Hollie Harwood
Each year over 1.1 million readers visit and download articles from the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH).
While our journal citations measure impact, they don’t capture one of ANZJPH’s unique strengths – the way that our evidence-based articles influence policy and practice, support advocacy, and generate news headlines in Australia, and internationally.
From strategies to boost childhood vaccination and improve our diets, through to e-scooter injuries among kids, here are eight standout ANZJPH articles that shaped public health conversations in 2025 – including a special issue not to be missed.
E-scooter injuries send two Sunshine Coast to hospital every week
Tragically, a number of e-scooter accidents and deaths involving children made headlines this year.
An audit led by Dr Matthew Clanfield revealed how many kids had attended Sunshine Coast Hospital after e-scooter injuries. A medical doctor with experience working in emergency departments, Dr Clanfield was passionate about the need to change e-scooter laws in Queensland, but had never done a media interview.
With the support of PHAA, Dr Clanfield was stepped into the media spotlight doing several interviews with outlets like ABC TV News Brisbane, ABC Radio National Breakfast, Sunrise, Sky News, and The Guardian.
This paper has been one of our biggest media stories this year. Six months later we continue to receive requests for interviews, and Dr Clanfield continues to advocate for urgent changes to e-scooter laws Queensland.
(A timely reminder to scrap e-scooters from your Santa lists this year)
Australians’ diets are on a downward spiral
Our most read ANZJPH article published in 2025 was also one of the most newsworthy.
CSIRO-led research revealed that Australian diets are getting worse and without significant intervention the nation will miss 2030 health targets. The CSIRO team caught the attention of journalists – the study was mentioned more than 180 times in the media.
“The gap between our current dietary trajectory and our national health targets is widening,” senior author Dr Gilly Hendrie warned.
Almost half of Aussie teens live with a chronic disease or developmental condition
In April, research led by the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health Substance Use at the University of Sydney found that almost one in two Aussie teens are living with a chronic disease or developmental condition. They also found an overlap with unhealthy lifestyles, highlighting the need for more research and prevention action.
Teenagers aren’t often associated with chronic diseases, and the surprising results sparked widespread requests for interview with the authors from high profile media outlets including ABC Radio National Breakfast, AAP Newswire, ABC Victoria, ABC Melbourne, Sky News and SBS World News. German public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, also covered it.
“We need to do more to prioritise the health of young people,” lead author Dr Bridie Osman said – and PHAA couldn’t agree more.
Australians want action on sugary drinks
Obesity is now Australia’s leading cause of disease burden, and in May an article led by PHAA President, Prof Caroline Miller, showed that more than half of Australian adults (56%) believed that sugary drinks should have a health levy applied. Even more (73%) supported stopping sugary drinks from being marketed to children.
Prof Miller got talking about the issue to media – doing live interviews with outlets such as 9 News Afternoons (live), ABC WA Statewide Drive, and ABC Adelaide.
The research even led to Health Minister Mark Butler being asked about his plans to tackle obesity on Sunrise.
NAIDOC Week special issue
During NAIDOC Week in July, Professor Summer May Finlay curated a special issue of ANZJPH, celebrating articles led by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander authors.
The topics included the climate crisis and its impact on the Torres Strait, the damage of racism, the need for greater investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men’s health, and a co-design renal dialysis pilot.
Professor Finaly highlighted why this the special issue is not one to be missed.
“It’s not only about self-determination, Indigenous-led research helps us understand what works, helping us improve our public health system and services to better support our communities and make them stronger and healthier,” the University of Wollongong-based A/Prof Finlay said.
117 WA vape retailers shut-up-shop – but convenience stores break the rules
In 2024 an ANZJPH paper revealed that 9 in 10 vape retailers in WA were located within walking distance to a school – a finding repeatedly cited by Health Minister Mark Butler as the Federal Government worked to toughen laws.
This year, the research team published their follow-up analysis of bricks and mortar retailers in WA following the tightening of federal regulation.
Encouragingly, the University of Notre Dame researchers found that almost all dedicated vape shops in WA had closed – helping to reduce the normalisation of vaping. Concerningly though, vapes were still available under the counter in many Perth convenience stores, showing the need for more enforcement.
The paper made headlines in WA including in the ABC, 6PR, and the evening news on Channels 9 and 7. Tobacco control experts continue to call for tougher enforcement in the state.
Getting more kids vaccinated on time
Research shows that Australia’s childhood vaccination coverage is waning.
A paper from The National Vaccination Insights Project highlighted the barriers to vaccine uptake – including out-of-pocket costs, lack of opportunities to discuss vaccination with providers, lack of appointment availability and eroding trust. This timely paper outlined priority action areas and called for a coordinated, multi-faceted approach.
It also made headlines and provided a good opportunity for authors to provide the facts about vaccination via high profile media outlets including The Herald-Sun, AAP and ABC Radio’s AM Program.
Shut the shops – a fresh take on illicit tobacco
Illicit tobacco has been a hot topic in the media this year – but concerningly a lot of the reporting has focused on tobacco industry-driven calls to reduce the tax excise.
In October an ANZJPH commentary from some of Australia’s leading tobacco control experts started to shift the conversation by highlighting the extremely high number of retailers currently selling tobacco and calling for Governments to “shut the shops”. The focus, they argued, needs to be on the health harms and supporting smokers to quit. The authors drummed home this message in 12 separate interviews.
“Most Australians don’t want to smoke, and don’t want younger generations to become addicted,” Australian National University-based Associate Professor Raglan Maddox said.
“Most people who smoke want to quit, but that is harder when retailers are making cheap cigarettes easily available on every street corner. Reducing the number of retailers exploiting communities is the next logical step for Australia’s tobacco control journey.”
Hollie Harwood is strategic communications advisor at PHAA and leads communications for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. Her role includes collaborating with ANZJPH authors and their media teams to translate academic research into impactful communications that support public health. She wishes to thank all the authors and media teams who worked with her this year.
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