Radiation protection society brings its 51st annual conference to Christchurch

The Australasian Radiation Protection Society (ARPS) holds its 51st annual conference at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre from Sunday 20 to Thursday 24 September 2026. The society's event page lists the meeting as the "51st Annual Conference – Christchurch 2026", and the official conference site states it is the third time ARPS has staged its flagship event in New Zealand. The theme is "From Rutherford to Tomorrow: Kaitiakitanga in Radiation Protection".

The programme was published on the conference website and runs across five days. Sunday 20 September opens with a New Zealand Radiation Professionals drinks function from 1330 to 1530 and registration from 1400, followed by a welcome reception from 1800 to 2000 at the Great Hall, Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre. Monday 21 to Wednesday 23 September are full conference days at Te Pae, each built around a morning plenary, concurrent technical sessions, poster sessions and a trade exhibition. The conference dinner is held on Tuesday 22 September from 1900 to 2200 in the Limes Room at Christchurch Town Hall. Thursday 24 September closes the week with an offsite visit to Rutherford's Den at the Arts Centre from 0930 to 1130, incorporating a lecture by John Campbell.

Keynote speakers listed on the conference site include Lisa Bruedigan, executive director of the United States Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors; Dr Miles Apperley, group executive for nuclear operations, safety and security at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO); Dr Jane Canestra, chair of the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA); Dr Craig Chisholm, experimental plasma physicist and radiation safety officer at Wellington-based fusion company OpenStar Technologies; and Rohitha Baskar of McKavanagh Engineering Services. Karl Mayman, a consultant health physicist with more than 35 years in the sector, delivers the Boyce Worthley Oration on Tuesday 22 September. The society's annual general meeting, an awards presentation and the announcement of the 2027 host all sit inside the programme.

Who runs it

ARPS was founded in 1975 as the Australian Radiation Protection Society and renamed the Australasian Radiation Protection Society in 1997 to reflect growing membership from outside Australia, particularly New Zealand. The society reports more than 250 members working in healthcare, research, industry and mining, and is listed by the International Radiation Protection Association as its associate society for Australia and New Zealand. Its conference archive runs back to the first ARPS conference in 1976.

The 2026 edition is convened by ARPS president Brent Le Vert, who signs the invitation on the conference website, and is supported by a 13-member organising committee. Conference management is handled by Leishman Associates, a Hobart-based professional conference organiser. The 2025 conference was held in Melbourne.

Sponsors and exhibitors listed for 2026 include ANSTO, ARPANSA, McKavanagh Engineering Services, Nuclear Australia, Radtronics, SGS, Tellus, ASC, edVirtus and ADM.

Who it's for

The audience is radiation protection practitioners, regulators, medical and health physicists, and radiation safety officers from across Australia and New Zealand, drawn from healthcare, research institutions, industry and mining. The society describes conference streams covering radiation protection in healthcare, developments in radiation protection, environmental protection, communication and engagement, and operational radiation protection.

Two workshops are scheduled. ANSTO's emergency preparedness and response team runs a tabletop exercise on Monday 21 September from 1445 to 1615 in which participants role-play incident controller, police, fire, media liaison and radiological adviser functions during a simulated radiological incident. A breakfast workshop run by the Australasian Radiation Protection Accreditation Board on Tuesday 22 September from 0715 to 0845 works through problems modelled on the CRSA accreditation examination.

The organisers state the programme is aimed at delegates at all career stages, with an explicit emphasis on building capability and supporting emerging professionals. ARPS also runs a Young Generation Network.

The venue

Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre sits at 188 Oxford Terrace in Christchurch Central, on the Ōtākaro Avon River. The conference site describes it as an international-standard convention centre with a range of purpose-built flexible spaces, and notes it holds Toitū Enviromark Gold and net carbonzero certification.

The conference's own travel page puts Te Pae 15 to 20 minutes by road from Christchurch International Airport, and directs delegates to the airport's published options for taxis and shuttles, public bus, rideshare, car share, rental cars and parking. Christchurch is a regional hub for domestic flights and the main South Island international gateway. The organisers note the central city is flat and walkable, with Hagley Park a 10-minute walk from the venue and a hop-on hop-off tram loop through the central business district.

Two of the week's functions sit outside the convention centre: the welcome reception at the Great Hall in Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre, and the conference dinner in the Limes Room at Christchurch Town Hall. The Thursday tour also runs at the Arts Centre.

Why it matters for New Zealand MICE

This is an Australian-headquartered society, using an Australian professional conference organiser, with a sponsor and exhibitor base drawn almost entirely from Australian agencies and suppliers, holding its annual meeting in a New Zealand city. Most of the delegate body, the exhibition build and the associated spend therefore arrive from offshore rather than being redistributed within New Zealand.

The pattern is a rotation rather than a one-off: ARPS has run an annual conference since 1976 and, on the organisers' own account, this is the third New Zealand edition. Christchurch is hosting a meeting that will move on again in 2027, with the next host announced from the stage on the Wednesday.

The footprint is a five-day one. Delegates arriving for Sunday afternoon functions and staying through a Thursday morning offsite tour generate multiple accommodation nights, and the welcome reception, conference dinner and tour push activity into the Arts Centre and Christchurch Town Hall as well as Te Pae.

The timing also sits inside a cluster of regional radiation-sector meetings. The ARPS events calendar lists the 7th Asian and Oceanic Congress on Radiation Protection in Beijing from 8 September 2026 and the 18th South Pacific Environmental Radioactivity Association conference in Canberra from 14 September 2026, both immediately before Christchurch, which raises the prospect of delegates travelling a combined regional circuit.

ARPS has not published a delegate forecast for the 2026 conference, and no attendance figure could be verified from the organiser or the conference site.