Prevention is Political – Reflections from the 2025 Preventive Health Conference

Allyson Todd

 

I am grateful to have been supported by the PHAA NSW Branch Scholarship to attend the 2025 Preventive Health Conference in Canberra. It felt both surreal and serendipitous to be in Australia’s capital just days before the 3 May federal election under the conference theme ‘Prevention is Political’. The conference was a powerful reminder of how deeply public health is intertwined with policy and politics.

Over three days, we heard from a diverse range of experts and public health professionals across various sectors including government, non-government organisations, academia, and healthcare. Each speaker highlighted the multi-faceted nature of prevention, addressing topics like the commercial determinants of health, food systems, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. The conversations were energising, and the sense of shared purpose to advance health equity was inspiring.

For me, this conference was also a full-circle moment. Three years ago, during the pandemic, I completed a policy internship with the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) in the lead-up to the 2022 Federal election. That internship was entirely virtual, facilitated over Zoom and Slack. It was wonderful to reconnect with colleagues I’d only ever met online, and to now be attending the conference not just as a delegate, but as a presenter.

I spoke in the Child and Youth Health session to promote the new Youth Health and Wellbeing Statement which I co-authored, on behalf of Dr Fiona Robards and the Child and Youth Health Special Interest Group. Additionally, I facilitated the involvement of young people from the Health Hive, who provided strategic input to ensure it was relevant and reflective of youth voices, a key objective of the SIG.

 

The position statement calls for four key policy priorities. Governments should:

1. Understand and address the social determinants of health. This includes the social, cultural, structural, environmental, economic, commercial and political factors that impact on health and wellbeing;
2. Strengthen wellbeing promotion and prevention strategies for young people, with priority for young people belonging to a range of minority and marginalised groups;
3. Resource healthcare and wellbeing literacy programs and services to improve the health and wellbeing of young people and respond to the level of need, severity and complexity among young people experiencing health problems; and
4. Support and encourage young people to engage in policy, research, program and resource development.

 

On Day 1 of the conference I facilitated an informal ‘meet and greet’ session for students and early career professionals, an initiative from the Students and Young Professionals in Public Health (SYPPH) Committee. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with peers in a supportive environment and meet others at a similar career stage, especially for those attending their first conference, or attending on their own.

 

I also presented findings from my first PhD paper in the Rapid-Fire session, sharing how adolescents around the world are participating in efforts to transform food environments.

It was a fun challenge to summarise in a few minutes key findings of a scoping review of 70 unique studies – representing over 20,000 adolescents globally.

 

I took away so much from the conference. Highlights included learning about the Cancer Council’s Council influencer campaign to stop sun tanning culture, to the importance of transitioning to potassium enriched salt to reduce blood pressure and improve heart health, to the need for gambling reform, and greater protections against digital marketing.

Other standout sessions including the importance of implementation science in public health. It was especially valuable and inspiring to hear directly from leaders of state health promotion units across South Australia, Victoria (VicHealth), Western Australia, and Queensland.

I’d like to sincerely thank the PHAA NSW Branch for the scholarship that made it possible to attend. It was an inspiring few days, and I’ve come away with new connections, fresh ideas, and a deeper appreciation for the role of prevention in shaping healthier futures.

Allyson Todd is a PhD Candidate and Research Officer from the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health at The University of Sydney.

Main image: Old Parliament House, now the Museum of Australian Democracy, and a polling station used by thousands of people on election day on 3 May, and in the days leading up to it.