Terms of Reference

This page contains details of the Terms of Reference for the Taskforce.

Tasks

The Preventative Health Taskforce will provide evidence-based advice to government and health providers – both public and private – on preventative health programs and strategies, and support the development of a National Preventative Health Strategy.

The Strategy will provide a blueprint for tackling the burden of chronic disease currently caused by obesity, tobacco, and excessive consumption of alcohol. It will be directed at primary prevention and will address all relevant arms of policy and all available points of leverage, in both the health and non-health sectors, in formulating its recommendations.

The Taskforce will also:
    1. support the further development of the evidence base on preventative health, to inform what works and what doesn’t;
    2. provide advice for policy makers on what strategies work best at a population level, and on the best buys for government investment in primary prevention;
    3. provide advice on the most effective strategies for targeting prevention in high risk sub-populations including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people living in rural and remote locations;
    4. provide guidance and support for clinicians, particularly in primary care settings to play a more effective role in preventative health care;
    5. provide advice to Government on options for better integration of preventative health practice into the Medicare Schedule and other existing government programs; and
    6. support the development of inter-governmental and public-private partnerships on preventative health.

Membership

The Taskforce will be appointed for a term of three years by the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing.

The Taskforce will be chaired by Professor Rob Moodie, Professor of Global Health at the Nossal Institute for Global Health at the University of Melbourne, former CEO of VicHealth, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, and internationally renowned leader in health promotion and preventative health.

Other members of the Taskforce will include:
    • Professor Mike Daube, Professor of Health Policy at Curtin University of Technology, former Director-General of WA Department of Health, and expert in public health, tobacco prevention and alcohol policy;
    • Professor Paul Zimmet AO, Professor and Director of the International Diabetes Institute, and expert in obesity and type 2 diabetes prevention;
    • Ms Kate Carnell AO, is currently CEO of the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) former ACT Chief Minister, and former pharmacist;
    • Dr Lyn Roberts AM, CEO of the National Heart Foundation with wide ranging experience in public health promotion, particularly in cardiovascular disease and cancer, and current Chair of the Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance;
    • Dr Shaun Larkin, General Manager of Benefits Management at health insurer HCF, and keen advocate of the role of the private health insurance sector in prevention;
    • Professor Leonie Segal, Foundation Chair in Health Economics at the University of South Australia; and
    • The Australian Health Ministers’ Conference (AHMC) will be asked to nominate two government representatives with particular experience in Indigenous public health, rural and remote public health, and community (including allied) health.

The Taskforce will also co-opt external expertise as required, particularly including:
    • Medical and clinical expertise from the Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor John Horvath;
    • Nursing expertise from the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer to be appointed in the near future;
    • Input from the food, alcohol and medicines industries, from stakeholders in these industries;
    • Consumer input from health consumer stakeholder groups; and
    • Expertise from outside the health portfolio, including in areas such as transport and town planning, from stakeholders in these sectors.

Accountability and deliverables

The Taskforce will report to the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing. The Taskforce will use a multidisciplinary approach, operate in a collaborative, open and consultative manner, and work in partnership with existing agencies and bodies working in associated areas.

The Taskforce will provide:
    • advice on the framework for the Preventative Health Partnerships between the Commonwealth and the states and territories by July 2008;
    • a three year work program by September 2008;
    • a National Preventative Health Strategy by June 2009; and
    • advice on such matters as may be referred to the Taskforce from time to time by the Commonwealth Minister of Health and Ageing.

The Taskforce shall be supported in its operations by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

Page currency, Latest update: 06 September, 2008