The Australian Association for Psychological Type (AusAPT) was formed in October 1991 at Australia’s first type conference, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: Australian Perspectives. The fledgling association’s leaders immediately set about convening another conference, this time in AusAPT’s own name. The first issue of the Australian Journal for Psychological Type (March 1992) announced that:
The newly formed [AusAPT] will hold its first National Conference on the Sunshine Coast, at Twin Waters Resort, commencing on Wednesday, 30 September 1992. This conference seeks to explore all aspects of Psychological Type including application and practice in the field, research, the concerns of practitioners and others, and a general exploration of the parameters of Type.
Delegates from all over Australia and around the world, met in Twin Waters from 30 September to 3 October 1992 for the Whole Person, Whole Nation conference. Featured speakers included international luminaries Otto Kroeger, Janet Thuesen and Alan Brownsword, plus our own David Marriott and Greg Latemore.
The photo below from AusAPT’s first conference in 1992 features:
* Alan Brownsword (left) a keynote speaker (and presenter) at the first Australian Conference who never made it back to Australia.
* Otto Kroeger (second from right) speaker and presenter who returned many times to Australia and loved it here with his then wife Janet Thuesen who also presented.
* Mary McGuiness (right) – co-founder of AusAPT and a leading light in type in Australia though-out the past 30 years.
AusAPT’s inaugural conference was a success on all fronts, and set the path for the following three decades. Our 2022 conference will be our 17th since 1992.
We had hoped to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our first conference by going ‘back to the beach’ at Twin Waters, but it became evident that our type community was not ready to resume in-person conferencing. So, as in 2020 and 2021, we are again holding our conference online – while honouring the setting of our first conference, 30 years ago, in our 2022 theme, Time & Tide.
We are deeply grateful to AusAPT’s founders for their vision and initiative in realising our first conference, all those years ago.
If you’d like to join us for the 30th Anniversary Conference, it starts on 7 October AEDT and goes till 9 October.