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

i - Shared responsibility – developing strategic partnerships

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Health is a shared responsibility between those who will benefit from making healthy choices (for example, individuals, families and communities) and those who provide the infrastructure, services and support (governments at all levels, professional associations, the non-government sector, the research community, industry and business, and unions). Individuals, families and local communities are central to this shared approach. Effective prevention programs will depend on the participation of all Australian communities, at all levels – in the cities, in the bush and in the remote areas of the country. The figure below illustrates the range of players who contribute to preventative health.

Figure 1.6:
Working together
Figure 1.6: Working together

Australians as individuals will make prevention work. It is individuals who will take up regular physical exercise and make the right food choices for themselves and their families, who can voice a concern for public safety and an intolerance of drunken behaviour, and who can help make Australia a virtually smoke-free nation.

Individuals cannot achieve change on their own. They will need the support of employers and workplaces, unions, community leaders, industry, business and private sectors, the health services and all three levels of government.

Governments play a vital role in driving change and putting in place the support structures needed to achieve change.

Genuine and sustained partnerships between the three levels of government are essential if Australia is to achieve the targets described in this paper.
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In broad terms:

  • The Australian Government has responsibilities for policy and program implementation and coordination, across-government policy, fiscal incentives and regulation, the development of a strong evidence base and practice guidelines, monitoring and surveillance systems, and partnerships with national organisations, including employer and employee organisations and community agencies.
  • State and territory governments have responsibilities for legislation and regulation in their own sphere, implementation and coordination of programs throughout the community, across-government policy, partnerships with local governments and state-based non-government organisations, and the monitoring and surveillance of the health of their population.
  • Local governments have responsibility for local planning and support structures. They play a vital part in engaging local communities, and in providing some of the services, amenities and programs that prevent illness and promote good health.
For the three tiers of government to work well together, excellent coordination of the respective roles and responsibilities will be required, along with clear accountability for all their activities and outcomes.

Good health is the business of other sectors too – not just health:

  • The sport and recreation sector provides programs, resources and opportunities for all Australians to participate in sport and recreation – at a number of different levels.
  • The infrastructure, public transport, planning and urban design sectors help shape active, connected and safe neighbourhoods.
  • The police, welfare and justice systems are vital to the reduction of alcohol-related harm
  • Climate change is an overriding issue that impacts on this Strategy. There are potential synergies between reduction in fossil fuel usage and increased personal energy expenditure through walking, cycling, public transport and other approaches to promoting physical activity in the workplace and community.
  • Treasuries and Finance departments are key partners in prevention, playing the central role in investment in well-evidenced policies, in consideration of prevention evaluation results and promotion of important prevention strategies such as pricing and taxation.
  • The non-government sector also plays a vital role. NGOs, at all levels, are partners and often leaders in prevention, providing research and development, advocacy, social marketing, public information and primary care, as are professional associations and academic groups.
  • Other national and state-based agencies such as the NHMRC, Australian Research Council (ARC), Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), Social Inclusion Board and state-based health promotion foundations are integral to the Strategy’s ‘do, measure, report’ cycle.
  • The private sector (for example, the food and alcohol industries, media, advertising, private health insurers, employers and the fitness and weight-loss industries) is particularly important to this Strategy, especially in relation to food, beverages and physical activity, and in assisting in making healthy choices the easy choices.
  • Private health funds play a prominent role in Australia’s healthcare system. Today, over 11 million Australians hold some form of hospital and/or general treatment cover. Since 2007, through the Broader Health Cover initiative, legislative change has allowed private health funds to more actively engage in primary prevention, and many funds are actively seeking to have such preventative programs delivered to their members. Clearly, it is in the interest of each private health fund to ensure the funding of such programs on an ongoing basis is based on evidence that demonstrates the promotion of improved health and prevention of illness. Such interest aligns with the Taskforce’s focus of supporting infrastructure, as private health funds in Australia represent a source for preventative health in terms of research. In particular, private health funds in a number of areas have datasets that are unique within the health sector. The appropriate access and utilisation of this data could be of significant value.
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