Category: Health Policy
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“Radical, or plain common sense?” Public health’s perennial question
Terry Slevin I was recently invited by ABC Radio Adelaide to talk about our policy asks ahead of the March 2026 state election. The invitation followed the release of our association’s South Australian Branch election platform on 13 February. The host of the Mornings programme, Rory McLaren, opened with a…
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Australian CDC: one giant leap for public health
Professor Paul M Kelly Last week saw a largely under reported but important milestone for public health in Australia and beyond. The draft legislation was introduced in Parliament to establish an Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) as a statutory agency under the Minister for Health. The Public Health Association…
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Time to arc things up for the Australian Centre for Disease Control
Terry Slevin Since the 2 May federal election outcome it is crystal clear that the long awaited and hard fought for Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) will now become a reality. The Albanese-led Labor party first expressed commitment to the CDC while in opposition in 2020. It became a…
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If this is a ‘health election’, it is failing
Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin If this is a ‘health election’, it is missing a vital puzzle piece. Our major parties are throwing billions at promises to treat health problems, but are offering virtually nothing to keep us healthy in the first place. The national budget for health expenditure is one…
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In Trump’s new order, Australia must fight for affordable medicines
Vincent So Donald Trump has returned to the White House with a harder-edged agenda, a more ideologically disciplined inner circle, and little appetite for the old rules of global engagement. His second presidency is more calculative, operating with strategic intent, game-theory logic, and a clear belief in zero-sum outcomes, particularly…
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Prevention is political
We’re calling on the next Australian Government to allocate at least 5% of health expenditure to prevention. Find out more on PHAA’s 2025 Election Priorities site. You can also register for PHAA’s Preventive Health Conference, held in Canberra (Ngunnawal country) on 28-30 April 2025. This is part of an ongoing…
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An app could improve access to oral healthcare
We recently launched our election priorities platform, Vote for Public Health. We’re calling on the next Australian Government to take action to prevent disease and ill-health in our community, including by making oral healthcare universal through Medicare. Find out more here. A version of this article was originally published by…
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A year to celebrate historic public health wins
Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin, PHAA CEO As 2024 staggers to a close, Australia’s public health community has several reasons to feel a sense of achievement. It is time to reflect on what has probably been the best year for advancing public health causes in at least a decade. The good…
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We need a public health approach to psychological wellbeing
Dr Matthew Fisher The main public health challenges of our time lie with human psychology, where increasing rates of distress and mental ill-health intersect with other social problems such as family violence, substance abuse, and social division. Despite strong evidence on social determinants of mental health mediated by psychosocial stress,…
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Historic step towards an Australian CDC
Malcolm Baalman Read our members-only summary of the COVID-19 Inquiry Report here. The Australian Government has released a long-awaited report on the Commonwealth Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 Response Inquiry Report is focused on what happened during the pandemic of 2020-2022 to identify lessons learned for future…
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Drones with fast food and alcohol are on the way, but at what cost?
Victoria Farrar Drones are becoming more prevalent in our everyday lives, and it’s anticipated that drone delivery of fast food and alcohol will be the next big use for drones in our society. Judging by the geographic reach of drone food delivery, which is already available in parts of Brisbane…
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The adolescent social media ban alone won’t work. Here’s what will
Mariah Issa, Imogen Croucher, Allyson Todd, Dr Stephanie Partridge, Rebecca Raeside Adolescence is a time where young people are forming their identity, and are susceptible to environmental, commercial, and social influences. With the rise of ‘wellness’ influencers on Instagram and TikTok, and a bombardment of marketing tactics from large companies,…
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Building strong public health policy
Lily Pratt and Jasmine Lykissas What do sugar labelling, trans health, and skin cancer prevention have in common? Perhaps not much to an everyday person, but for us at the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), they’re three of the many policy positions we rely on to advocate for the…
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Nikhil Kumar on bridging the gap between uni and the real-world
While initially daunting, the transition straight from university life to the dynamic world of public health at PHAA was filled with invaluable lessons and experiences. I joined the Association as an intern in January, after completing a Master of Public Health at the end of 2023. I was most surprised…
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Trust: missing in action in health policy
Dr Jennifer Dunne & Dr Matthew Govorko Trust in public health is vitally important. On 29 February 2024, the PHAA WA branch, in conjunction with Healthway and the Australian Health Promotion Association, hosted an event exploring trust in health policy – or rather, the lack thereof – and the implications…
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Tips to craft influential submissions to government inquiries
Dr Katherine Cullerton, Dr Megan Ferguson and Dr Rachel Bacon Government inquiries provide a unique opportunity to have a real influence on government policy. It is an important window for advocates to add their voice to matters in their field of expertise, as well as to potentially influence those with…
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Diabetes map of Tasmania invaluable for health policy
Dr Ngan Dinh Maps are trustworthy companions; they reveal our current location and lead us to unexplored horizons. But have you ever imagined that a map could unlock the secrets of local health status and inform policy planning to shape our future? Our new research, recently published in the Australian…
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Help steer the 2024 Policy Review Cycle
PHAA Policy and Advocacy Team The Policy Review Cycle for 2024 has kicked off with a record number of policy position statements up for review. What is the policy review cycle? To keep PHAA’s policies up-to-date, our commitment is to review all policy position statements every three years, resulting in…