Information on abstract preparation and submission, marking criteria and awards can be found on the conference website. For your convenience, a PDF version is also available to download.

Free papers and posters

The AHTA and 2026 conference organising committee invites the submission of abstracts for free papers and posters, on topics that complement the conference theme The future at our fingertips: Advancing hand therapy across the lifespan.

When abstracts are submitted, the authors need to indicate whether their submission is “research” or “quality improvement”.

Those abstracts not selected for oral presentation may be offered a poster presentation.

Research: these include research studies related to the reporting of clinical investigations, designed to answer a research question relevant to the practice of hand therapy, e.g. clinical trials, prospective/retrospective case-series, case studies, systematic or scoping reviews. Please ensure that approval from a Human Research Ethics Committee is obtained (as indicated). Research papers are allowed 10 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for questions and are judged on content, methodology and presentation.

Quality improvement: these include quality assurance/improvement projects that explore new clinical innovations or hand and upper limb practice procedures implemented at a local (clinical) level, e.g. changes to clinical pathways, service delivery, resource development. This does NOT include patient chart audits, or any other projects that include patient specific data. Quality improvement free papers are allowed 10 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for questions and are judged on content, methodology and presentation. 

Posters: these will be a “display only” presentation. Presenters are asked to erect their posters by morning tea on the first day of the Conference. Display posters will be exhibited in the area where morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be served. Authors will be encouraged to stand next to their posters to answer questions, if possible, during the catering breaks. For poster presentations, authors may present a speed talk of 3 minutes in special speed talk sessions in the schedule. Poster dimentions: 120 x 90 cm maximum (nothing larger can be accommodated)

Important dates

Abstract submission closes: Sunday 29 March 2026, 11.59 pm AEDT

Acceptance notification: Monday 27 April 2026

Process for submission

Abstracts must be submitted via the portal link via the conference website. If you experience technical difficulties with the online submission, please email your query to conference@ahta.com.au or call 02 8776 0205.

Confirmation of receipt of your abstract will be issued automatically via the conference management software. If you need to make changes to your submission, you can do so by logging into the abstract submission portal, up to and no later than the abstract submission closing date.

Preparing your abstract

Abstract submissions should be clearly identified as either a Research or Quality Improvement paper and must be less than 300 words. The purpose of the abstract is to capture the interest of your audience. The abstract should provide sufficient information to allow the reader to assess the implications of the work undertaken.

Research abstracts should be set out as follows:

Background – briefly describe any significant previous research conducted in the area and justify the need for your research

Aims – outline specific research aims

Method – describe briefly the study participants, research design used and basic procedures, including Research Ethics Approval (as indicated)

Results – present key findings from statistical analyses and link these to research aims

Conclusion – highlight major conclusions from the work in the context of study limitations. Consider implications for future research

Quality Improvement abstracts should be set out as follows:

Background – briefly describe the clinical background/setting and include previous research if applicable

Problem – clearly identify the local problem or reason for innovation

Intervention – detail the quality improvement framework, and describe the intervention used to address the problem and how this was innovative/unique

Evaluation – explain how you assessed the effectiveness of your intervention

Recommendations – provide recommendations for future implementation and highlight the implications of your intervention

*The abstract word limit does not include the presentation title, authors and references. 

*Your abstract document should not include the author details as these will be included in the online submission form.