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Population Health Division (PHD)

National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health

The National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health (NPAPH) was announced by the Council of Australian Government (COAG) on 29 November 2008. On 28 June 2012, the NPAPH was extended by three years to June 2018.

The NPAPH provides $932.7 million over nine years from 2009-10. This is a significant investment by the Australian Government in health prevention. It builds on the COAG Australian Better Health Initiative and the National Reform Agenda's Type II Diabetes Initiative, and supplements the National Health Care Agreement.

The NPAPH aims to address the rising prevalence of lifestyle related chronic disease by laying the foundations for healthy behaviours in the daily lives of Australians through settings such as communities, early childhood education and care environments, schools and workplaces, supported by national social marketing campaigns (MeasureUp and an anti-smoking campaign).

A key feature of the NPAPH is the establishment of infrastructure required to monitor and evaluate the progress of interventions. This includes the establishment of a landmark Australian National Preventive Health Agency. The Agency will support the development of evidence and data on the state of preventive health in Australia and the effectiveness of preventative health intervention.

PDF printable versions of the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health, its subsequent variation and the Implementation Overview are available on the Federal Financial Relations website.

The Prevention NP consists of 11 initiatives. More details about each initiative are available below.

1. Healthy Communities
2. Healthy Children
3. Healthy Workers
4. Industry Partnership
5. Social Marketing – MeasureUp
6. Social Marketing – Tobacco
7. The Australian Health Survey
8. Enhanced State and Territory Surveillance
9. Workforce Audit and Strategy
10. Australian National Preventive Health Agency and Research Fund
11. Eating Disorders Collaboration

Healthy Communities

($71.8 million from 2009–10 to 2012–2014)

• This initiative supports the targeted, progressive roll out of community-based healthy lifestyle programs that facilitate increased access to physical activity, healthy eating and healthy weight activities for disadvantaged groups and those not predominately in the paid workforce. Under this initiative the Commonwealth administers funding to 92 local government organisations across Australia. These localities are supported by National Programs that deliver proven and effective healthy lifestyle programs in every state and territory. The Commonwealth has also established a quality framework and a web-based registration portal to assist local government grant recipients, and other communities, in gaining access to effective healthy lifestyle interventions.

For more information, go to A Healthy and Active Australia Website.

Healthy Children

($325.9 million from 2011–12 to 2017–18)

• This initiative provides up to $325.9 million over seven years to state and territory governments from July 2011. Funding will be used to deliver programs for children from birth to 16 years of age to increase levels of physical activity and improve the intake of fruit and vegetables in settings such as child care centres, pre-schools and schools.

For more information see:

• Healthy Children - Scoping Statement and Guiding Policy Principles (PDF 53 KB);
• Healthy Children - Scoping Statement and Guiding Policy Principles (HTML), or contact. PHD Frontdesk.

Healthy Workers

($294.3 million from 2009–10 to 2017–18)

• This initiative provides up to $294.3 million from 2009-10 to support workplace health programs that focus on decreasing rates of overweight and obesity, increasing levels of physical activity and intake of fruit and vegetables, smoking cessation and reducing harmful levels of alcohol consumption. Of this amount, up to $289.1 million will be available to state and territory governments from 1 July 2011 to support health promotion activities in workplaces.
• The remaining $5.2 million is being used by the Commonwealth to develop 'soft infrastructure' to support the implementation of state and territory activities at both a local and national level. This infrastructure includes the Joint Statement of Commitment: Promoting Good Health at Work, National Healthy Workers Portal and tool kit, and a quality framework for health promotion programs in workplaces. National awards for best practice in workplace health programs will be developed by the Australian National Preventive Health Agency under this initiative.

For more information go to National Healthy Workers Website, or contact Healthy Workers.
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Industry Partnership

($1.0 million from 2009–10 to 2012–2013)

• This initiative will develop and support partnerships between Governments and various relevant industry sectors to encourage changes in their policies and practices so they are consistent with the Government’s healthy living agenda. The partnerships will initially focus on the food industry, before extending to the fitness and weight loss sectors. The Commonwealth is managing the implementation of this initiative in consultation with the states and territories.
• To date principles to guide government engagement with industry have been agreed, a series of food innovation workshops have been held and a Food Composition Data Base (FCDB) pilot has been completed.

For more information, contact Nutrition.

Social Marketing

($151.5 million from 2009–10 to 2012–2013)

MeasureUp

($8.5 million)

• This initiative provides supplementary funding for the MeasureUp social marketing campaign in order to extend its duration by three years and expand its reach to high-risk groups. Activities under the campaign aim to raise awareness of healthy lifestyle choices, focusing on the importance of physical activity and nutrition, as well as the link between lifestyle behaviours and the risk of some chronic disease. The Australian National Preventive Health Agency manages and coordinates a national integrated program of social marketing activity ($30.5 million), whilst the states and territories will deliver a program of activities at the local level that reinforce and extend the national campaign messages ($18.0 million).

For more information see Measure Up Website or contact Measureup.

Tobacco

($103.0 million)

• This initiative provides funding for national level social marketing activities focusing on smoking in order to lay the foundations for healthy behaviours in the daily lives of Australians and address the rising prevalence of smoking related chronic diseases. The Australian National Preventive Health Agency administers these funds in consultation with the states and territories, who have committed to fund local level activities to support the national activities.

For more information see Quit Now Website or contact Quitnow.

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Enabling Infrastructure

($78.3 million from 2009–10 to 2012–13)

The Australian Health Survey

($15.0 million)

• Funding to collect essential population health data including dietary intake, nutritional status, physical activity levels and prevalence of chronic disease risk factors. Funding was initially provided through the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey Program which was expected to focus only on adults, however, this additional COAG funding will enable the Survey Program to be expanded to cover children from two years and over, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and include biomedical measures.
• This data will be collected through the Australian Health Survey which will be undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in close consultation with the Department of Health and Ageing.The survey commenced in the general population on 6 March 2011 and was completed in June 2012. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wave of the survey commenced in the field in May 2012 and will run until July 2013.
• Further information about the Australian Health Survey is available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics website or at Nutrition Monitoring of Public Health Nutrition (link to Nutrition and Healthy Eating Information at Department of Health Website).

For more information, contact the PHD Frontdesk.

Enhanced State and Territory Surveillance

($10.0 million)

• This initiative provides funding for the implementation of a jurisdictional based system of health, nutrition and physical activity monitoring surveys. The states and territories will collect and report on the agreed performance benchmarks within the NPAPH and implement surveillance systems using the nationally agreed framework for measurement.

For more information, contact the PHD Frontdesk.

Australian National Preventive Health Agency

($46.7 million)

The Australian National Preventive Health Agency commenced operation on 1 January 2011.

The establishment of the Agency is a key element of the COAG agreed National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health. The Agency assists in driving the prevention agenda, including by:

• providing evidence-based advice to health Ministers;
• supporting the development of evidence and data on the state of preventive health in Australia and the effectiveness of preventative health interventions; and
• putting in place national guidelines and standards to guide preventative health activities.

The Agency is responsible for a number of programs outlined in the Agreement including:

• two national social marketing programs relating to tobacco use and obesity;
• managing the Preventive Health Research Fund focusing on translational research; and
• managing the development of a National Preventive Health Workforce Strategy in partnership with Health Workforce Australia.

The Agency’s Strategic Plan 2011 – 2015 may be found at: Australian National Preventive Health Agency Website.

For more information, contact the Australian National Preventive Health Agency or refer to Australian National Preventive Health Agency Website.

Preventive Health Research Fund

($13.1 million)

• The Australian National Preventive Health Agency administers the Preventive Health Research Fund (research fund). The research fund is focussed on translational research.
• Activities under the research fund include an investigator-driven research round (2011-2012), funding as a partner with the NHMRC and others for the Partnership Centre Systems perspectives on preventing lifestyle-related chronic health problems, the National Evaluation of the National Partnership Agreement for Preventive Health, and the development of a national research strategy.

For more information, contact the Australian National Preventive Health Agency or refer to Australian National Preventive Health Agency Website.

Workforce Audit and Strategy

($0.5 million)

• This initiative aims to identify the workforce required to deliver the settings-based initiatives funded through the NPAPH (Healthy Workers, Healthy Children and Healthy Communities) and propose options to ensure sufficient capacity within the sector to support the roll out of activities and programs. The Australian National Preventive Health Agency manages this initiative.

For more information, contact the Australian National Preventive Health Agency or refer to Australian National Preventive Health Agency Website.

National Eating Disorders Collaboration

($3.0 million)

• The National Eating Disorders Collaboration (the Collaboration) is funded to facilitate the implementation of a nationally consistent and comprehensive approach to promotion and prevention, early intervention and management of eating disorders. The Collaboration brings together experts in the field of research, education, health promotion, public health and mental health, as well as the media, to progress a coordinated national approach to eating disorders and provide information to adolescents, schools, health providers and the media. The Commonwealth will administer the funds for this initiative.

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