Media Statements

The recent National Health Promotion Symposium brought together leaders, practitioners, and advocates to tackle some of the most pressing issues in health promotion today.

Earlier this month, Rebecca Zosel, Executive Officer of AHPA, provided live coverage of the National Health Promotion Symposium via Croakey’s rotated @WePublicHealth account.

This article provides a preview of AHPA's National Health Promotion Symposium 2024 held on Ngunnawal country in Canberra over 9th to 10th October 2024.

In this West Australian piece published on 8 September 2024, AHPA Vice President Luke van der Beeke comments on the changing media landscape and the evidence underpinning effective health messaging and behaviour change among young people.

In this Croakey piece, The Greens under fire for watering down vaping reforms, AHPA Fellow Professor Jonine Jancey, said it was “so disappointing” to see the proposed legislation watered down.

In this Croakey piece, Going nuclear, and closing their eyes to expert advice on the urgency of climate action, AHPA recognises that climate change is a public health emergency that requires ambitious, accelerated and wide-ranging action.

In this Croakey piece, As World Health Organization prioritises action on climate and health, some expert advice for Australia, AHPA President Melinda Edmunds highlights the importance of collective, cross-sectoral action for advocacy.

AHPA commends the Government on many of the initiatives funded in the federal budget which will positively affect health and wellbeing in Australia. However, along with other health organisations, AHPA expresses disappointment at the absence of health promotion, illness prevention, and equity commitments.

In this Croakey piece, It's early days for the Australian Centre for Disease Control, but already there are many questions about where it's headed, AHPA President Melinda Edmunds, raises questions about governance and reminds us of the central role of health promotion.

The Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA®) calls for an end to the hostilities in the Israel-Gaza crisis, for the preservation of life and action on the prerequisites for health.

The Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA® ) stands in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and continue to provide our support for constitutional recognition of First Nations people in Australia.

The outcome of the referendum is a sad and disappointing result for recognition and equity and in realising the aspirations of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

This coming Saturday, Australians will vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in the Referendum to recognise First Peoples in our Constitution and establish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. Allies for Uluru, a 300 member strong cross-sector collaboration, calls on all Australians to accept the invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk together for a better future, and vote ‘Yes’.

The Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA®) is pleased to announce a partnership with headspace. The partnership is focused on building the health promotion capacity of the mental health workforce to deliver on the aims of the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030.

In this Croakey article, Join us for an online brainstorming session to envision a better way than Threads, Twitter et al, AHPA President Dr Gemma Crawford notes the significant impacts of misinformation and disinformation on public health and welcomes opportunities to contribute health promotion expertise to discussions and initiatives designed to reduce misinformation and disinformation on digital platforms.

In this Croakey piece, Amid global concerns about the threat of misinformation and disinformation, is the Australian Government doing enough?, AHPA member Dr Becky White stresses the importance of comprehensive approaches to address the spread of misinformation and disinformation on digital platforms.

In this Croakey piece, How governments are (still) failing the public on COVID control, AHPA Board Director Glen Ramos, notes the importance of governments taking more action to reduce the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for people who are at greater risk of severe outcomes from the virus. 

The Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA®) is pleased to announce a partnership with Wellbeing SA.
The Health Promotion Workforce Registration Partnership will focus on supporting a pilot of staff from the
Health Promotion Team in Wellbeing SA to become registered under the global health promotion registration
system that AHPA administers in Australia on behalf of the International Union for Health Promotion and
Education (IUHPE).

The Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Editor-in-Chief (EiC), Adjunct Associate Professor Carmel Williams to Australia’s leading journal for health promotion practice, policy and research, the Health Promotion Journal of Australia (HPJA). 

The Australian Health Promotion Association welcomes an increased focus on prevention in the 2023-2024 Federal Budget.

In this Croakey piece, New health and aged care chief has a huge task ahead - so what are the priorities?, Dr Gemma Crawford, AHPA National President, and Rebecca Zosel, Executive Officer, note the importance of the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care having a commitment to prevention and health promotion.

Hospitals and healthcare services play a vital role in our healthcare system – but it’s the community health promotion services that keep people out of them in the first place.

The Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA®) believes the Andrew’s Labor Government decision to cut ten percent of health promotion funding for community health services is irresponsible and shortsighted. While this might bring a small saving now – future generations will pay the price of poorer health and unsustainable health care expenditure.

Like many in the Australian community, AHPA is deeply concerned that despite bipartisan agreement, no state or territory government is fully compliant with the National Firearms Agreement which they all signed after Port Arthur in 1996 and renewed in 2017.

Prevention and equity should be core to Australia’s COVID-19 management plan for 2023.

AHPA President Dr Gemma Crawford and AHPA VIC-TAS Branch Co-President David Towl contributed to the conversation about Australia’s COVID-19 management plan in this Croakey article published on 26 January 2023: Health leaders urge governments to step up COVID control.

Read the full article here.