The AOC will be held in Armidale, NSW from 29 November - 4 December 2009. The venue for the conference will be the Armidale Ex-Services Memorial Club. Our keynote speaker will be Honorary Professor Jeremy Greenwood CBE, former Director of the British Trust for Ornithology. For enquiries about the conference email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Key Dates

Scientific Program

The overall theme of the AOC focuses on the collaboration between volunteers collecting information in the field and scientists analysing such data, to increase our knowledge of birds and their conservation. The conference covers 4 days of talks and posters from 9am - 5pm. Each of the four days of presentations is to be partly based on a theme, introduced by plenary speakers.

Monday: People in monitoring (Jeremy Greenwood)

Tuesday: Woodland birds (David Watson)

Thursday: Birds of northern savannas (Stephen Garnett/Gabriel Crowley)

Friday: Threats to island birds/seabirds (Peter Dann)

Download the Program of Talks or an Overview of the Conference Program 

Accommodation in Armidale

It is the responsibility of delegates to arrange their own accommodation. Information can be found on the Armidale Dumaresq Council website, including an Armidale City map showing the conference venue (Ex Services Club) and the dinner venue (Bowling Club) both of which are adjacent to the Armidale CBD, and a CBD map showing nearby motels. You can also contact the Armidale Visitors Information Centre on Tel: 02 6772 4655 or 1800 627 736 or download a  list of accommodation in the area.

Students at AOC

Join Professor David M Watson and several other researchers for a series of workshops and discussion sessions on establishing a career in ornithology. Learn the finer points of writing literature reviews and grant applications, pick up some handy hints on thesis writing, and find out the best way to land the job you’re after. Meet other honours and post-graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from throughout Australasia, and discuss the finer points of managing your workload and building your track record over a barbecue on the afternoon and evening of Monday 30 November at the AOC venue. This initiative is supported and funded by Birds Australia.

Advice to Contributors

Delegates may offer spoken papers or posters. There will be 15 minutes allocated to spoken papers, 12 minutes maximum for the presentation with 3 minutes for questions and changeover. For most of the conference there will be two parallel sessions so members of the audience will move between sessions, which are in neighbouring rooms. Posters will be on display close to the lecture theatres for the whole conference. Time will be set aside in the program to view posters, as well as during morning, lunch and afternoon breaks. Papers that present new information or ideas on birds of the region are more likely to be selected for a spoken presentation. Student prizes will be awarded for both spoken and poster presentations.

Download detailed Advice to Contributors

Refund Policy

The following is a guide only.  Refunds are at the discretion of the organising committee and no discussion will be entered into.

• A full refund will be given for requests received by 30 September, less $22 admin fee 
• A 50% refund will be given for requests received between 1 - 31 October
• Refund requests received after 31 October will not be considered