Rebuilding trust in healthcare starts with how we educate – that was the clear message from the 2025 Interprofessional Education (IPE) Colloquium™, hosted by the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC).
Held in Melbourne on 13 May 2025, the event brought together educators, students, policymakers and health professionals from across the country to explore the role of collaboration in building and rebuilding trust.
The event, which was facilitated by Professor Tina Brock, Director of the Collaborative Practice Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, saw over 180 delegates engage in meaningful conversations about the role of education in building trusted health professionals.
‘Interprofessional education more crucial than ever’
Opening the event, APC Chief Executive Officer, Bronwyn Clark said the future of healthcare depends on how health professionals learn together.
“With the challenges we’re seeing today, interprofessional education is more critical than ever,” she said.
“Rebuilding trust — with patients, and with each other — depends on how we learn together.
“We need graduates who understand not just the science, but the systems, not just their own role, but the value and insight others bring for patient-centred care.”
‘Importance of building rapport through trust’
Professor Julie Leask AO (University of Sydney), emphasised how trust is shaped by people’s beliefs and experiences – and the importance of communicating using trust-promoting strategies, creating safe spaces, and community engagement.
“It’s all in the details. Asking, listening, acknowledging, and validating the person, even if you disagree with what they say,” she said.
“Then share with them the appropriate information that meets their needs.
“If that rapport has been built, then your recommendation lands in a much more accepting environment.”
‘Lack of understanding undermining trust’
Professor Lisa Nissen’s session Trust in me, trust in you – the key to optimising scope of practice emphasised the need to recognise where health professions share overlapping skills.
“Because we don’t have a good understanding of what other members of healthcare teams do and how they contribute to patient care, it is undermining the trust that teams can have to work together,” she said.
‘Stewards of environmental sustainability’
Associate Professor Hayley Blackburn (University of Montana, USA), delivered a powerful reminder of the responsibility of health professionals in the face of climate and health challenges.
“Health professionals are one of the most trusted voices globally,” she said.
“They have dimensions of credibility, expertise, trustworthiness, and [are] acting in public interest.
“They are a strategic asset across many settings […] And they have an ethical responsibility […] Future health professionals will need to see themselves as stewards of environmental sustainability.”
Outcome statement
As an accreditation authority, an official outcome statement was developed as a public commitment to place trust at the heart of healthcare education and collaboration.
Save the date
The 2026 IPE Colloquium™ event will be held on 5 May 2026, in Canberra at Hotel Realm, under the theme of Empowering voices: Educating health professionals for respectful and inclusive conversations.
