Category: Uncategorized
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2025 brought big break-throughs for public health
Terry Slevin As 2025 winds down towards a holiday season, it’s time to reflect on the year that was for public health issues. 2025 will be long remembered as the year that Parliament created the national Centre for Disease Control from the current interim version. After decades of advocacy…
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Playing the long game: 40 years of Quit
Thomas Kehoe Australia is lauded for its leadership in the global fight against tobacco. This is exemplified in passing new tobacco control interventions to tackle tobacco induced disease, which began on 1 July. Measures include graphic health warnings on cigarette packs and sticks, and a ban on menthol and other…
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Reflections on Australian Public Health Conference 2025
Allana O’Fee, Robert Nersisyan, Khushi Makwana, and AnnMarie Eke-Uka Our Australian Public Health Conference was this year held on Dharawal Country / Wollongong in September. Around 400 delegates discussed public health challenges around the conference theme ‘leadership and collaboration to connect a divided world’. Scholarship winners Allana O’Fee, Robert Nersisyan,…
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Improving access to healthy local food in regional and rural communities
Stephanie Godrich, Rebecca Lindberg, Kate Wingrove, and Cherie Russell Australia’s national food system is fragile. Climate disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic show how quickly crises or disasters result in people being unable to find food. This is particularly true for those in regional and rural areas. Our national food system…
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How my PHAA internship awakened my voice in public health
Mahnoor Muhammad Growing up in Australia as a second-generation migrant Pakistani woman, I’ve always carried two worlds with me. At home, I was surrounded by vibrant culture, language, and food. Outside, I often noticed the gaps, health advice that didn’t reflect our diets, systems that weren’t built with people like…
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From heartache to healing: managing loneliness & loss
Tania Dey, Anders Magnusson, and Deborah Forsythe Grief is a universal experience. Yet, it is challenging to identify those grieving. Research suggests that when someone dies, four to 10 people are impacted, so it is not just one life that changes – but many. About five to 10 per cent…
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Pushing back against public health threats in Aotearoa New Zealand
Luke Garland and Cadence Kaumoana The Public Health Association of New Zealand (PHANZ) has released four policy position statements, reaffirming our commitment to a fairer, healthier Aotearoa New Zealand. These statements reflect PHANZ’s vision of Hauora mō te katoa – oranga mō te ao (“Good health for all – health equity in…
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Productivity Commission report reveals “nuts” Budget barrier
Productivity Commission report reveals “nuts” Budget barrier PHAA Media release 14 August 2025 The Productivity Commission’s interim report, Delivering quality care more efficiently, released overnight, has highlighted a glaring barrier in the Federal Budget process which hampers investment in prevention, Australia’s peak body for public health says. “The saying goes that…
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Ahead of proposed social media ban for young Australians, are there other protections?
Rebecca Raeside, Melody Taba Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, recently addressed the National Press Club outlining how their office will be implementing the Social Media Minimum Age Bill when it now comes into effect this December (delayed from October). The legislation prevents under 16-year-olds from having social media accounts,…
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In the settler colonial state, how do we incorporate decolonisation into curriculum meaningfully and successfully?
Shayal Prasad and Penelope Smith with Gem Allinson, Holly Donaldson, Dr Kath Francis, Isabelle Haklar, Angela Semanda, and Kesang Thrinlek In the following piece, we use the terms First Nation Australians, Indigenous People and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander as per the PHAA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Guide to…
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How do NGOs counter industry influence in the commercial determinants of health?
Dr Belinda Townsend, Dr Katherine Cullerton, Professor Sharon Friel, Tim Johnson, Dr Rob Ralston, Professor Jeff Collin, Liz Arnanz, Rodney Holmes, Jane Martin, and Professor Fran Baum Industry uses a wide range of strategies to promote their products and influence government regulation, including lobbying and political donations, funding research, co-opting…
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“Trebilco Cresent”; A tribute for a wonderful PHAA leader
Adj Prof Terry Slevin, PHAA CEO A giant of public health, Peter Trebilco (1927 – 2017), now has a street in northwest Canberra named in his honour. It’s in the new suburb of Denman Prospect, which commemorates activism and reform. Here’s the story behind that fitting tribute (coloured in yellow,…
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A chance to check-in and ask R U OK?
A PHAA member Content warning – this blog contains discussion of suicide Today is R U OK? Day. I want to share my recent experiences and encourage people to not wait to check-in on people they know. One recent evening while watching recordings from the Preventive Health Conference 2023,…
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You can take action to ban genetic test results in life insurance in Australia
Dr Jane Tiller, Monash University The field of genetics has great potential to improve medicine and public health, by enabling diagnosis, prevention and early treatment of disease. However, currently in Australia the life insurance industry is legally permitted to use genetic test results in underwriting, which can lead to discrimination. Insurance…
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Minimum Unit Pricing for Alcohol: Lessons from Scotland for Australia
Dr Mark Robinson, Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland and School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow; Dr Sarah Callinan, Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Australia and Dr Nicholas Taylor, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University Five years after Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP)…
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Why we must not ease up on tobacco and nicotine control in Australia
Assoc Prof Raglan Maddox, Dr Christina Heris, Assoc Prof Lisa Whop, Assoc Prof Michelle Kennedy, Prof Tom Calma AO, Prof Ray Lovett The National Tobacco Strategy has been released with $737M in 2023-24 for a contemporary tobacco and nicotine control agenda. The aim is to further reduce tobacco smoking and…
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Australia has a long way to go to achieve health equity for LGBTQIA+ people, conference told
Elspeth Hickey, PHAA Intern This March saw the largest LGBTQIA+ conference in the southern hemisphere take place on the Eora nation, the traditional land of the Gadigal people. The Sydney WorldPride Human Rights Conference from 1-3 March featured more than 60 presenters, including United Nations representatives, parliamentarians, activists, lawyers, health…
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An election on health lacking vision beyond hospitals: why Victoria must invest in Public Health and prevention
PHAA Victoria Prevention Subcommittee The PHAA’s Victorian branch, in partnership with the Australian Health Promotion Association and Australasian Epidemiological Association, have released their 2022 Victorian Election Scorecard. This assesses the policy platforms of the major parties – Labor, the Coalition (Liberal/National) and the Greens – against our joint Election Platform, which…
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Our home, our body, our planet
By Takuzo Kimura, physiotherapist and volunteer with the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) Has your room ever gotten a little messier the week before an important deadline? In Japanese culture, there is a belief that the way someone’s home looks says a lot about their state of mind. The pressures…
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Remembering Professor Chris Del Mar AM FAHMS
Deborah Hilton I had the great honour and privilege of working with Professor Chris Del Mar AM FAHMS in my first public health job, and was saddened to learn of his death earlier this year. I’d like to pay tribute to Professor Del Mar, and reflect on my experience working…
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Celebrating PHAA members’ Australia Day Honours – Professor Sandy Thompson AM
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Introduction Today we continue our articles, profiling the roles played in Australia’s incredibly diverse public health workforce. In a series of articles over the next few weeks, we will recognise and celebrate those who received well-deserved ‘gongs’ in the recent Australia Day Honours list. We begin…
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Tonight I’ll be having…poison! On-demand alcohol delivery services and the danger they pose to public health
Dr Michelle I Jongenelis, Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director, Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change In case you were worried about how you would survive when you can’t get to the bottle shop, fear not! UberEats has launched a campaign to make sure you know just how easy it is to…
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Keenan Mundine on his life of incarceration, and making Justice Health more culturally safe
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA We hear plenty about the importance of sharing, and understanding the lived experiences of others. At this week’s 2021 PHAA Justice Health Conference we were privileged to hear a very raw, yet powerful story of the lived experience of Keenan Mundine. Keenan is a proud Aboriginal…
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Eating sustainably: Urban local governments take planetary health into their own hands
Liza Barbour and Assoc Prof Julie Brimblecombe (both of Monash University), Dr Rebecca Lindberg and Dr Julie Woods from Deakin University, and Prof Karen Charlton (University of Wollongong) With the federal government’s questionable commitment to achieving a 1.5°C future, many are seeking glimmers of hope elsewhere. Leadership on climate action…
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Pandemics are by definition GLOBAL. Will Australia share the solution?
Terry Slevin – PHAA “The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine for people aged 18 years and older, six months after their second dose. “In high-income countries, over 60% of people have had at least one vaccine dose, compared to around 4% in low- income…
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2021 Justice Health Conference to focus on Evidence, Accountability, Action.
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA ‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.’ – Dr Martin Luther King Jr As our nation emerges from COVID lockdowns, it’s timely to reflect on the impact of some of the most severe restrictions imposed on our…
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Study tracks sun protection behavioural changes as world meets for COP26 climate summit
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA For the first time in nearly two years the world’s attention is about to switch from the battle against COVID-19 to the fight to control global warming. World leaders will gather in Glasgow in the next week for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also…
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Taking the Initiative to Strengthen and Sustain Western Australia’s Public Health Workforce
Terry Slevin – PHAA Continuing the theme of developing the Public Health Workforce, what follows is a focus on the WA Public Health Officer Training Program (PHOTP). PHAA CEO, Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin, one of the volunteer Mentors in the program, drew on the program evaluation report to provide this…
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Ageing population, climate change create new drowning risks: study
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Background With the days lengthening, the weather and water warming, and COVID-19 restrictions lifting, many of us are planning our first dip or trip to the beach. Water safety and drownings remain a significant public health issue in Australia, and a leading cause of mortality and…
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Say it loud and clear: Climate change is a health problem
Alex Hewish and Remy Shergill – Climate And Health Alliance Climate change. The average Australian is aware that the world is warming up due to more greenhouse gases in our air, trapping heat. Yet many don’t know of the effects that climate change will have on our health – effects…