Australia: the healthiest country by 2020
National Preventative Health Strategy – the roadmap for action

2.2 - Building on current prevention activity

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Prevention in health is not new. Many important preventative interventions have made a crucial contribution to improving and protecting Australia’s health over the years, and a range of valuable measures are already included in many aspects of health and other government policy. During the development of this Strategy, the Taskforce has worked in alignment with other reform processes and with other groups, including COAG through the Prevention Partnership, the NHHRC (whose expressed priorities include looking at ways of ensuring a greater emphasis on prevention across the health system), Treasury (through contribution to the Henry Review), the External Reference Group advising the National Primary Health Care Strategy, the National Indigenous Health Equity Council and the National Health Workforce Taskforce (NHWT).

The Taskforce received very positive and encouraging feedback from its consultation processes, confirming broad support for the approaches proposed in the Discussion Paper. The important themes are outlined below, and they include a range of calls for action on prevention. Such calls are in part a response to the increasingly high burden posed by chronic illnesses (such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers), which are in large measure caused or exacerbated by lifestyle choices; for example, smoking, sedentary lifestyle and poor diet.

While the vast majority of submissions and contributions supported the approaches taken in the Discussion Paper, often seeking further and more urgent action, there were also some that disagreed or offered alternative perspectives. The Taskforce has taken account of these in developing the Strategy. There was, however, an overwhelming sense that the Strategy provides an opportunity for prevention to be at the forefront of healthcare, and that there is great anticipation of the action following its release. In developing the Strategy, the Taskforce was aware that across all the issues considered there are a wide range of views, and that there will be some differing interpretations and perspectives. The Taskforce has reached its conclusions on the basis of careful consideration of the evidence and of all the views expressed to it.
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Important themes arising from consultation

  • Action and leadership on preventative health is urgent and long overdue in Australia.
  • A coordinated and comprehensive approach to prevention is needed, rather than the piecemeal approach adopted to date.
  • Strong leadership will be needed to drive and coordinate action and achieve targets.
  • Action will need strong contribution from outside as well as within the health sector, and may involve new partnerships.
  • There will need to be stronger partnerships between all three tiers of government, non-government organisations, industries, the business sector and communities, as well as action by individuals and families to improve their own health.
  • Action to improve health is required across a person’s lifetime, starting early in life and with an emphasis on identifying the key opportunities to influence change.
  • Emphasis should be placed on the social determinants of health within the Strategy. These determinants should be linked with priorities and action.
  • Achieving results will require sustained and significant investment for many years but will ultimately be cost effective and deliver benefits for individuals, families and communities as well as governments.

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