Posted on: 29/05/2025
AusMedtech is coming to Perth, WA in May 2026 – why you should fly west to attend
Blog post by MTPConnect’s Tracey Wilksinson, National Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator, MTPConnect & WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub.
Australia’s early stage medtech conference, AusMedtech, is coming to Perth, Western Australia in May 2026 – here’s why I think you should fly west to attend.
As well as the exciting announcement, that Perth will host AusMedTech 2026, AusMedTech 2025 delivered another productive conference with a packed program (disclosure- I was part of the program committee!).
As the beginning of my personal campaign to attract you to fly to Perth for AusMedtech 2026, I thought that I’d share what I really like about AusMedtech, and this year’s conference in particular.
- At ~500 attendees, the conference is an ideal size for easy networking and multiple opportunities to connect over the 3 days, so it’s great for building relationships.
- It’s medtech focussed so all content is specific to innovating, developing and commercialising medtech solutions. If that’s what you’re doing, then this is the ideal conference to learn from and connect with your community.
- The ‘Success Stories’ panel is always a highlight, primarily because of the panellists’ generosity in sharing their learnings and (hard-earned) insights. Yet again, this year’s panellists (David Hoey (Vaxxas), A/Prof Alison Todd (SpeedX), Dr. Carl Runde (Atmo Biosciences) and Prof Andreas Fouras, 4D Medical provided honest, candid feedback as they reflected on their successes and failures/aka “things I wish we’d done differently” – over wine or beer, which is served to everyone in the auditorium during the session (thank you to Peter Bradley for this wonderful legacy).
- Hearing directly from the TGA about recent developments and reforms in the regulation of medical devices is a valuable opportunity to keep up to date in this key area. Tracey Duffy, First Assistant Secretary, Medical Devices and Product Quality Division, Therapeutic Goods Administration shared an overview of the significant reform that has been taking place at the TGA over the last 5 years, including the SaMD and AI regulation review, mandatory reporting of medical device related adverse events, unique device identifier (UDI), electronic patient use instructions, recalls. It’s a long list and was so helpful to hear about these issues from the regulator directly. AusBiotech has also committed to increasing its role in communicating between industry and the TGA to help improve information flow in both directions and I look forward to hearing the final recommendations from their regulatory landscape review at AusBiotech conference later this year.
- The Early-stage Innovation Forum showcase is a golden opportunity to pitch to investors, receive feedback and potentially funding! (Yes, a past start-up pitch has received investment off the back of their presentation from an investor who was in the room).
- AusBiotech have worked hard to find thought-provoking dinner speakers and this year’s talk from the Founder & CEO of The Cova Project was a reminder of the impact that medical devices have on lives and livelihoods. Geena Dunne shared the impact of period poverty on the lives of girls around the world and how a $7 menstrual cup provides a 10-year solution to help keep girls at school thus changing the trajectory of their lives. The Cova Project always partners with local communities in their delivery model, seeing them as essential to effect significant behavioural change – interesting parallels and learnings applicable in the successful adoption of innovative medtech solutions?
As part of my role at the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub, it’s always exciting to get the opportunity to showcase the state’s emerging medtech sector – plans are already afoot .
Hope to see you in Perth in May 2026!
