How we began

How did it all begin? 

Some 30 years ago an American Plastic Surgeon, Dr Don Laub, went to Mexico for a holiday.  Whilst there, he was asked to have a look at a child with a cleft lip.  Dr Laub was so moved by the fact that this child was being brought up in a chook house because his parents were ashamed of his appearance, he took the child back to Stanford University and operated to repair the cleft lip. 

When the child was returned to his home some weeks later, Dr Laub was surprised to find there were many, many more children suffering the same condition because plastic surgeons were not available.  He gathered together volunteer surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses and established Interplast America which then provided programs to this part of the world and, eventually, into  South America.  It was on a program to Central America, a plastic surgeon from Melbourne, Mr Leo Rozner joined the team.  On his return he spoke at the Cheltenham Rotary Club on his experience as a member of the American Interplast team to Central America.

Amongst the membership present was Dr Gerald Duff, a General Practitioner who was impressed by the presentation.  Dr Duff spoke to Rotary District 980 (now 9800), District Governor Doug Mills about what he had heard and suggested this was something he thought Rotary in Australia could be interested in and assist with.  Mr Mills suggested he talk with Mr Keith Walter who was the Chairman of Rotary District 980 International Committee.

In August 1982, direct contact was made with the USA and included a meeting with Keith Walter and the Interplast America Board at Palo Alto where USA embraced the concept of an "Interplast Australia". 

This linkage gradually moved to Prof Donald Marshall who was Chairman of the Plastic and Reconstructive Division of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons at the time and consequently Interplast Australia, a non profit company (inc Vic) was founded in 1983 as a partnership between the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and Rotary District 980.  Interplast Australia was established to provide voluntary medical teams to carry out plastic and reconstructive surgery in developing countries.  Programs are actively supported by Rotary Districts and Clubs throughout Australia and New Zealand.  Rotarians are Members of the Company, the Board and the Interplast Committee of Rotarians.

The first Interplast Australia program was conducted to Samoa in 1983, fully funded by Rotarians.  The next program, funded by Rotarians, was to Fiji and it was there the Australian Government recognised the importance of such a worthwhile foreign aid program.  This resulted in partial funding being allocated for Interplast programs through the Pacific Islands.

With further assistance from Rotary Clubs and Districts Australia-wide, along with growing corporate support, Interplast programs today extend to Bangladesh, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam. The types of operations performed by volunteers has increased and changed over the years to cope with the needs of the community they serve and they now perform many more surgeries than just cleft lip and palate.

In 2007 the name of the organisation was changed from Interplast Australia to Interplast Australia and New Zealand to recognise the collaboration with New Zealand volunteers and harness future support. 

Interplast is very grateful to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons for providing office space free of charge to assist in minimising administration expenses. This, with the voluntary contribution of surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses enables Interplast to provide a cost effective humanitarian program.