Progress Through Partnerships Highlights of Public Health Activities in Australia Highlights of Public Health Activities in Australia Progress Through Partnerships Through Progress i © Copyright: National Public Health Partnership This work may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and provided no commercial usage or sale is to be made. Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above requires the written permission of the National Public Health Partnership, GPO Box 1670N, Melbourne 3001, Victoria, Australia. The NPHP Secretariat would like to acknowledge and thank the many individuals who contributed to the compilation of this report, including all those involved in the NPHP work program, staff from the Commonwealth Population Health Division and the numerous program areas within state and territory health authorities that provided material for Part III of the report. ISBN Number 0 7311 7602 2 Further copies: Contact the National Public Health Partnership Secretariat, 120 Spencer Street, Melbourne 3001, Victoria, Australia. Telephone: (61 3) 9637 5512 Facsimile: (61 3) 9637 5510 Email: [email protected] Website: www.dhs.vic.gov.au/nphp ii Preface This 1998–99 Annual Report of the National Public Health Partnership is the first comprehensive report on our work. It highlights the Partnership’s progress in addressing its main shared priorities and in developing a comprehensive coordinated national public health effort. This national effort is complemented by the public health activity undertaken in all jurisdictions that make up the Partnership, and the report provides a snapshot of just some of the huge range. The Partnership’s work program has three main themes. First, it is attempting to achieve better coordination and efficiency of public health effort across jurisdictions. This includes examination of the legislative and organisational differences between jurisdictions and proposing options that could achieve greater harmonisation of public health efforts. Second, it is examining ways to improve the effectiveness and quality of public health effort through development of best practice options, improved common information collections and comparison of different interventional approaches. Third, it is concerned with the maintenance and further development of a strong public health infrastructure and this principally means workforce development. While all of these themes are important to individual jurisdictions, the capacity of each jurisdictions to address them individually in the face of competing day-to-day priorities is limited. The Partnership provides a mechanism for a more efficient collaborative effort while recognising the specific needs and policies of the different constituent jurisdictions. Part II of the Report summarises activity on the twenty-two specific national public strategies. Many of these strategies commenced outside the Partnership framework, initiated through Commonwealth leadership, but largely rely on the infrastructure of the States and Territories for translation of policy into service delivery. The Partnership structure provides a mechanism to look at greater coordination across these separate strategies, many of which share common features and common approaches to intervention. This section of the report provides, for the first time in one place, a background to each strategy and the achievements for 1989–99. The snapshots provided in Part III of the report are examples of activities in different jurisdictions which provide a glimpse of the rich diversity of public health activities for which Australia is gaining a growing international reputation. Many examples represent innovation, and a willingness to try different approaches that is critical to effective public health. The examples also illustrate the need to continue to recognise the specific needs of particular jurisdictions. In providing this report, the Partnership aims to achieve an accurate reflection of the major commitment of all governments in Australia to promotion of public health, and an indication of shared priorities. Dr Andrew Wilson Chair of the National Public Health Partnership Group iii Contents Part I: NPHP Achievements and Progress Report—1998/99 1 1. A Brief Background to the National Public Health Partnership 2 1.1 The Partnership Work Program 2 1.2 Operational Arrangements for Implementing the Partnership Work Program 2 1.3 The NPHP Evaluation and Monitoring Strategy 3 1.4 The Partnership—Three Years On 4 1.5 Information Dissemination and the NPHP Communication Strategy 5 1.6 Summary 6 2. Priority Action Areas: Infrastructure Development Projects 7 2.1 Public Health Information Developments in the National Public Health Information Working Group 7 2.2 National Strategy Coordination 10 2.3 Legislative Reform 13 2.4 Public Health Planning and Practice Improvement 17 2.5 Research and Development 20 2.6 Workforce Development 21 3. National Public Health Partnership Advisory Group 24 4. Facilitating Collaboration in National Public Health 25 4.1 Work Auspiced by the Partnership 25 4.2 Work Undertaken by Joint Committees/Collaborative Approaches 27 5. Providing Strategic and Technical Advice 30 6. Watching Briefs and Strategic Alliances 32 6.1 National Health Priority Areas 32 6.2 Strategic Planning in Injury Prevention 32 6.3 Child Health 32 7. Appendices 34 Appendix A: NPHP Structure 34 Appendix B: NPHP Group Members 1998/99 35 iv Part II: National Public Health Strategies—Update 1998/99 37 Introduction 38 A Glimpse at Infrastructure for Public Health Service Delivery Across Australia 39 Healthy Growth and Development Strategies 42 The National Public Health Nutrition Strategy 42 Acting on Australia’s Weight Strategy 43 Developing an Active Australia 44 National Breastfeeding Strategy 45 National Environmental Health Strategy 46 National Drug Strategy 47 National Alcohol Action Plan 50 National Tobacco Strategy 50 National Indigenous Australians’ Sexual Health Strategy 52 National Strategy for an Ageing Australia 53 Women’s Health 54 Preventing Communicable Diseases 55 National HIV/AIDS Strategy 1996/97–1998/99 55 National Immunisation Program 56 National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Strategy 58 Mental Health 59 National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy 59 National Mental Health Strategy 60 Injury Prevention 62 Strategic Planning Injury Prevention 62 Prevention of Chronic Disease 64 National Diabetes Strategy 64 The National Cervical Screening Program 65 The National Breastscreen Program 67 National Cancer Strategy 69 National Asthma Action Plan 70 v Part III: Public Health Highlights and Achievements 1998/99 71 Introduction 72 1. Responding to Public Health Emergencies 73 Public Health Response to the 1998 Sydney Water Crisis 73 The Victorian Gas Crisis 74 South Australia—Epidemiological investigation of Salmonella Typhimurium Phage Type 135a Infection Associated with Orange Juice in SA 75 2. Improving Environmental Health 78 Tasmania—Health Impact Assessment 78 Queensland—Improving Indigenous Environmental Health 79 Indigenous Environmental Health in Western Australia 80 3. Preventing Communicable Disease 81 Queensland—Well Person’s Health Check 81 ACT—Management of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis B Virus, and Hepatitis C Virus Infected Health Care Workers 82 Tasmanian Immunisation Activities 83 WA—Sexual Health Program 84 4. New Approaches to Preventing Chronic Disease 86 Northern Territory—Preventable Chronic Diseases Strategy 86 Victoria—Diabetes Activities 87 WA—Nutrition & Physical Activity Program 88 5. Partnerships for Health Development 90 Strategic Partnerships—the Queensland Public Health Forum 90 The NSW Parliamentary Drug Summit 91 WA—The Alcohol and Other Drugs Program 92 6. A Focus on Population Groups 94 Promoting Young People’s Health in Queensland 94 Beating the Tyranny of Distance in Queensland—Health Services for Rural and Remote Women 95 Review of the Northern Territory Women’s Health Policy 97 7. Strengthening the Evidence Base for Public Health 99 The Victorian Burden of Disease Study 99 ACT—Investigation of the Appropriateness of Food and Environment Microbiological Testing in Addressing Health Outcomes 100 The NSW Health Survey Program 101 Tasmania—Healthy Communities Survey 102 The South Australian Pregnancy Outcome Statistics Unit 103 South Australian Cancer Registries 104 vi 8. Training and Workforce Development 106 NSW Public Health Officer Training Program 106 NT—Public Health Demonstration Projects 108 9. Legislation as a Contemporary Public Health Tool 110 ACT Tobacco Control Program—‘Smoke-free ACT’ 110 Food Safety Victoria—Leading the Food Law National Reform 111 Tasmania—Change Management in Public and Environmental Health 112 vii viii NPHP Achievements and Progress Report—1998/99 Achievements and Progress and Progress Achievements 1 1. A Brief Background to the National Public Health Partnership Australian Health Ministers endorsed the proposal for a National Public Health Partnership (NPHP) on 4 July 1996. The NPHP is an intergovernmental working arrangement to plan and coordinate national public health activities, provide a more systematic and strategic approach for addressing public health priorities, and provide a vehicle to assess and implement major initiatives, new directions, and best practice. The Partnership’s objectives include: • improving the health status of all Australians, in particular population groups most at risk; • improving collaboration in the