in loss of continuity and excess use of time.
Handouts are preferred for any accepted abstract for Instructional Courses. Handouts submitted electronically prior to the meeting will be included on the AusACPDM website. (Prior permission must be obtained to duplicate copyrighted materials.) Additional instructions for submitting handouts will be sent to accepted presenters and posted on the AusACPDM website.
Scientific Posters
Scientific Poster presenters will be given the option to submit their poster in two formats. All will be submitted electronically and can be viewed through the conference App. This is required so that virtual attendees can view the posters. Poster presenters can also opt to have a traditional mountable poster (to be displayed on a bulletin board during the meeting). Sustainable options for printed posters will be provided to authors of accepted abstracts. ePosters will also be posted on the AusACPDM website for 2 months after the Annual Meeting. Please note that Poster abstracts will not be published in the Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (DMCN) supplement.
Demonstration Posters
Demonstration Poster presenters will be given the option to submit their poster in two formats. All will be submitted electronically and can be viewed through the conference App. This is required so that virtual attendees can view the posters. Poster presenters can also opt to have a traditional mountable poster (to be displayed on a bulletin board during the meeting). Sustainable options for printed posters will be provided to authors of accepted abstracts. ePosters will also be posted on the AusACPDM website for 2 months after the Annual Meeting.
The purpose of a Demonstration Poster is to showcase emerging ideas, generate discussion regarding service delivery models, highlight novel techniques and technologies, and/or advocacy efforts pertaining to the care of people with childhood-onset disabilities. Demonstration Posters can be used to highlight an upcoming funded clinical study (i.e. study protocol) but abstracts that describe data analyses and results must be submitted as a Scientific Presentation. In addition, reviews (i.e., systematic, scoping, umbrella) and meta-syntheses must be submitted as scientific presentations. Abstracts that are clearly more appropriate for scientific presentations will not be considered for a demonstration poster. The Demonstration Posters will be fully recognized in the program; however, please note that these abstracts will not be published in the Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (DMCN) supplement.
The following criteria will be used to judge Demonstration Poster abstracts:
- Innovation
- Potential to impact research and/or clinical practice in childhood-onset disability
- Freedom from commercial bias
- Safety
Oral Presentations
Oral presentations are 7-minute scientific paper presentations followed by a joint Q and A with other presenters in the session immediately after the presentation of that block of Oral Presentations. . The presentation can be given in-person, or virtually live.
Please note: Individuals may present a maximum of two oral presentations. This includes papers presented on behalf of first authors who are unable to attend the meeting.
PhD Platform Presentations
PhD platforms are prestigious presentations in the program. They showcase the research that doctoral students have undertaken during their PhD. The presentation may include 2-3 papers on their research topic linked to highlight the body of new knowledge acquired during their PhD candidature. PhD candidates with submitted or awarded PhDs in the 2 years between each AusACPDM conference are invited to apply. Applications are reviewed and scored by the Scientific Committee. Two awards will be made, based on excellence and relevance to the Conference.
Format and Budget: Each PhD platform speaker is invited to give a plenary address of 20 minutes. The successful PhD platforms will receive full complimentary registration, economy airfares between home city and Hobart, and three nights’ accommodation at the conference speaker dedicated hotel.
To be eligible to present a PhD Platform at the 2026 AusACPDM conference, PhD candidates must:
- Be a member of the AusACPDM
- Submit proof and date of PhD completion including month and year (must be between July 2024 – March 2026). Completion is defined as submitted for examination or awarded.
- Complete the PhD Platform nomination form, including a full Academic CV – as part of one Word document file that is then submitted via the online presentation portal.