About AWMA – History

In March 1993, in Perth Western Australia, during the Inaugural Australian Conference on Wound Care, "Turning Wound Care Upside Down" a Steering Committee was convened to oversee the formation of the Australian Wound Management Association (AWMA). The Association was formerly recognised a year later at the Australian International Wound Management Conference, in Melbourne, March 1994.

The Australian Wound Management Association is a multidisciplinary, non-profit association consisting of people who are committed to developing and improving wound management for all individuals through education, research, communication and networks.

The Association has two formal branches, Wound Association of Northern Territory (WANT) and Australian Wound Tissue and Repair Society (AWTRS), and acts as a parent body to the autonomous State/Territory wound management associations in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. There are approximately 3,000 members from the disciplines of nursing, medicine, pharmacy, podiatry, industry and the sciences. The New Zealand Wound Care Society is an affiliate with AWMA. Membership of the association is either through membership of State/Territory Associations or Branches or directly through AWMA. Corporate membership is also welcomed.

Each year the Association endeavours to hold its Annual General Meeting in conjunction with an annual State/Territory Association Conference or major meeting. Every second year the Association holds its own national wound care conference with valuable assistance from the host State/Territory wound care association.

The Australian Journal of Wound Management “Wound Practice and Research” (formerly Primary Intention) is produced and published by the Association four times a year. Encouragement and incentive to publish wound research and experiences of clinical wound management is offered through the Comfeel Literary Awards.

In adherence with the Associations aims to improve the community’s understanding of wounds and wound management practices, the Association formed a Pressure Ulcer Interest Subcommittee in 1996. This committee has developed Guidelines for the Prediction and Prevention of Pressure Ulcers.

The Australian Wound Management Association has forged strong links with other international wound healing societies. The Association hosted the First World Wound Healing Meeting in Melbourne in September 2000. At this meeting the International Union of Wound Healing Societies was formed.