2023-2024 Annual Report

1 July 2023 - 30 June 2024

Contents

• Introduction
• PHAA Board
• PHAA National Office Staff
• President's report
• Vice President (Development) report
• Vice President (Policy) report
• Vice President (Finance) report
• Vice President (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) report
• Early Career Professional Representative report
• Chief Executive Officer report
• Membership
• Policy and Advocacy
• Media and Communications
• Events
• Events and Conferences
• Australia and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH)
• PHAA First Nations Collective Project
• State and Territory Branch reports
• Special Interest Group reports
• Student and Young Professionals
• Acknowledgements
• Audited Statements

Introduction

The Public Health Association of Australia Incorporated (PHAA) is recognised as the principal non-government organisation for public health in Australia and works to promote the health and well-being of everyone in Australia. The Association seeks better population health outcomes based on prevention, the social determinants of health and equity principles. PHAA is a national organisation comprising around 2,000 individual members and representing over 40 professional groups.

The PHAA has Branches in every State and Territory and a wide range of Special Interest Groups. The Branches work with the National Office in providing policy advice, in organising seminars and public events and in mentoring public health professionals. This work is based on the agreed policies of the PHAA. Our Special Interest Groups provide specific expertise, peer review and professionalism in assisting the National Organisation to respond to issues and challenges, as well as leading the development of policy position statements. In addition to these groups the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH) draws on individuals from within PHAA who provide editorial advice, and review and edit the Journal.

In recent years PHAA has further developed its role in advocacy to achieve the best possible health outcomes for the community, both through working with all levels of Government and agencies, and promoting key policies and advocacy goals through the media, public events and other means. 

Vision for a healthy population
PHAA members want to see a healthy population, a healthy nation and a healthy world, with all people living in an equitable society, underpinned by a well-functioning ecosystem and a healthy environment.

Mission for the PHAA
PHAA members will work to promote better health outcomes through increased knowledge, better access and equity, evidence informed policy and effective population-based practice in public health.

Values of the PHAA
Success in our mission and vision is underpinned by our values of:
Respect – we will always show respect to all people, recognising the wide and ever-changing diversity of human society.
Inclusiveness – we will engage with all people and welcome a diversity of views and opinions.
Integrity – we will be honest and open in all our actions, and demonstrate good governance, democratic principles, transparency, and accountability.
Evidence – we will always utilise high quality evidence-based research in all our work.
Leadership – we will demonstrate leadership and fulfil our responsibility to be the voice of public health.

Priorities for 2023 and beyond
Key roles of the organisation include capacity building, advocacy and the development of policy advice. Core to our work is an evidence base drawn from a wide range of members working in public health practice, research, administration and related fields who volunteer their time to inform policy, support advocacy and assist in capacity building within the sector. The aims of the PHAA include commitments to advancing:

Public health ideas – Effective promotion of public health thinking, health equity values and ecosystem and health values, driven by evidence-based research and policy.
Public health action – Growth in investment in public and preventive health programs, public health research, the public health workforce and our national public health capacity.
Equity and equality – Continual reduction of social and economic health inequities and inequality.
Climate and health – An effective response to climate change and its impact on health and the greater population.
Reconciliation and health – A successful Reconciliation process among all Australians, and improved health to close the gaps for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Key strategic priorities include:
1. Achieve major improvements in policies on public health and disease prevention
2. Achieve a major boost in national spending on public health and disease prevention
3. Achieve increased investments in the national public health workforce
4. Continue commitment to delivering professional development opportunities
5. Build PHAA’s membership
6. Pursue near-term policy priorities, which include:
• Working with government to create an effective National Preventive Health Strategy and Implementation Plan
• Promoting government actions to address the key preventable health issues and diseases, through government policy, resourcing, social marketing campaigns and other means
• Advocating for an integrated suite of programs relating to attraction, education, career options, permanent positions in an expanded public health workforce, including public health research
• Ensuring that the health impacts of climate change are understood, and help strengthen the call for climate action
• Working to secure increased resourcing and autonomy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public and preventive health programs and services
• Ensuring that the National Obesity Strategy, due for finalisation in 2021, has strong policy commitments and public health focus, and a clear time-bound implementation plan
• Securing the establishment of a National Nutrition Strategy
• Ensuring that food regulation in Australia remains health-focused
• Ensuring that governments maintain the precautionary approach in relation to e-cigarette regulation

The reduction of social and health inequities should be an over-arching goal of national policy and recognised as a key measure of our progress as a society. The Australian Government, in collaboration with the States/Territories, should outline a comprehensive national cross-government framework on reducing health inequities. All public health activities and related government policy should be directed towards reducing social and health inequity nationally and, where possible, internationally.

Health Equity
As outlined in the Association’s objectives:
Health is a human right, a vital resource for everyday life, and a key factor in sustainability. Health equity and inequity do not exist in isolation from the conditions of society that underpin people’s health. The health status of all people is impacted by the social, political, and environmental and economic determinants of health. Specific focus on these determinants is necessary to reduce the unfair and unjust effects of conditions of living that cause poor health and disease. 

PHAA also notes that:
• Health inequity differs from health inequality. A health inequality arises when two or more groups are compared on some aspect of health and found to differ. Whether this inequality (disparity) is inequitable, however, requires a judgement (based on a concept of social justice) that the inequality is unfair and/or unjust and/or avoidable. Inequity is a political concept while inequality refers to measurable differences between (or among, or within) groups.
• Health inequity occurs as a result of unfair, unjust social treatment – by governments, organisations and people, resulting in political and economic structures and policies that create living and working conditions that are harmful to health, distribute essential health and other public services inequitably or unfairly, preventing some communities and people from participating fully in the cultural, social or community life of society.

Health Values and the Ecosystem
The PHAA recognises the foundational role of the Earth's ecosystems to human civilisation, prosperity, health and wellbeing, the nature of humanity’s inextricable relationships with the ecosystem of which we are a part. Within this context we recognise that these ecological determinants of health (an eco-social viewpoint) are entwined with health and wellbeing along with socially determined influences. Additionally, the PHAA will act itself, and call for action, for the promotion and protection of the health of the ecosystems in a concerted manner in its policy development and implementation.

Social Determinants of Health
The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels, which are themselves influenced by policy choices. The social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities – the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries. 

The determinants of health inequities are largely outside the health system and relate to the inequitable distribution of social, economic and cultural resources and opportunities. Health inequities are the result of the interaction of a range of factors including: macro politico-economic structures and policy; living and working conditions; cultural, social and community influences; and individual lifestyle factors.

President's report

After four years as President of PHAA, I will hand over the reins in September 2024. It has been a privilege, a responsibility deeply felt, and fun (mostly). 

Thanks first to my effervescent colleague and friend, Terry Slevin, whose particular skill mix has been critical to our organisational capacity to make a difference - for whom it matters, with those who decide, where it counts. 

Thanks to my fellow Board members, who have not tired of the groundwork, tending to the foundations of the organisation, and ensuring its activities align with its values and mission. 

Thanks to our national office staff, who always go the extra mile, with dedication and good humour, because they share in PHAA’s vision. 

And thanks to all members, who volunteer their time, pay their dues and breathe life into the Branches and SIG’s. Altogether, it is a bit of a magic pudding!

Re-reading my report from last year, it comes across as pensive and uncertain. More was to happen – a failure of the Voice referendum, most notably. 

Where to next? PHAA remains committed to meaningful Reconciliation, and to the co-design of a First Nations Collective, to give proper voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members in our organisation and build our collective capacity for listening. We may not be sure
exactly what to do in all circumstances, but we do know who we want to hear from, who we want to walk with, and to whom we want to be accountable.

Elsewhere in this annual report, you will read about our updated strategic plan, as well as successes and failures in our policy and advocacy efforts over the last year, so let me stay with some broad governance commentary.

In a difficult world, we are definitely stronger together, and that is why the shape of multi-disciplinary civil society organisations like PHAA matters too. Diversity of views and voices becomes a strength if everyone can be heard, and if a consensus can be reached, at least as to the main priorities and the next steps. That requires a continuous balancing act, sometimes on a narrow path, in the face of external uncertainty and volatility. Maintaining our centre of gravity, the point to which we always return and the source of our strength, is crucial. And for

PHAA that centre is, and always will be, trust. Trust in each other, trust in the process, trust in the mission. Paraphrasing Yeats, if the centre cannot hold, things fall apart.

Part of the trick of good institutions is the handing over of responsibility from one set of office holders to the next with some continuity, but also with some scope for change, all based on a constitution that is accountable to its members. PHAA has endured and thrived since its foundation in 1979. I have personally known nine of the previous fourteen Presidents, and in the spirit of that continuing fellowship, I am delighted to hand over the baton for the team (2,000 members strong) to Caroline Miller, who will now sprint on, with her characteristic poise and good grace. Our organisation is in good shape and good hands, and remains up for the challenges ahead.
 
Adjunct Professor Tarun Weeramanthri, President

Vice-President (Development) report

2023-24 has been a significant year in developing our organisation. At heart, we are based on our membership of committed, values-driven people. I am very grateful to everyone who has contributed their time, energy and expertise to PHAA. 

This year, the membership committee focussed on ensuring our existing members receive value for their membership. This has included various webinars, job resources to support public health career paths and a new website and members portal. Thank you also to those members featured in our #MembershipMondays social media campaign. The past year saw the updating of our membership database and we thank our members for their patience during this transition stage. Membership numbers remain consistent around 2,000 with the usual monthly fluctuations occurring throughout the year. 

In the past year, PHAA also reviewed the 2021-25 Strategic Plan. The Plan drafted in 2021 still serves us very well to describe what we prioritise and what we do. But the world, and national public health issues, have moved on somewhat. In mid-2023 we launched a formal review process half-way through the Plan’s 5-year period, and we completed our work in June 2024. We have kept in place strategic directions relating to the general mission of the organisation, including the key priorities and practices of national office. Branches and SIGS will continue to have a lead place in the organisation of our members.

It is pleasing to see that alongside their day-to-day activities, our Branches are displaying very solid capabilities in promoting key public health issues when their state elections come around, most recently our Tasmanian branch, which fired up with only weeks’ notice early in 2024 when an early election was called.  

We have agreed upon some wording changes to the Plan regarding how we interact with allied organisations, our commitment to Reconciliation (post the 2023 Voice Referendum), and the role of the World Federation of Public Health Associations Global Charter for the Public’s Health and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in influencing Australian policies.

We have also settled on seven near-term foci for the next year, including pressuring government to deliver its key prevention, obesity, and climate strategies, getting the full Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) delivered, expanding the national public health workforce, more autonomy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public and preventive health programs, supporting the delivery of the recent tobacco and vaping measures, ensuring that food regulation in Australia remains health-focused, and promoting the establishment of a new public and preventive health funding mechanism.

Our Strategic Plan is a valuable and concise document that I encourage all members to read.


Professor Kathryn Backholer, Vice- President, Development

Vice President (Policy) report

Pleasingly, 2023-24 has been a significant year of progress in public health policy in Australia. 

The ‘interim’ Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has been established. We are persisting with our vigorous advocacy to Government to get the model right and include a clear mission to address Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), as well as communicable disease threats.  

South Australia is in the process of establishing a new agency, Preventive Health SA. It is encouraging to see this state government’s leadership investing in public health. As PHAA continually points out, investing in prevention saves government expenditure in the long run.

Getting governments and their treasuries to see past short-term pressures in health to make evidence-based investment in preventive health, remains one of our key policy goals and continues to be a hard nut to crack.

Great progress has been made this year in tobacco control, with two major public health initiatives passing through Parliament. Legislation governing tobacco in Australia saw a major overhaul, with the new Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act, reaffirming Australia’s position as a world-leader in tobacco control. In June 2024 the Vaping Reform Bill passed through the Parliament. These laws will protect children and young people particularly from the harms of vaping, regulating vapes as therapeutic products and ending the sale outside of pharmacies and blocking avenues for marketing and advertising. Australia’s world-leading vaping legislation will be followed with interest around the world. The Government has also invested in smoking and vaping campaigns, quit programs, and enforcement. The outcome is a credit to the Government, and to PHAA and other peak health agencies’ policy advocacy. 

We are gearing up for a major effort on food policies in the next year, with the excellent report from the House of Representatives Committee on Health on the State of Diabetes in Australia, with many strong recommendations aligned to PHAA policy priorities. We will be keeping the pressure on Government to deliver on these.

Our organisation’s evidence-based policy-making culture goes from strength to strength. The still-underway 2024 cycle looks to be the biggest year ever. Our members work on our policy directions is the heart of our organisation, and I want to acknowledge and thank all who take part. This year, our new online format has seen members enthusiastically providing feedback, with hundreds of comments made across the 40 available policies.

The outputs of our national office policy team, working together with our members, are extraordinary. The Policy & Advocacy section of this Report shows the breadth of our work. Every part of this effort is saving lives and preventing disease and social disadvantage, and we should all be proud of the contribution PHAA is making to the wellbeing of so many Australians.
 
Professor Caroline Miller, Vice-President, Policy

Vice President (Finance) report

This section provides an overview of the Public Health Association of Australia’s (PHAA) performance for the financial year 2023/24, to be read alongside the Association’s Audited Financial Statements for the year ending 30 June 2024.

PHAA recorded a surplus of $ 245,775 for the financial year, outperforming the projected budget deficit of $161,386.47 by $407,161.47. The detailed audited statements can be found at the conclusion of this report. Thanks to our continued prudent financial management, PHAA has been able to commence and finance the project which will develop a co-designed project to propose an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collective. Our purpose is to give a greater voice to First Nations people into the work of PHAA.  

This strong financial outcome has been achieved while maintaining a freeze on membership fees for more than five years.

Conferences and events performed ahead of budget largely due to the enthusiasm of members and others to reengage face to face though our extensive events program. We were also able to attract stronger levels of sponsorship than anticipated.

Our ethical investment strategy has meant our strong balance sheet has been able to provide returns that help us meet increasing costs, despite out government grant being unindexed to inflation.  

Moreover, our strategic collaborations with other associations and not-for-profits have amplified our advocacy efforts in a cost-effective manner, often with PHAA leading the charge by sharing resources and coordinating joint actions.
 
Vincent So, Vice President (Finance)

Vice President (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) report

My research and goal coming into this role at the PHAA, is all about realising a ‘First Nations in All Policies’ approach. This is about harnessing Indigenous science and wisdom for the betterment and health of all people and the planet. 

For this reason, I am honoured and excited to be leading the PHAA First Nations Collective co-design project to privilege the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members and communities in the decision making and policies of our Association. Although the Collective had been part of internal discussions for quite some time prior to the 2023 Voice Referendum, our resolve to ensure the meaningful inclusion of First Nations peoples’ voices within the PHAA has only been strengthened by its outcome.

Things need to change, and embedding a Collective of our voices into the PHAA ensures our ways are privileged across policies. I am excited to be working with an excellent team of First Nations public health professionals to make this happen, including - Kelli J Owen, Stephen Harfield, Khwanruethai Ngampromwongse, Suzanne Munkara, Zyana Gall, and Kynesha Temple. 

I also want to thank all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members on our conference planning committees who have provided leadership and guidance to ensure our researchers are given a voice at all our major events, both as keynote speakers and in dedicated concurrent sessions. In the past year, this has included Lisa Whop (2023 Screening Symposium), Ian Anderson (2023 Australian Public Health Conference), Karla Canuto (2024 Preventive Health Conference), plus Katrina Clark and Heather D’Antoine (2024 Communicable Diseases & Immunisation Conference).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research also features in our journal - the ANZJPH. Ten ‘top reads’ from the last year were chosen to celebrate NAIDOC Week in July. These articles were chosen because they were co-authored not only by well-established First Nations researchers, but also featured our emerging researchers. I would like to particularly acknowledge the amazing work that Summer May Finlay continues to do as our inaugural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander editor for the journal.

On the policy front PHAA continues to actively support the Close the Gap Campaign through the Policy & Advocacy Working Group of the Alliance Group (formerly known as the Steering Committee), contributing to submissions advocating for the rights of our peoples to self-determination and health equity. In the past year, major submissions have included to the Productivity Commission Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and to the Human Rights Commission on the National Anti-Racism Framework.

I was also privileged to attend the launch of the 2024 Close the Gap Report: Voyage to Voice, Treaty, Truth and Beyond at Parliament House and help promote its message to centre First Nations leadership in efforts to close the gap. 
 
Dr Alana Gall
Vice-President, (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) 

Early Career Professional Representative Report

On behalf of the Student and Young Professionals in Public Health (SYPPH) committee, it is with great pleasure to report that fiscal year 2023-2024 has been a productive one. SYPPH has been continually focusing on our commitment in engaging and supporting emerging public health professionals through our flagship initiatives and activities. This report provides an overview of SYPPH's key achievements and highlights from the past 12 months.

Membership Statistics
As of June 30, 2024, SYPPH membership stands at 783 full-time student members, representing the largest membership category within PHAA and a 4.8% increase from the previous year. This growth demonstrates the continued interest and engagement of students and early career professionals in public health.

PHAA National Mentoring Program
The PHAA National Mentoring Program received a 60% increase in applications compared to 2023, with 49 mentee-mentor pairs formed. The high demand for mentorship underscores the value of this program in supporting the professional development of emerging public health leaders. SYPPH is planning additional networking events and a long-term evaluation of the program's impact on participants' career paths.

Think Tank Competition
The 2024 Think Tank Competition attracted 19 submissions, showcasing the innovative ideas and solutions proposed by students to address the prompt: “Considering the need for an inclusive public health system in Australia, propose an innovative strategy to amplify marginalised voices to address the public health challenges of today”. Four finalists were selected to present at a national webinar, with the winner earning the opportunity to present at the 2024 Australian Public Health Conference. Entries will also be considered for publication by Croakey Media, providing a platform for students to share their perspectives with a wider audience.

Student Career and Networking Activities
SYPPH collaborated with PHAA policy and communications teams to organise a series of workshops aimed at enhancing students' skills in areas such as lobbying, advocacy, communications, and presentation. These workshops were well-received by participants and provided valuable insights into various aspects of public health practice. Upcoming events include a webinar on careers in public health and a workshop on Indigenous health policy, further expanding the range of professional development opportunities offered by SYPPH.

Finance Subcommittee
We have maintained a budget surplus throughout the year and are in the process or launching a number of grants, bursaries and supports for PHAA SYPPH members. Recognising the importance of financial support for professional development, SYPPH initiated the Finance Subcommittee in June 2024. This subcommittee aims to expand the SYPPH platform and explore funding opportunities for students and early career professionals to attend conferences, courses, and networking events. The development of an annual budget is underway, with a focus on providing grants and scholarships to support the growth of emerging public health leaders.

Social Media Engagement
SYPPH continues to actively engage with its members and the broader public health community through social media. The SYPPH X (Twitter) account has grown to 1,316 followers, with 34 unique posts generating high engagement and reach over the past year. Social media remains an important tool for SYPPH to share information, promote events, and foster a sense of community among students and early career professionals in public health.

Conclusion
The SYPPH committee has demonstrated its commitment to supporting and empowering the next generation of public health leaders through a range of initiatives and activities. From mentoring and skill-building workshops to the Think Tank Competition and social media engagement, SYPPH has adapted to the evolving needs and interests of its members. As the committee looks ahead, it remains steadfast in its commitment to nurturing the next generation of public health leaders, ensuring a strong and resilient future for the public health workforce.
 
Kevin Mao, Early Career Professional Representative  

Chief Executive Officer report

PHAA has always been about people. How we can best serve the development of public health by supporting policy reforms to benefit the people doing it the toughest. It is also about our people who contribute to the Association and its’ work. There are two enormous contributors who will now step back after long service in leadership roles.  

I have been enormously fortunate and privileged to work with two-term President, Adj Prof Tarun Weeramanthri AM. Tarun has brought high standards, enormous expertise and energy, a keen eye on proper process and fairness, and a determination to ensure PHAA is a relevant and influential contributor to the national conversation about health. Over his term he has become a friend – while always maintaining his objectivity and focus on protecting and advancing our Association. He has earned, in my view, all of our respect and gratitude.

Another long-term leader and contributor has been the departing Editor-in-Chief of the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, Prof John Lowe. John has served two separate terms for our journal, and seen it grow and evolve into an early adopter of the open access journal movement, while building its readership and reputation. He kindly stayed on to bed down the shift to new publisher Elsevier. A simple metric shows the journal’s importance: it reached and now exceeds one million paper downloads per year.  This year, capturing former publisher Wiley’s back catalogue, and the new publisher data, that sits at around 1.6 million. This is a powerful testament to the relevance and importance of research published in our journal.

Onto public policy, it is a reflection on Australia’s ludicrously short-term period (three years at most) of federal government that we now focus on the next election, despite it feeling like the current government has only recently started. Some of our expectation for the Labor government became reality with important progress on tobacco and vaping.

Public health wins are too few and far between to miss celebrating important wins, and there were two. The passage of the Tobacco and other Products Bill of 2023, and the Vaping Reforms Bill 2024 were both important steps forward in the fight against one of the biggest causes of morbidity and mortality. Both pieces of legislation were fought tooth and nail by Big Tobacco, and the insidious industry looking to hook new generations to nicotine through e-cigarettes, seeking to profit by the sale of their dangerous products. PHAA and many of our members were very pleased to play an active and important role, along with many others committed to public health, to support the government’s reform. Both were serious political fights so these successes should be celebrated.

Other issues are still a “work in progress”. First, there is far slower than hoped progress on the Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC). The interim CDC has been a low resource and low-profile affair and the Establishment process for the new agency continues to be well and truly below the radar. Having said that, developments under the CDC banner on Climate and Health and One Health are early days but show some promise.  

Frustration remains on issues around the National Obesity Strategy and the National Preventive Health Strategy. A simple lack of action and investment leave many of us exasperated. But we are seeing some encouraging signs on food policy issues, and we are not going away.
In partnership with fellow travellers and agencies, we continue to make representations on gambling reform, alcohol, raising the age of criminal responsibility, and improving the social wage. Again, there are isolated signs of headway. 

Despite all hope and expectation, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ Voice to Parliament referendum disappointingly failed to come to fruition. In typical PHAA fashion, we are looking to establish our own version of a voice within our Association through the First Nations Collective process.

There is genuine progress on the independence of the not-for-profit sector to offer an alternative view to that of government, without threat of sanction. This is an important and welcome change of stance at federal level. So too is the broad issue of improved and better engagement with and access to government, both at bureaucratic and political levels. We certainly don’t always get what we want, but there is no doubt we now have much more effective channels to have our voice heard with the current government.  

On the events and conferences front, in addition to our major annual conferences, we held two new one-day symposia: one on cancer screening, the other on preventive mental health. Both attracted more than 200 participants. We were thrilled with strong attendance to the Public Health conference in Nipaluna/Hobart in September, and the Prevention Conference on Larrakia country/Darwin in April. Both attracted almost 400 people in the room and around 60 people online. The Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Conference in Meanjin/Brisbane recorded more than 750 people in person, and 60 online. People are keen to reconnect after the challenges of the pandemic.

All this effort is amplified by our increasingly sophisticated and always energetic communications efforts. A smaller number of Intouch Public Health blog posts were published this year but a higher read count per post, reflecting the effort to more actively promote the content created by members.
Twitter/X is stagnating in response to the poor policies of that platform, but strong growth in LinkedIn engagement shows the ever-evolving nature of social media.

The biggest area of growth in our communications has been the increased and successful focus on promoting work published in our journal, ANZJPH. Around 110 news media stories and broadcasts were generated during the year, highlighting the high quality and policy relevant research we publish. The continued growing success of the journal means new Editor-in-Chief, Prof Luke Wolfenden, steps into the leadership with a strong tradition to build upon.

At the centre of PHAA remains our people. Our members, leaders, Branch Presidents and committee members, SIG Convenors and their committees, the enthusiasm of the SYPPH leadership and members all drive success and development of our Association and public health in Australia. You all pay for the privilege of doing all this work selflessly to support a greater good. I tell policy makers all the time that this is what sets PHAA apart. It constantly inspires me to see that dedication and commitment from you, the membership of PHAA. 

I am equally encouraged by the ongoing commitment of PHAA staff. They continue to be the backbone of the work we do, and we could not manage what we do without them. I remain eternally grateful to the leadership of PHAA by Board members, Branch Presidents, and SIG Convenors. I want to thank you for your guidance, wisdom and forbearance, and for keeping PHAA moving, making a difference and advancing the cause of public health in Australia.  
 
Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin, Chief Executive Officer

Membership

PHAA membership is maintained by the Membership Officer at National Office. During 2023-2024 period the Membership and Administration Officers were Amber Rowe and Noora Salo. 

Overall membership
At 30 June 2024 the total membership stood at 2,112. Overall, there has been a steady increase in memberships over the last year, resulting in the highest number of PHAA members ever recorded (2069) in November 2023.

The following graph shows monthly new memberships over the 12 months of the 2023-24 year:

Memberships at 30 June per financial year from 2018-2024 were:


State and territory branch membership

As at 30 June at financial year ends the state and territory branch memberships were:



Special Interest group participation

Members may become active in one or more SIGs. The following graph illustrates the number of members in each SIG at 30 June 2024.




Membership Strategy team

The Membership Strategy team was formed in 2022, with the purpose of taking a collective approach to the marketing and promotion of all categories of PHAA membership to the public.  
The main function of the team is to explore and help implement strategies to recruit members and consider and recommend strategies to retain existing members.
The 2023-24 Membership Strategy team chair is current Vice President (Development) Professor Kathryn Backholer, with team members including Branch representatives, the SYPPH committee, and PHAA National Office team members, including the new addition of Jasmine Lykissas, PHAA Communications Officer, to improve member marketing communications.

This year, we have continued meeting approximately every six weeks. Our tasks and ideas have centred around attempting to grow membership using social media initiatives like Membership Monday, which showcases member benefits, and improve member engagement through hosting workshops. There has also been discussion on how to better engage with and attract new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members.

University partnering
PHAA continues to partner with Deakin University who offers a two-year student membership paid for by the institution. This incentive has resulted in over 60 student memberships. 

Policy and Advocacy 

The Team
During 2023-24, the Policy and Advocacy Team has included: Policy and Advocacy Manager – Hon. Assoc Prof Leanne Coombe, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer – Malcolm Baalman, and Policy Officer – Lily Pratt. 

Policy & Advocacy Team Members from left: Malcolm Baalman, Leanne Coombe & Lily Pratt

Overview
The PHAA Policy and Advocacy Team monitor policy developments in public health issues across Australia, advise the leadership of current and emerging issues, represent the organisation on policy issues to a range of government and non-government stakeholders, work with subject matter experts in the Branches and SIGs to develop policy submissions, and oversee the annual cycle of policy position statement reviews. The Policy and Advocacy Team is also responsible for working together with our Media and Communications Team to advance the organisation’s goals through advocacy in a range of forms.

Team Responsibilities
Workload distribution has been divided into portfolios based on priority areas identified in the PHAA Strategic Plan and according to the areas of expertise of the respective team members:
Leanne has First Nations Health, Public Health Workforce, and strategic projects such as the Review of the Medical Research Futures Fund and supporting state election campaigns.
Malcolm has Corporate Influence, Health Equity and oversight of the internship program.
Lily has Climate and Environmental Health, Preventive Health and oversight of the policy review cycle.

Advocacy Activities
PHAA leads the conversation in public health policy across Australia. We provide policy advice through a variety of advocacy work including writing submissions and advocacy letters, as well as attending inquiry hearings.

Submissions
Making submissions to parliamentary and other government and public agency inquiries and consultation processes is a key method by which PHAA influences policymaking across Australia. Submissions are a vehicle to influence policy outcomes to ensure the health of all Australians, through comment on Bills before Parliament, providing policy advice to broader parliamentary inquiries on new and emerging issues, and contributing to the development of departmental strategies and programs.
During the 2023-24 year, the PHAA made 48 submissions to various government, parliamentary and committee inquiries and consultations, at both national and state and territory levels. This was up from 38 submissions over the same period in the previous year. Examples of key submissions written during this year include: Review of the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023, as well as the Therapeutic Goods and other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024, Improving Alignment and Coordination between the Medical Research Future Fund and Medical Research Endowment Account, National Health and Climate Strategy Consultation Paper, Inquiry into Diabetes, Darwin Harbour Middle Arm Development, Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Draft Report, COVID-19 Response Inquiry, Feasibility Study on Options to Limit Unhealthy Food Marketing to Children Public Consultation, Health Workforce Scope of Practice Review, FSANZ Act Review Impact Analysis, the Infant Nutrition Council Limited - Application for Revocation and Substitution of MAIF Agreement, and Public Health Outcomes Can Wait No Longer(Pre-budget submission for the 2024-25 Budget).

All submissions which can be made public are available on the ‘Submissions’ page of the PHAA website.

Advocacy Letters
In addition to formal submissions, PHAA also writes advocacy letters to parliamentarians and government officials expressing support of, or recommending alternative solutions to, proposed policy changes or directions. During the 2023-24 year, the PHAA authored or joined with alliance organisations to co-author 20 advocacy letters on various issues of public importance including support for the Uluru Statement and Voice to Parliament, unhealthy marketing and online sale of alcohol, dangers of engineered stone, climate change and need to reduce mining projects, and support for negotiations for a pandemic treaty. All advocacy letters are available on the ‘Advocacy Letters and Positions’ page of the PHAA website.

Parliamentary Inquiries
In addition to calling for written submissions, many parliamentary committees choose to invite witnesses to hearings to seek additional expert information relevant to the inquiry’s terms of reference. In the past year, PHAA staff and/or members have been invited to attend the following hearings as a direct result of our submissions:
Senate Inquiry into Darwin Harbour Middle Arm Industrial Precinct
Senate Inquiry into Lobbyists and their Access to Parliament House
Standing Committee Inquiry into Diabetes

Advocacy Pursuits
In addition to the advice that we routinely provide in response to inquiries and consultation processes, we proactively advocate on issues that are key to improving the health of all Australians.
Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC)
Disappointingly, the 2024 May Budget failed to produce future funding for the Australian CDC beyond the $90 million set aside in the 2023 budget for the interim agency. PHAA has since been strenuously challenging the Government that this effectively equates to a broken election promise as it is unlikely that legislation will now be passed in time for the agency to be established in this term of office. PHAA received media coverage for its advocacy on this issue.
As part of the pressure PHAA has been applying to the government on this topic, we invited Helen Grinbergs, First Assistant Secretary at the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, who said that development of the Australian CDC is underway but that the Department is waiting on the outcomes of the Review of Australia’s COVID-19 Response before finalising the legislation required for its establishment, which is now likely to be in 2025.

Reconciliation Activities
Our commitment to the Uluru Statement of the Heart translated into significant action in the last year, supporting the Allies for Uluru collaboration and Yes23 campaign in the lead up to the 2023 Referendum. PHAA actively disseminated information and resources to our members to keep them informed and assist them in their individual advocacy activities, including but not limited to development of a dedicated webpage; regular communications and social media as well as joint media statements; and a keynote by Aunty Pat Anderson, media interviews with Thomas Mayo and provision of a Yes23 stall at the Annual Conference in Hobart the month before voting day. PHAA continues to support the Allies for Uluru collaboration post-referendum to continue the fight for the rights of First Nations peoples and enactment of the Uluru Statement principles of Voice, Treaty and Truth.

PHAA has also been an active member of the Close the Gap Campaign, with representation on the Policy & Advocacy Working Group that provides support to the campaign’s activities. As such PHAA has contributed to several joint submissions and attended the annual launch of the Close the Gap Report at Parliament House, on National Close the Gap Day, which was highlighted in associated communications and media.

Tobacco and Vaping Reforms
The Commonwealth Government’s Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bills, arguably the most important public health legislation in over a decade, passed through the Senate in December 2023. The legislation introduced powerful reporting requirements and improved safety regulations to enable improved marketing monitoring as key reforms. The advertising regulations in this legislation also included e-cigarettes. Additionally, the Senate adopted a resolution moved by ACT Independent Senator David Pocock calling for an end to political donations from the tobacco industry and sponsorship of Parliamentary passes for their agents. The Greens successfully moved a resolution calling for a reduction in the environmental impact of tobacco products.

The subsequent Vaping Reforms Bill 2024 went to a Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee for further inquiry, which on 8 May recommended that the vaping legislation be passed. PHAA provided submissions, attended committee hearings, and coordinated activities with other key NGO allies including Cancer Council Australia, Australian Medical Association, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australian Council on Smoking and Health, the Lung Foundation Australia , Heart Foundation of Australia and Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, and many others. This subject received extensive media coverage. The Bill went to a final vote in late June and passed unopposed after last-minute policy compromises were negotiated with the Greens. The new regime bans the manufacture and advertising of non-therapeutic e-cigarettes and restricts the sale to therapeutic vapes to pharmacies in Australia. The package of legislation represents one of the most important public health initiatives in the last decade, and without doubt will save a significant number of lives by providing protection (especially children) from the uptake of unhealthy nicotine consumption which would have continued to grow unchecked under the previous model.

Unhealthy Marketing
There have also been continued moves in Federal Parliament relating to regulation of product marketing by unhealthy industries, especially to children, including marketing of unhealthy food, gambling and alcohol. PHAA policy team is engaging closely in all these intersecting issues.
In November, the industry-led scheme Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) announced that the product ‘Hard Solo’ had a strong or evident appeal to children and must therefore be rebranded and repackaged, now renamed ‘Hard Rated’. PHAA was among other public health bodies that wrote to ABAC and warned of the product’s predatory marketing strategy towards children.

Unhealthy food marketing has been the focus of both a private member’s Bill tabled by Dr Sophie Scamps (Independent MP), and a Parliamentary Committee Inquiry into Diabetes chaired by Dr Mike Freelander MP. A separate review of privacy law in Australia, which includes a focus on the protection of data captured from online activities by children and its misuse for unhealthy product marketing, has also been unfolding. Marketing of infant formula, which is currently self-regulated under a Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula (MAIF) Agreement, has also been under review by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Department of Health and Aged Care, including consideration of criticism that the Agreement excludes unnecessary and potentially harmful toddler milks.
Protecting children from such marketing tactics is a public health priority. However, the larger issue remains that industry self-regulation through schemes like ABAC and MAIF will continue to allow marketing of harmful products. PHAA will continue to advocate for federally led government regulation of unhealthy product marketing.

Lobbying Reforms
During the past year, PHAA has also been active in seeking reforms to the regulations relating to lobbying of federal politicians - which are currently very weak - as a goal of our Unhealthy Political Influence policy position statement. There is support in Parliament's crossbenches for significant changes to the registration of lobbyists, better transparency about their meetings with Ministers and other officials, bans on political donations from key unhealthy industries, and addressing the 'revolving door' of careers between industries and political officers. PHAA made a submission and gave witness testimony to a Senate Committee Inquiry into the matter. Regrettably, that Committee's report delayed action for a further bureaucratic study, which we expect will lead to no outcome. Nevertheless, we will continue to fight for reform on this crucial issue in public policymaking alongside other partners including the Australian Democracy Network.

Climate and Environmental Health
It has also been a busy year for climate change and environmental health. After 10 years of advocacy led by the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) of which PHAA is a member, Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney launched Australia’s first National Health and Climate Strategy at the COP28 meeting in December. We believe this is the first national strategy to identify both the need for a greener health system and the need for protecting and preserving the health of Australians against climate change through adaptive measures with a health in all policies approach. Nevertheless, the strategy did not provide a clear timeline of implementation, nor an indication of funding mechanisms.

PHAA will continue to work actively with the Australian Government to ensure the health in all policies intent of the Strategy is prominent in the subsequent National Climate Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plan, which are both currently under development through the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water - to which PHAA has already provided comment. Although the impact of climate and health on almost all sectors has correctly been identified, details on how these strategies will be governed, funded and implemented remains unclear. PHAA will continue working with CAHA in the coming year to advocate for an action based, targeted response to these policy challenges.

Meanwhile, PHAA has also been advocating strongly against the NT Darwin Harbour Middle Arm Industrial Precinct project through media and open letters calling for the NT and Federal Governments to withdraw support. We also joined a Climate & Health Day of Action at Parliament House in August - supported by Dr Monique Ryan MP and Senator David Pocock, and attending the Senate Inquiry public hearing into the project.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)
An Impact Analysis Consultation for the Review of the FSANZ Act 1991 (which commenced in July 2020) opened in February, outlining the cumulative costs and benefits of the proposed reform options. Although the public health and consumer community was pleased to see proposals such as removing the option for paid expedition of industry applications, many of the proposed changes have been presented and rejected by the public health sector previously, and some changes may prove to benefit industry interests over the public’s health.
PHAA, Food for Health Alliance and the Department of Health and Aged Care co-hosted a stakeholder launch of this document. The public health and consumer working group, to which PHAA is an active member, created a briefing document and submission guide to ensure maximum public health engagement in the consultation process. PHAA has argued that the lack of an adequate definition and action in the Review to address diet-related diseases and long-term health impacts needs to be addressed. There will be more advocacy on the FSANZ Act Review in the year to come.

Three other key developments have occurred in the past year. The first aims to define added sugar for inclusion in food labelling so that foods with 'added sugars' and foods with total sugars above a specified threshold cannot carry 'no added sugar' claims. Consequently, over 400 products that are high in sugar will no longer be able to promote ‘no added sugar’. Unfortunately, the implementation period is four years and the definition for ‘added sugar’ will not be suitable for a larger piece of work on nutrition labelling. Nevertheless, PHAA continues to work with the public health and consumer working group to advocate for ‘added sugar’ inclusion on the nutritional information panel.

The second relates to energy labelling on alcoholic beverages. A Consumer Research Report has been released, identifying that the consumer-preferred label contains both energy/serving and energy/100ml information. Whilst PHAA agrees that per/100ml is an appropriate guide for consumers, industry guidance on serving sizes is needed, to provide clarity to industry and ensure consumers are not confused by multiple and inconsistent serving sizes on similar products.

The third is regarding the ability for the alcoholic beverage industry to make nutrition claims on beverage labels, i.e., no/low sugar. The alcohol industry has been displaying such claims on their products for several years, despite this practice not currently being permitted by FSANZ. Previous research from FSANZ stated that the only relevant nutritive information regarding alcohol is the kilojoule content. PHAA agrees with this conclusion and has advocated that the ban should remain in place and industry must remove all nutritive claims.

Public Health Workforce Development
PHAA has long been advocating for growth in investment and building capacity of our national public health workforce. In addition to our routine advocacy activities that have included arguing for a national Public Health Officer Training Program (PHOTP) in relevant submissions such as the pre-budget, during this year we have been actively engaged in a range of specific projects that explore ways to strengthen the public health workforce.
The Australian Government has been undertaking the Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce Review, which is examining the barriers and incentives for the primary care workforce to practice to their full scope of practice. PHAA has provided several submissions and attended roundtable workshops to provide input into this review, advocating for funding mechanisms that support provision of preventive services, improved health workforce planning, and a stronger emphasis on public and preventive health in the education and training of all healthcare professionals.

This year, the World Health Organization released the suite of guidelines for Building the national workforce for essential public health functions, which includes three core areas for action including: defining the essential public health functions and services to be delivered, identifying the competencies and outcomes required within the workforce, and mapping and measuring the public health workforce. The PHAA has three members on the Steering Committee, two of whom are also on the Technical Advisory Group for competency-based education as co-chairs of the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) Professionals’ Education and Training Working Group. Work has been focused over the last year on recruiting and supporting countries, and engaging with the key global organisations involved in the accreditation, registration and regulation of sub-disciplines within the public health workforce, to implement the three sections of the Roadmap.

Global Public Health Week
As a member of the WFPHA, PHAA is a contributor to the Global Public Health Week program of activities. The feature event for PHAA was the webinar: Overcoming Intellectual Property Barriers to Equitable Medicines Access for Pandemics. It featured an interview led by PHAA’s Deborah Gleeson with Yuan Qiong Hu (Senior Legal & Policy Advisor at Médecins Sans Frontières and intellectual property).

Additional events included:
How can the application of decolonisation enable the rethinking of public health paradigms for Public Health? co-facilitated by PHAA’s Alana Gall, as deputy chair of the WFPHA Indigenous Working Group.
Translating the Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF) into Public Health Curricula hosted by PHAA’s Hon. Assoc Prof Leanne Coombe as co-chair of the WFPHA Professional Education and Training Working Group.

Medicines Access Campaign
As a member of Australian Fair Trade & Investment Network (AFTINET), PHAA has been involved in advocating for strengthening equity and access to medicines, public health workforce and OneHealth approaches in the proposed World Health Organization’s Pandemic Agreement. Key activities included a meeting with Suerie Moon, Professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute and a world-leading figure on public health decision making, who briefed the membership on negotiation progress and provided advice on key areas that needed strengthening that Australia could potentially influence. Consequently, the group jointly wrote to relevant Ministers and key representatives from DFAT and DHAC. Intouch articles were also co-authored by PHAA and AFTINET and the aforementioned webinar organised for inclusion in the Global Public Health Week 2024 program, which was co-hosted with AFTINET.

Banning Engineered Stone
In November 2023, the Senate unanimously approved a motion to urgently ban engineered stone nationally, by 1 July 2024. This came about following concerted lobbying in support of full prohibition on engineered stone products by PHAA in collaboration with united peak health bodies and the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

Alliances
The PHAA also joins with other organisations to campaign for specific causes. We maintain a listing of key organisations at https://www.phaa.net.au/about-us/alliances. Campaigns not aforementioned, which the policy and advocacy team have actively participated in over the last year, include:

Alcohol Change Australia is a coalition of organisations working to prevent and reduce alcohol related harm, including violence, injuries and deaths in Australia. Key advocacy activities have aimed to address digital alcohol marketing practices, misleading alcohol product labelling, and inadequate regulation of online sales and delivery.

Coalition for Remote Healthy Stores comprises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous representatives from retail, health, and academic organisations campaigning for healthy food retail stores in remote communities across Australia to prevent and manage preventable chronic disease. PHAA is contributing to development of a policy position for the Coalition on food re-supply to remote stores impacted by unseasonal and unexpected natural disasters, and a response to the NT Remote Stores Program Standards consultation process.

Raise the Age is a coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and legal, medical and human rights groups that meet fortnightly, who are pushing for every state and territory and the Federal Government to change the laws so that children under 14 cannot be sent to prison. Significant staffing changes in the campaign has meant this year has been relatively quiet, and there has been a marked shift from the previous national focus to supporting campaigns in the various state-based jurisdictions. Campaigning has therefore been particularly intense in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, where youth justice issues have been prominent.

Raise the Rate is another campaign, led by ACOSS, which the PHAA actively supports to increase the rates of Jobseeker, Youth Allowance and other forms of social welfare financial support. With the increased pressures of cost-of-living increases, this campaign has been strong in its advocacy to increase government relief measures, which in the May budget translated into energy rebates and an increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

Policy Review Process
The PHAA Policy Position Statements (PPS) are revised and re-approved every three years, to ensure that they remain current, and evidence based. Given the review cycle occurs each year between February and August, with a view to adoption by the members at each AGM in September-October, inevitably the annual reporting year covers two years of the PHAA policy review cycle: the closing stages of the previous cycle, and the main stages of the current cycle.
Details on reviews finalised in the previous year’s cycle can be seen in the 2022-23 Annual Report. The policy review cycle for 2024 is nearing completion after an incredible effort by the SIG Convenors, lead authors and writing teams. This year, 36 policies have been reviewed.
The SIGs have introduced, merged and/or renamed a number of policies to form over 10 interesting new ones, including Drowning Prevention for Children and Young People, and Youth Health & Wellbeing (C&Y); Improving Australian Chemical Regulation (EE); Trans Health (DEI); and Pregnancy Loss (WH). Another major change-up has been initiated by the EE SIG as they set to create a ‘master policy’ for Climate Change and Health. This policy merges several current EE policies and also acts as a reference point for other SIGs that wish to create a PPS that is climate related. In line with the new policy review standard, five policies will also be archived as they have not been reviewed for at least five years.

This brings the projected total number of PPS in the suite to 115. The PPS, and background papers, are available here.

Supporting student and early-career members
Internships

PHAA internships are an important opportunity to provide skills and knowledge to future public health leaders and grow a diverse and national alumnus. In 2023, we added a less intensive 12-week block to accommodate those still studying or working part time in addition to the traditional six-week blocks.
In 2024, the application process for interns was run jointly with Cancer Council Australia (CCA) and the Lung Foundation of Australia (LFA). In January, we advertised for five PHAA managed internships for the year and were overwhelmed, with 323 applications received (up from 199 the previous year), of which around 200 were PHAA members. Like last year, applications were of an extremely high quality, making appointments extremely challenging. After shortlisting, PHAA selected nine applicants to interview, CCA selected six applicants, and the LFA selected four applicants.
We thank all PHAA interns for their contributions during the past year: Ruqia Mohamed, Liam Egan, Nikhil Kumar, Marina Belaia, Zeph Hilton, Sarah Davis and Joshua Karras.

Training workshops
The policy team has also been involved in several training workshops or guest lectures during the year including:
Leanne Coombe was invited to provide guest lectures for students from Torrens University MPH on Public Health Association of Australia – What we do and how you can get involved; and Asian Medical Students Association on Working in public health: Reflections from my career journey.
PHAA NSW hosted a Webinar on Australia’s Vaping Reforms: What do they mean for NSW? which involved Malcolm Baalman from PHAA National Policy Office and invited speaker Associate Professor Becky Freeman.
Lily Pratt co-hosted and organised with the SYPPH team to conduct three workshops for SYPPH members to learn more about media and communications, first steps in advocacy, and ‘how to lobby’. Input for these workshops was also provided by the media and communications team and Malcolm Baalman.

Cluster Conversations
These meetings were established in 2023 to maximise opportunities for cross-disciplinary member engagement on topics that align with priority areas within the PHAA Strategic Plan. An informal evaluation of the SIG cluster trial was undertaken at the mid-point of the trial leading to further changes to the program, agreed to at the face-to-face meeting in Hobart in Sept 2023, to take effect from December 2023.
Convenors have been appointed to each of the clusters as follows:
Corporate Influence - Alexander Seccombe
Environment and Health - Maria Niermann
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Voice – Khwanruethai Ngampromwongse
Health Inequity - Rhea Psereckis
Public Health Workforce - David Templeman
Preventive Health - Aziz Rahman

At the December meetings, there was an incredible line up of speakers and topics including the following, and all meetings were well attended, despite the timing heading into the holiday season.

Health Equity
Panel spoke to housing impacts on health (Rebecca Bentley, Director NHMRC CRE in Healthy Housing; Ben Bartl, Principal Solicitor Tenant’s Union of Tasmania; and Matthew Lester, Manager of Science and Policy Unit Department of Health WA)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
Vision for PHAA Collective (Alana Gall, PHAA VP) and a discussion on truth-telling and what that might look like for the PHAA

Public Health Workforce
Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce – National Scope of Practice Review (Mark Cormack, Independent reviewer)

Corporate Influence
Clean Up Politics Bill (Monique Ryan, Member of Parliament) and a discussion on corporate influence over public health issues

Preventive Health
Unhealthy marketing (Kathryn Backholer, Co-Director Global Centre for Preventive Health & Nutrition, PHAA VP) and a discussion on latest PHAA advocacy in this space

Environment and Health
One Health wrap for 2023 (Andrea Britton, Principal Veterinary Officer, One Health, Office of the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry), Update from COP28: Health and Climate (Chelsea Hunnisett, Policy and Advocacy Manager, Climate and Health Alliance) and discussion on the new National Climate and Health Strategy.
Unfortunately, the cluster conversation meetings in early 2024 were unable to take place due to competing priorities but will resume in the latter half of 2024.

Election Campaigns
Tasmania
In February this year, the Tasmanian Government called an early election. The PHAA TAS Branch and Tasmanian Public Health Research and Action Coalition co-hosted two members of the policy team to deliver a workshop in February on advocacy skills, which coincidentally was held just days after the state election was announced. Consequently, the group included discussion as part of the agenda, on priority asks for the VoteforPublicHealth campaign. National Office subsequently supported the Branch President in developing the manifesto and scorecard based on the template for campaigns used in the previous national and other recent state elections. While in Hobart, members of the policy team also provided a separate workshop on public health competencies and curricula design for University of Tasmania teaching staff. 

Media and Communications

Overview



Major achievements for the communications team over the reporting period included upgrading the Association's website and membership management system, a project completed with Operations Manager Anne Brown and the Membership and Administration team.
We featured in national media on topics including gambling harm, gun control, and the health harms from engineered stone benchtops. The team also expanded our national coverage of articles published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH).

One ANZJPH article, about nine in 10 vape stores in Western Australia being close to schools, proved so influential that the Australian Ministers for Health and Education quoted it in their press conferences and social media posts (see ANZJPH section).
We held several online media training sessions for members, as well as an in-person media training workshop during the Australian Public Health Conference in Nipaluna/Hobart in September 2023, which had more than 30 attendees. At the conference, we also held a joint press conference with members of the Yes23 referendum campaign. Journalists from Tasmanian media including Channel Nine, the Hobart Mercury newspaper, and SBS News attended.

The team assisted with several prominent media events to continue PHAA's leadership on tobacco control and vaping reforms. In November (below left) and March (right) we jointly hosted press conferences at Parliament House to urge legislators to pass bills on tobacco products and vaping respectively. We worked with allies including from Cancer Council, Australian Medical Association, and Australian Council on Smoking and Health. 


Elections support
Strategic Communications Advisor, Hollie Harwood, created a state and territory elections campaign guide for our PHAA branches. This document distils knowledge gained from the SA, NSW, and VIC campaigns in 2022-23, and will help inform branch committees to develop their election campaign communications and advocacy plans, while also providing greater clarity around timelines, roles and responsibilities. 
At the time of writing, the team was helping PHAA QLD prepare its campaign for the 26 October election, which will include campaign materials, media training, and a website.

Media highlights
The team recorded more than 180 media mentions over the reporting period, most of them relating to articles published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (see breakout section). CEO Terry Slevin, President Tarun Weeramanthri, and PHAA members were quoted in local, state, and national commercial and public media outlets, including ABC Radio National, The Guardian, SBS World News, and The West Australian.
The team issued 33 media releases or public statements in the financial year, on topics including support for the First Nations’ Voice to Parliament referendum, the National Health and Climate Strategy, and the Australian Centre for Disease Control.

Internal communications
The Pump weekly newsletter had an average open rate of 44%, a drop compared to 54% over the previous reporting period.
The team responded to member feedback about its design and incorporated new elements, such as the 'view in browser’ option, which click analytics show is a popular feature.

The team also provided media and website training for PHAA members, including a webinar in March which featured Dr Jo Flavel from the SA Branch. Dr Flavel, who is a co-convenor of several Special Interest Groups, showed members how they can use our IMIS membership software to upload documents, post announcements, and get more engagement within SIGs.

Intouch highlights
Highest ever readership between April - June 2024 (14,600)
Highest ever readership on a single article (2,200)
70% open rate on Intouch catch up email

Intouch is our public health blog. The communications team published 91 articles there over the financial year, down from 154 in the previous period.
Despite publishing 40% fewer articles this financial year, Intouch readership decreased by just 8.6% (42,200 views down from 46,194 views in the previous year). This reflects a much higher readership per article. We also achieved our highest monthly readership in May.

Steps we’ve taken to increase readership include:
Redesigning the webpage
Cross-promotion with authors’ and more effective social media promotion
Enabling a pop-up subscribe button, which has attracted more than 100 subscribers
Utilising Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

We also began a monthly recap email of Intouch articles, “In Case You Missed It: This Month on Intouch,” which has been very effective, with an approximate 70% open rate.
We continue to welcome contributions from members across a range of public health topics. This year, we were proactive in generating content by sourcing articles from experts based on trending topics, producing more articles in-house, and profiling keynote speakers ahead of conferences.

The top five posts by readership over the reporting period were:

Cyberbullying among adolescents a major issue for mental health
This one language change can improve health equity
Decolonising public health: reclaiming Indigenous wisdom for an equitable future
Walking the talk: reflecting on five years of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Special Interest Group
Vaping regulation: what just happened?

Social Media highlights
Grew LinkedIn following by 55%
Grew Instagram following by 70%
New initiatives: reels, graphics, profiling members

We currently have seven social media accounts: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, and Mastodon. While Twitter/X remains our most followed account, growth and engagement is highest on LinkedIn, while BlueSky and Mastodon remain mostly inactive.
Hollie Harwood, our Strategic Communications Adviser, operates the ANZJPH Twitter account, which reported roughly 2,500 followers at the end of June 2024.

As of 30 June 2024, our social media followers were: 


The growth of our followers over the annual reporting period is shown below:



Our best performing social post was on LinkedIn (below), which announced that Parliament had passed the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Bill 2023. The post received 9,419 impressions, 538 reactions, 9 comments, and was reposted 32 times.
The same image was also the top performing post on Instagram, with 70 likes.



Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health highlights

From journal pages to news pages: Increasing the impact of public health research

14 ANZJPH articles were promoted through media coverage 
The Journal generated at least 110 news stories related to public health
ANJZPH articles were downloaded over 1.66 million times

In 2023/24, the PHAA communications team continued with our work to raise the profile and impact of public health research published in our official journal, The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. 

Identifying articles that were newsworthy and aligned with our advocacy agenda, we worked closely with authors and their institutions to maximise their impact through media coverage and other communication channels. 

Journal article topics promoted ranged from the sleep health of young adults and beach fatalities, through to toddler food, alcohol and junk food marketing, tobacco and vaping, and children’s screen time while in grandparental care.

Where appropriate, we also supported institutions who wanted to lead on media outreach for published journal articles. In other instances, we worked with authors to turn ANZJPH articles into blogs for Intouch Public Health. 

Our media activity for the journal spanned from providing strategic input into media releases, through to holding media training for authors and pitching exclusives to key media outlets.
In total, ANZJPH-related media activity generated at least 110 news items (excluding syndication) in 2023/24.
Coverage generated by the Journal consistently appeared nationally across a wide range of high-profile outlets, such as TV News (7, 9 and 10) The Australian, ABC Online, 7 News Regional Queensland, The Guardian, ABC Radio Sydney, The New Daily, The Project, via AAP and Sunrise.

During the PHAA Prevention Conference in Darwin, Strategic Communications Advisor Hollie Harwood also presented on the outcomes of our Journal media activity to encourage other public health academics to use their research to drive advocacy. 
During this presentation, Hollie reinforced that promoting journal articles to media can also help drive article readership and citations. In 2023, our two most well-read ANZJPH articles were also our two biggest media stories.
We anticipate that promoting articles to media will not only put public health issues on the news and government agenda, but also raise the profile of public health research more generally.
With at least 43 pieces of media coverage directly mentioning the Journal by name, we also hope that this activity will continue to raise the profile of the region’s leading public health journal.

Our ANZJPH readership also appeared to grow during this reporting period, with over 1.66 million article downloads tracked this financial year. This is a significant increase from our previous readership figures, which estimated that we had around 1.2 million downloads for calendar 2023, and just over 865,000 in calendar 2022. 

Case study: 
Highlighting the density of vape stores near schools 

Problem: In the last few years, the vaping epidemic has become an emerging public health crisis. At the start of 2023, as a result of public health advocacy, Health Minister Mark Butler showed determination to change legislation to protect the health of young people. However, the public, and ultimately the Senate, needed to understand the pressing need to pass the Vaping Reforms Bill to remove general retail access to e-cigarette products. 

Opportunity: In January 2023, academics from The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) published a study in ANZJPH demonstrating that vape stores in WA were more densely located in disadvantaged areas and usually close to schools. The analysis showed 9 in 10 vape stores were located within walking distance of schools, normalising vaping for kids and making vapes easy to access.

What we did: Partnering closely with the researchers at UNDA, and their media team, we developed a strategic plan to highlight the latest research across the country to support the public health community’s advocacy on vaping reform. PHAA drafted a media release, while UNDA hosted a press conference on site. The story was pitched to media across the country, with PHAA CEO Terry Slevin also fielding media interviews. 

Outcome: The ANZJPH paper made media headlines, and together UNDA  and PHAA ultimately generated numerous pieces of media coverage – including TV news coverage on Channels 7, 9 and 10 in Perth, as well as The Guardian, The West Australian (paywalled), ABC Radio Perth/WA, 6PR Perth, ABC Victoria Statewide Drive and GPnews (RACGP).

The key stat from the paper “9 in 10 vape stores are located within walking distance of schools” became a key message used by Minister Butler in the lead-up to the Bill going to Parliament (see image below left), then the Senate. It was also used by Education Minister Clare (social media post below right).

Impact: In June 2024 the Senate passed the vaping bill, with senators again referencing this key stat from ANZJPH in the final debate.

2023 - 2024 Annual Report PDF

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH)

Following a significant transition last year, the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health has successfully navigated a year of adjustment with our new publisher, Elsevier, and the invaluable support of the Public Health Association staff, editors, and authors. This transition, which spanned several years, marks a significant step forward. Standing still is akin to moving backwards, and the journal continues to advance. 

This year, the journal received over 1.6 million downloads. This is a pleasing outcome for a Public Health journal, and the downloads represent a usage factor critical to the use of the articles we publish. The journal continued to attract a significant number of manuscripts. Our acceptance rate stayed constant at almost 28 per cent. The following table shows our statistics for the year. Please note that due to the change over last year's data, it is incomplete.

The journal has been a significant part of my professional career for over a decade and is now on the most robust foundation of its lifetime. This is due to the extraordinary efforts of three Chief Executive Officers, eight Presidents, and numerous editors who have supported my work as your Editor-in-Chief. I want to thank the current editors for their relentless time in the journal. These editors include Linda Murray, Adyya Gupta, Lisa Smither, Sophie Lewis, Lisa McHugh, Brianna Faya Poirier, Summer May Finday, Alexandra Metze, Jane Hwang, and Michael Tong. Working with you all for many years has been an honour and privilege.

I would also like to thank Noora Salo, Amber Rowe and Anne Brown for all their hard work and organisation to ensure the journal always ran smoothly and we met dates for publication. Working with our new publisher, Elsevier, has been a learning curve, but we have become perfect partners in producing a top-quality journal. I would also like to thank the executive and the Public Health Association Australia board for their support. The journal is in excellent hands with the new Editor-in-chief, Luke Wolfenden. I am confident that Luke will take the journal to the next level, and it will be thrilling to watch.

The journal maintains its strong citation index factor of 2.6 and we thank the members for publishing and citing your journal. This year we have had to combine data from Wiley and data from Elsevier to get an estimate of the number of downloads of journal articles from the journal. It appears we again had over 1.5 million downloads. Your Australian and New Zealand work published in the ANZJPH is being cited and downloaded all around the world and specifically in Australia, New Zealand and North America. 

 
Emeritus Professor John Lowe
Editor-in-Chief

State and Territory Branch reports

 

Australian Capital Territory Branch

• President: No current president 

 

New South Wales Branch

• President: Kate McBride
• Other officers and committee: Sasha Bailey (Secretary), Heike Schütze (Treasurer), Anita Dessaix, Alecia Brooks, Irina Tupanceski, Glen Ramos, Rachel Rowe, Catriona Bonfiglioli, Rachel Rowe, Joshua Karras, Edward Jegasothy, Amelia Berner (non-voting), Genevieve Coorey (non-voting). 

Events
• The Branch AGM held in hybrid format on Wednesday 15 June 2023 at Sydney Mechanics School of Arts (280 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia).
• A webinar for members and partner organisations was held 18 October to seek feedback on the Branch’s focus areas for the then-forthcoming Submission to the Special Commissioned Inquiry into Healthcare Spending. This webinar was facilitated by Associate Professor Jo Mitchell (Australian Prevention Partnership Centre) and attracted 31 attendees in total.
• A vaping-themed lunchtime seminar was held 9 May 2024. Professor Becky Freeman acted as guest speaker (University of Sydney) and in total, 52 people attended this online-only event. Anita Dessaix (PHAA/Cancer Council NSW) and Malcolm Balmaan (PHAA National Office) also joined the panel to encourage support from our networks for the Vaping Bill. Informal conversations between Branch Committee and General Members indicated this support was received with overwhelming support and it is the Branch’s intention to create a regular quarterly lunchtime seminar’ from late 2024 onwards.

Awards and Scholarships
• The 2022 NSW Public Health Impact Award for significant achievement in public health was awarded to Professor Karen Canfell for her work on which has had significant impacted cancer-control policy nationally and globally.
• Picturing Public Health Art Competition – Scholarships awarded to Jean Bogais (Winner: Worlds Apart) and Dr Fiona Robards (Runner up: The individual in context) to attend the Population Health Congress 2023 as well as PHAA membership for 2023/24.
• The branch awarded two scholarships of $1500 each to attend The PHAA Prevention Conference in Darwin – Sayan Mitra and Babtunde Balogun.
Strengthening engagement in public health
NSW PHAA Annual address: We were honoured by Professor Becky Freeman’s address which focused vaping and future priority areas for public health action. 


Meetings
• The Branch held six Committee meetings (from July 2023 to June 2024). 
• The Branch Executive voted to move the Annual General Meeting to October each year to align more closely with other branch AGMs. The Annual General will be held 17 October 2024.

Advocacy and submissions
• Kate McBride met the NSW 24 Hours Commissioner to discuss evaluation of health impacts of alcohol policy changes.
• Sasha Bailey contributed two short reports to the Rainbow Realities report, in-depth analyses of large-scale LGBTQA+ health and wellbeing data in Australia commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care to inform the development of the inaugural 10-year LGBTIQA+ Health and Wellbeing Action Plan. These two reports pertained to unique risk and protective factors of substance use among trans youth and the prevalence and correlates of co-occurring mental ill-health and substance use among trans youth.
• Sasha Bailey represented PHAA as an invited Member of the NSW Health-convened Expert Roundtable of the proposed NSW ban on LGBTQ+ Conversion Practices on 11th August 2023 alongside colleagues from ACON, Equality Australia, Australian GLBTIQ+ Multicultural Council. This NSW bill was successfully passed in March 2024.
• Sasha Bailey made substantial contributions to revised PHAA Transgender Health 2024 Policy in collaboration with DEI SIG co-convenor Dr Penelope Strauss. 
• Under supervision of Dr Penelope Strauss (DEI SIG co-convenor), Sasha Bailey made substantial contributions to PHAA submission to MSAC Submission 1754 RE Patient consultations and surgical procedures for gender affirmation in adults with gender incongruence (lodged November 2023).
• NSW Branch was involved in advocacy efforts (led by Rachel Rowe) to stop further mine approvals in Sydney and Wollongong’s water catchment. In July 2023, after an explosion at the Russell Vale Colliery, we raised concerns with the NSW Health Minister regarding the safety of the workforce and viability of the mine. As a result, Russell Vale mine has been closed in the Illawarra since early 2024.
• Joint letter with Cancer Council NSW sent to NSW Health Minster Ryan Parks requesting a trial ban of junk food marketing on publicly own transport assets in the Illawarra and one other urban site.
• Joint open letter with Healthy Future, Doctors for the Environment to NSW government raising concerns about proposed taxpayer-funded extension of the life of Eraring coal power station.
• Submission made to the NSW Special Commission Inquiry of Healthcare Spending 31 October 2024. Key points were developed in consultation with Jo Mitchell (Australian Partnership Prevention Centre), with a summary circulated via newsletter to NSW members and feedback invited. Thank you to the National Office Policy Team for their assistance in writing the Submission.

Key points in final submission: 
- Invest in prevention: Move towards 5% of the health budget on prevention with transparency and reporting of preventative health investment recommended.
- Increase access to preventative and community health services
- Capacity and capability of the public health workforce
- New models of care – embedding prevention across the health system
• Kate McBride represented the PHAA at the NSW Ministerial Advice Council on Aging Forum on Aging in July 2024, where she presented on Influences on Healthy Aging.

 

Northern Territory Branch

• President: No current president

There is no current President or official positions assigned within the NT Branch as the Branch is in the process of being re-invigorated. 
Currently, the Branch consists of a core group of members who consistently attend and provide input in each meeting. This core group consists of NT PHAA members: Ruth Canty, Merita Hefler, Rosalie Schultz, Richard Wiltshire, Angela Sheedy, Sarah Funston, Emma Chappell and Ruwani Peiris. 

Voting on matters is achieved through consensus when at least five of the core members is present. If not enough members are present, a poll is created and distributed.
• Thanks to the following members for their contribution:
o Ruth Canty, who has taken on the responsibility of making and distributing the meeting agendas and minutes.
o Rosalie Schultz, who has agreed to prepare statements for media on a number of occasions at minimal notice.
o Sarah Funston and Khia De Silva for providing monthly Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation updates 
o Angela Sheedy, Emma Chappell, Merita Hefler, Richard Wiltshire for consistent volunteerism and contribution to Branch discussion and activities 

Focus areas 2023-2024
• Environmental health, primarily on natural gas development close to Darwin
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, primarily regarding food security and remote stores
• PHAA Preventive Health Conference Darwin 2024

Meetings
• The Branch held 10 meetings and had a Branch meet-up at the PHAA Preventive Health Conference Darwin April/May 2024
• The Branch invited speakers to give updates and presentations to the Branch, including representatives from PHAA National office, volunteers of local health promotion charities, NGO policy professionals, and researchers. 

Events
• Branch meet-up at the PHAA Preventive Health Conference Darwin April/May 2024

Submissions, letters and advocacy meetings
• Senate Inquiry into the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct
• Signatory to the Open Letter for Buffel Grass Weed Declaration
• NT Branch advocated for PHAA National to join the Coalition for Healthy Remote Stores

Queensland Branch

• President: 

Amie Steel

• Other officers and committee: 

Vice-President - Shyamala Subramanian
Co-Secretaries - Bernie Sebar and Georgia Carstensen
Treasurer - Claire Brereton
General Committee Members - Melissa Stoneham, Paige Preston, Anvitaa Chadha, Mohammad Kadir, Chelsea Pirodon & Mary Wanjau

Focus areas 2023-2024
• Planning for the 2024 Queensland State Election, due at the end of October 2024, has gotten underway early, with the National Office Policy & Advocacy team joining members of the branch executive for a half-day planning session in early March. The five key priorities already identified to focus on for manifesto development include: Prevention across the Health System, Women's Health, Climate and Health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Public Health Workforce. Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) and Australasian Epidemiological Association (AEA) have expressed an interest in collaborating with the QLD Branch for a joint campaign. 
• PHAA QLD representative attended roundtable consultation to support the development of a Public Health Workforce Strategy for Queensland along with representatives from the AHPA and the Environmental Health Association (EHA). 

Meetings
• The Branch held 10 Committee Meetings (Jul, Aug, Oct, Nov, Dec 2023 and Feb, Mar, May, Jun 2024) including the Annual General Meeting (11 Sept 2023).
• Guest speakers throughout the year included: Dwan Vilcins (Impact of wildfire smoke exposure), Amanda Hutchings (Cherbourg Healthy Skin Program), Stephen Mam (Yes23 Campaign), Anne Brown (Transition to Office 360), Nicola Rahman (Vaping cessation among young adults)

Events
• Elkington Oration – ‘A journey in public health leadership’ given by Sophie Dwyer on 31st August.
• Careers Event in October 2023 – co-hosted with AHPA QLD.
• Advocacy workshop in mid-April to prepare members, particularly those on the executive committee, in the lead up to the election campaign, with a second workshop scheduled in Townsville in July.

Submissions
• Letter to stakeholders to gauge interest in establishing a working group to influence the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Para Olympics Strategy
• Queensland Government - Criminal Code (Decriminalising Sex Work) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
• Letter to Queensland Attorney General regarding online sale and delivery of alcohol regulations to prevent family, domestic and sexual violence
• Letter sent to Stephen Miles congratulating him on selection as Premier, requesting PHAA to be on the Leader’s Forum, and alerting him to the upcoming Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Conference in Brisbane

Prizes and awards
This year’s prize winners, who received a cash award ($500 unless the award was split in which case it was $250) as well as a student membership, were the highest achievers in public health bachelor’s degrees:
• CQU – split between Ann Khuu and Timothy Davison
• QUT – Leah Waddington
• UQ – James Hasler-Ball
• USC – Jade Emma Smith

South Australian Branch

• President: Jacqueline Bowden
• Co‐Vice President: Mary Brushe and Joanne Flavel
• Treasurer: Ahmed Hasan
• Membership Secretary: Joanne Flavel
• Events Coordinator: Priyanka Multani
• Advocacy Coordinator: Ashlea Bartram
• Awards and Scholarships Coordinator: Nicole Miller
• Executive Committee Members: Katherine Baldock, Natasha Howard, Hannah Wechkunanukul, Dannielle Post, Alanna Sincovich
• Student sub‐committee members: Chijindu Etalong, Dilan Gohil, Jay Kongsawat, Wade Paterson, Taylah Gregory, Bridie Armour, Negin Mirzael Damabi, Priyanka Mascarenhas, Zahra Ali Padhani, Maggie Siegert, Amandi Hiyare, Faith John
At the end of June 2024, Jacqueline Bowden stepped down after four years of SA Branch President but will remain an executive branch member. Mary Brushe was elected unopposed to the role of Branch President, with Joanne Flavel continuing as Vice President.

Focus areas 2023‐2024
• Overseeing the continued growth and vibrant activity of the branch, including organising regular member events.
• Representing PHAA in liaison with National office, as needed, in interactions with state government, parliament and committees, health agencies, media and public health leaders.
• Making submissions, in liaison with National office, to state parliament and other agencies and stakeholders on South Australian policy issues.
• Continuing to collaboratively promote the agenda of the SA Public Health Consortium, building on our advocacy efforts from the 2022 SA State Election.
• Recognising public health excellence and build the capacity of the workforce.
• Facilitating greater student involvement and engagement with the activities of the PHAA.

Meetings
• The Branch held Committee meetings monthly throughout 2023‐2024 and our Annual General Meeting was held on 18June 2024.

Events
• Careers and Networking night, May 2024: Featured diverse speakers to meet the needs of our student and early career members, including those working in public health in rural areas, international student pathways to working in public health, including an early career perspective and including speakers who are practitioners as well as speakers who are researchers.
• SA Public Health Awards and Networking Evening, November 2023: We honoured outstanding students and public health researchers and practitioners including leaders in the field. We built on the success of the 2022 awards and networking night, inviting the SA Minister for Health and Wellbeing to attend, and we were delighted that he was able to join us to talk about the importance of public health and present awards to our very deserving award winners. We were also joined by PHAA CEO Terry Slevin and had an excellent attendance of almost 80 people with a good mix of all career stages.
• AGM, June 2024: This was held in person at the Mayfair hotel with guests from the Advisory committee, executive committee, student committee and the broader SA membership. During the AGM we had a presentation from Stephen Carbone.

Submissions
• SA Cancer Plan 2024 – 2028
• Response to SA Health & Medical Research Strategy
• Social Development Committee consultation on the potential for a Human Rights Act for South Australia
• Raise the Age Campaign
• Strategic priorities for the new Preventive Health SA
• Proposed restriction of unhealthy food and drink advertising on South Australian buses, trams and trains
• SA Health Climate Change and Health Framework

Awards and Scholarships
The following awards and scholarships were given:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Public Health Scholarship was awarded to Courtney Ryder
• Konrad Jamrozik Student Scholarship was awarded to Amandi Hiyare
• Fran Baum Equity Scholarship was awarded to Zohra Lassi
• Kerry Kirke Student Award was awarded to Jasmine Liu
• The Basil Hetzel Public Health Leadership Award was awarded to Tamara Mackean
• South Australian Preventive Health Award (joint PHAA and AHPA award) was awarded to Andrew Wiley
• PHAA SA Presidents Award was awarded to Priyanka Multani (for assistance with minutes, advocacy and events) and Alanna Sincovich (for assistance with events and social media)

Publications
• Our 2023‐2024 student reps, Priyanka Mascarenhas, Negin Mirzaei Damabi, Jay Kongsawat, Faith John, Zahra Ali Padhani, and Chijindu Etalong published an Intouch article about their time volunteering with PHAA SA: https://intouchpublichealth.net.au/one‐of‐the‐best‐things‐ive‐done‐ student‐reps‐describe‐volunteering‐with‐phaa/
• Our Vice President Dr Joanne Flavel published an Intouch blog about how to get started with Advocacy: https://intouchpublichealth.net.au/getting‐started‐with‐advocacy/

Other
• Priyanka Multani & Chijindu Etalong attended the Office for Ageing Well Learning Labs on behalf of PHAA SA (November 2023; February 2024)

Tasmanian Branch

President: Louise Ann Clark
Officers: Holley Jones (Secretary), Michael Bentley (Treasurer)
Committee: As a Branch we have adopted an ‘all members welcome’ approach rather than a nominated committee.
Acknowledgement of PHAA members: We wish to recognise the retirements of Distinguished Professor Alison Venn, former Director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and Judy Seal who led public health nutrition within the Tasmanian Department of Health. 

Focus areas 2023-2024
Our Branch stepped up and rapidly developed a ‘Vote for Public Health’ campaign when in February the Tasmanian Premier called a March election, over a year ahead of schedule. The Branch was well supported by the national office PHAA Policy Team to evaluate the publicly reported policy positions and publish a scorecard reporting on alignment with the following five key public health issues:
• Invest 5% for Prevention
• Ensure food availability and affordability
• Stop nicotine uptake
• Improving housing for Tasmanians
• Clean up political influence

The 2023 PHAA National Conference was held in Hobart and timed well with the “Yes” campaign, advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have a Voice to Parliament. Branch members engaged in all aspects of the Conference including a Welcome to Country by Professor Ian Anderson, keynote by Professor Fay Johnston and the Basil Hertzel Oration given by Distinguished Professor Alison Venn. The Conference Organising Committee included Louise Ann Clark (Co-Chair), Ian Anderson, Mark Veitch, and Kim Jose. Mark and Kim also took on the role of scientific leads for the conference.

Meetings
The Branch held an Annual General Meeting (22 August 2023) and 4 Committee meetings (September November, March and June).

Events
• Lilly Pratt, from the PHAA National Office spoke on ‘Member engagement – exciting opportunities for PHAA members in Policy and Advocacy’ following the AGM.
• Holley Jones organised a successful Satellite Networking event during the PHAA Conference with over 40 PHAA TAS Branch members and public health friends gathering for an early morning coffee.
• The Branch co-hosted a well-attended Public Health Advocacy Workshop in February facilitated by Hon. Assoc Prof Leanne Coombe, PHAA Policy and Advocacy Manager, and Malcolm Baalman, PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor.

Victorian Branch

 

Committee
June 2023-November 2023:
• President: Mariam Hachem
• Vice-President: Kristie Cocotis 
• Secretary: Nic Taylor 
• Treasurer: Not filled.
• Committee 2023: Jared Talavera, Lakshmi Govindasamy, Jarrod Carter, Elise Rivera.
• Co-opted members 2023: Bronwyn Carter, Anna Nicholson, Sharon Clifford, Rodger Paul, Atousa Ghahramani, Madeleine Turton-Peet, Adyya Gupta, Kevin Mao, Jane Oliver, Natasha Lourenco. 

From November 2023-June 2024:    
• President: Mariam Hachem
• Vice-Presidents: Elise Rivera      
• Treasurer: Not filled.
• Secretary: Nic Taylor 
• Committee 2024 : Laksmi Govindasamy, Jarrod Carter, Elise Rivera, Nadine Frescura, Michelle Gooey, Trecy, Ann Sala, Jennifer McCann, Sophie Sjostrom, Ally Wallace, Camilo Cayazaya, Muyiwa Omonaiye, Tasdik Hasan, Deborah Hilton, Harshita Mody, Sarah Marko
• Co-opted: Anna Nicholson, Sharon Clifford, Rodger Paul, Atousa Ghahramani, Natasha Lourenço,  Beth Davidson, Adyya Gupta, Kevin Mao, Melanie Keech, Humphrey Ugo.

Focus areas in 2023-2024 
1. Advancing and building upon the State Election Platform developed and launched with the following priorities: 
○ Achieve 5% health budget spend on prevention by 2030
○ Public health officer training scheme for medical and non-medical workforce
○ Local Public Health Units fully funded with expanded remit, 
○ Focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing
○ Action on climate and health

The PHAA VIC Branch Committee are focused on policy submissions and continuing the long-term work of the 2022 Prevention Campaign. There is a working group with committee members working heavily on this to incorporate external knowledge into policy positions and to make members and external organisations aware when opportunities relevant to them arise, wherein they may assist us in making a policy submission. Additionally, this working group’s efforts focus on the election asks and establishing long-term goals and strategies to inform our position come the next election.
2. Attracting and retaining new members through regular events, scholarships, connections with universities and opportunities to engage with Branch activity.
3. Representing PHAA, in liaison with National Office as needed, in interactions with state/territory government, parliament and committees, health agencies, local media, and local community
4. Making submissions, in liaison with National Office, to state/territory parliaments and other agencies and stakeholders on state/territory level policy issues

Committee meetings 
• In 2023-2024, the Victorian Branch Committee met online 12 times. The AGM was held online on 27November 2023 and attended by 30 Branch members. 
Policy and advocacy 
• State Election Platform developed and launched with the following priorities: 
○ Achieve 5% health budget spend on prevention by 2030
○ Public health officer training scheme for medical and non-medical workforce
○ Local Public Health Units fully funded with expanded remit, 
○ Focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing
○ Action on climate and health
● State of Public Health – Victoria

○ The PHAA Vic Branch are working on developing a joint piece of written work by collaborators and stakeholders in the public health sector: "The State of Public Health in Victoria". As part of this plan, we intend to identify organisations and key stakeholders within our networks who would like to contribute, contact stakeholders and members to participate in this piece, hold a roundtable discussion to create a taskforce of key stakeholders and experts, and produce an eight-10 page document presenting our state government regarding the state of public health in Victoria with a particular focus on budget allocations and spending on Public Health. The aim is for this work to complement our One Voice initiative, and support the lobbying of both sides of the political spectrum prior to the next state election in 2026. 

● One Voice
○ The One Voice initiative seeks to form a coalition of Victorian public health organisations and coordinate advocacy efforts on mutually agreed priority topics. 
○ Planning for the initiative has started in 2024, ensuring sufficient lead time for advocacy activities leading up to the 2026 state election. A subcommittee of the Vic Branch has been formed and will meet monthly. 
○ Key next steps are to reach out to key public health allies to determine interest in an advocacy alliance and seek feedback from PHAA members regarding potential priority areas to focus on. 

Submissions 
• Budget response prepared (withheld)
• Response to Vic Health Budget cuts (withheld). 

Relationships and Partnerships
• PHAA, VicHealth, VACCHO, University of Melbourne, AHPA, AEA
Seminars and events 
• AGM/Awards Night planned for November 2024. 

Scholarships
PHAA Vic Branch awarded the following scholarships:
• Indigenous scholarships: Olivia Walker, Troy Walker
• Conference scholarship: Chethana Mudunna
• Early-mid career cadetship: Navoda Liyana Pathirana
• Student scholarship: Brittany Gerlich

Member engagement
• Facebook Group 
The Public Health Professionals Victoria PHAA Facebook Group connects public health professionals in Victoria, is open to PHAA members as well as non-members and currently has nearly 800 members.
• Twitter account
The PHAA Vic Branch launched a Twitter account in March 2022 to connect with its members. It currently has nearly 200 followers. The twitter handle is @PhaaVic.
• LinkedIn account

The PHAA Vic Branch launched a PHAA Vic LinkedIn account: https://au.linkedin.com/in/phaa-victoria-979396287.
This can be logged into using the Phaa Vic google account. The page currently has 10 connections. 

Western Australian Branch

• President: Ainslie Satori 
• Other officers and committee: Matthew Govorko (vice-president), Jennifer Dunne (Treasurer), Ramya Sridhar (secretary), Mariana Galroa-Labourie, Amanuel Gebremedhin, Monique D’Souza, Clare Whitton, Ruth Wallace; Faye De La Torre (student member)
• We would like to thank the following outgoing members for their service to the PHAA WA Branch: Elizabeth O’Connor (president), Anupriya Sharma (vice-president), Sharnae Zanotti, Joshua Khoo, Sophie van Dam, Liyuwork Dana, and Isabel Dunstan.

Focus areas 2023-2024
Key focus areas for the period included:
• Overseeing the continuing growth and vibrant activity of the WA branch, including organising regular member events.
• Representing PHAA, in liaison with the National Office as needed, in interactions with state government, parliament and committees, including health agencies, local media and the local community. 
• Making submission, in liaison with the National Office, to state government and other agencies and stakeholders on state level policy issues.
• Supporting and encouraging the implementation of the Sustainable Health Review recommendations in WA.
• Focusing on promoting the determinants of health and whole of government approaches.

Meetings
• The Branch held executive and general committee meetings (every six weeks) and the Annual General Meeting (6 December 2023).

Events and webinars 
• The branch led the joint PHAA & Australian Health Promotion Association Student Careers Night on the 31 August 2023. 
• The annual AGM was held 6 December with key speaker Terry Slevin presenting “That State of Public Health in Australia and the Way Forward”.
• The branch co-hosted an event on ‘Trust: Missing Action in Health Policy – Implications for Public Health’ on 29 February in conjunction with Healthway and the Australian Health Promotion Association. The key speaker was Professor Martin McKee CBE.

Submissions
• Submission to the redesign of the Mothers and Babies Report WA
• Support to the WA Climate Change Bill 
• Support to the WA Firearms Reform

Publications
• A summary of the ‘Trust: Missing in Action in Health Policy’ event was published in April 2024

Scholarships
PHAA WA Branch awarded four conference scholarships:  
• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Scholarships: Dannielle Nelson & Erica Spry
• General Scholarships: Natasha Ghandour & Md Towhidur Rahman

Media 
• President Ainslie Sartori wrote a letter to the editor regarding support for the introduction of an alcohol floor price that was published in The West Australian in February 2024.
• Vice President Matthew Govorko provided comments for the article Are children and young people at risk of asbestos detected in parks, schools and playgrounds? published by The Guardian in February 2024.

Other
PHAA WA Committee members represented the Branch on a range of university curriculum and research project advisory committees: 
• Vice President, Matthew Govorko, attended the 17th IFEH World Congress on Environmental Health held in Perth, Western Australia in May 2024
• President Ainslie Sartori represents the branch on the Curtin University research project “Capacity building to combat harmful industries”.
• President Ainslie Sartori also represents the branch on the ECU Public Health and Health Science Consultative Committee. The branch has actively supported several advocacy campaigns, notably the campaign to restrict junk food advertising on government property and support for a minimum unit price on alcohol, both led by Cancer Council WA