The art and science of policymaking, the importance of cultural safety and anti-racism, diversity in leadership skills, and the need to build a global health promotion workforce were among topics on the agenda of the recent National Health Promotion Symposium, which was recently held on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra.
Members of the Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) Symposium Committee, Rebecca Zosel and Dr Jonathan Hallett, report below.
Rebecca Zosel and Jonathan Hallett write:
Health promotion is inherently political. Not only is it largely funded by governments, but it also often involves governments, power shifts, and the health consequences of policy decisions.
Following a successful national health promotion symposium in 2023 on Wadawurrung Country in Geelong, Victoria, the Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) brought the conversation to the doorstep of Parliament House in 2024.
Health promotion practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and students gathered in the nation’s capital last month to network, exchange ideas and build skills.
In her opening remarks, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney reinforced the critical role of health promotion and the health promotion workforce. Health promotion is a unique discipline and a specialist profession and has a critical role in achieving health and wellbeing for all Australians.
Art and heart
On World Mental Health Day, Monica Kelly, Victoria’s first Mental Health and Wellbeing Promotion Adviser and Executive Director of the Prevention, Policy and First People’s Branch of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division in the Victorian Department of Health, delivered a compelling keynote that spoke to the art and heart of health promotion.
Drawing on her extensive experiences, Kelly reflected on the challenges that health promotion faces, including:
- A health system dominated by a clinical, medical model, where prevention often takes a backseat to treatment
- The demands for a higher standard of proof than other areas of health, such as hospital-based care, to justify funding
- Vulnerability to budget cuts and fluctuating political commitment
- Expectation to demonstrate immediate impact within short budget cycles.
To create change, Kelly emphasised the necessity of understanding the art, not just the science, of policymaking. She noted that while evidence is necessary, it is not always sufficient.
Furthermore, societal changes such as the rise of social media and polarised discourse and the decline of trust in institutions have made it more difficult to engage in open, constructive dialogue and find common ground.
Kelly called for a new kind of leadership in health promotion – one that is courageous, compassionate, and embraces vulnerability. She shared her personal journey of learning to accept her own emotional responses, such as crying during public speaking, and how doing so has allowed her to connect more authentically with others.
Kelly noted that the ability to navigate difficult conversations and create trust are essential leadership skills that need to be cultivated. She recommended resources like the work of Brené Brown, which emphasises empathy, vulnerability and trust as pillars of effective leadership.
Kelly called health promoters to challenge the status quo, advocate for systemic changes, and embrace a more holistic approach to leadership and policymaking.
Her insights underscored the need to integrate evidence with an understanding of human experiences, political realities, and community voices to shape a healthier future.
Aboriginal-led health promotion
Keynote presenter Nathan Rigney, Ngarrindjeri man and Executive Director of Aboriginal Health Promotion at Preventive Health SA, emphasised the importance of Aboriginal-led approaches to health promotion.
He highlighted the evolving policy landscape, including the Closing the Gap framework, and discussed how Aboriginal health has progressed over the past decade. Nathan advocated for integrating cultural determinants into health promotion strategies, stressing the need for genuine partnerships with Aboriginal communities.
He pointed out that while policies are in place, the real challenge lies in implementation and forming true partnerships where Aboriginal voices guide decision-making processes.
He also discussed the importance of building a culturally safe environment and addressing systemic racism within organisations, encouraging leaders to be honest about these issues and actively work to eliminate barriers.
The panellists built on Rigney’s themes by sharing their on-the-ground experiences which included insights from Professor Tom Calma AO into the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program and the importance of program flexibility and adaption to meet local needs.
Jasmine Allende and Kobi Ingrey from La Perouse Aboriginal Land Council also shared how their local Tackling Indigenous Smoking approach emphasises co-designing programs with young people to ensure the messaging resonates.
Dallas Leon from Institute for Urban Indigenous Health outlined the successful Deadly Choices initiative, emphasising the power of community-driven approaches and the importance of embedding positive health messaging in culturally relevant activities.
Abe Ropitini from Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation reflected on the importance of framing health issues from an insider’s perspective, rooted in trust, culture, and relationships.
He noted how an outsider’s perspectives can result in a deficit, blaming narrative, and the importance of Aboriginal-led work based on accurate data and meaningful responses.
Workforce matters
The health promotion workforce is a unique discipline and a specialist profession that makes an important contribution to public health and beyond. A number of symposium sessions focused on the health promotion workforce.
Keynote presenter Sione Tu’itahi, Executive Director of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand and President of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), emphasised the importance of building a global health promotion workforce that acknowledges cultural diversity while working towards a shared future.
He highlighted the role of Indigenous knowledge, ethics, and planetary health in shaping a unified, transdisciplinary workforce. His vision for health promotion was rooted in the need to integrate diverse knowledge systems while addressing global and local challenges.
He shared a powerful message on leading with the heart in health promotion – reminding us that compassion can often be as important, if not more so, than intellect.
As part of the global health promotion workforce plenary, panellists Lucy Wickham and Associate Professor Leanne Coombe explored both domestic and global workforce initiatives, highlighting in particular the establishment of health promotion accreditation in Australia and WHO Roadmap & Action Plan for the Public Health and Emergency Workforce.
The Health Promotion Agencies Panel provided a valuable opportunity to hear from the four health promotion agencies in Australia – VicHealth, Healthway, Health and Wellbeing Queensland, and Preventive Health SA – and understand more about their work.
Health promotion foundations across the globe operate using different key models.
The International Network of Health Promotion Foundations (INHPF) has a 3 Models of Health Promotion Foundations infographic that outlines the characteristics, advantages, limitations and source of funding associated with the three models: autonomous agency, semi-autonomous agency, and a unit within government structure.
Further analysis to compare and contrast the health promotion agencies in Australia is welcome.
Australian Centre for Disease Control
Jacob Madden, Assistant Secretary of the Australian Centre for Disease Control Establishment Strategy Branch at the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, delivered a comprehensive overview of the phased approach to establishing the Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC), emphasising its commitment to health equity and prevention of non-communicable diseases.
Drawing on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, Madden highlighted the need to embed health equity across all functions of the CDC, from policy development to data collection and program implementation.
He underscored the importance of establishing the CDC as an independent, evidence-based agency that operates free from political interference, which he argued is essential for maintaining public trust.
Madden also stressed the need for collaboration, not only with state and territory governments but also with diverse communities and sectors, to ensure the CDC’s strategies address systemic disparities and are informed by a range of perspectives.
Gender, health and leadership
Symposium workshops provided the opportunity for attendees to deep dive and build knowledge and skills on a range of topics, including the commercial determinants of health, systems thinking, wellbeing economics, health equity and health communications.
Natalie Russell and Naomi Saif from Our Watch delivered a well-attended workshop on smashing stereotypes and addressing the gendered drivers of violence against women.
Caterina Giorgi, Founding Member of Women in Public Health and CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), challenged the deeply embedded cultural norms that dictate leadership styles and behaviours in public health.
Giorgi advocated for leadership approaches that embrace authenticity and relationships, arguing that connecting with people is central to effective leadership.
Giorgi highlighted that even though women form the majority of the public health workforce, they remain underrepresented in top decision-making roles.
She spoke of the problematic advice women often receive, such as “speak up more” or “toughen up,” which implies that women must change themselves to fit into existing structures rather than challenging those structures to change.
Giorgi called for dismantling systemic barriers, citing examples of workplace practices like flexible policies that emerged during COVID-19, which significantly improved accessibility for many women and should be retained as part of lasting change.
Practical hopes
Melinda Edmunds, AHPA President, started and ended the symposium with a reflection of a quote by Gloria Steinem: “Hope is a form of planning. If we don’t hope, we have no future concept that will urge us forward. Hope is quite practical. If we share them, they are even more practical, they help us form a community knowing we are not alone.”
Edmunds concluded the symposium by reflecting there is still much to do but outlined her hopes: “I hope to see health promotion as core to the systems that influence health,” she said.
“I hope for sustainable resourcing to support the work of our profession, and I hope to continue seeing health promotion working alongside other fields to drive change across a range of policies to address health inequities and improve the health of all Australians.”
Health promotion matters, now more than ever and we all need to be part of actioning the solutions.
Find out more about the Australian Health Promotion Association and read the full symposium wrap-up on AHPA’s website.
Read Croakey articles on the 2024 symposium
- Shaping the future of health promotion in Australia and beyond
- Hot quotes, expert views, and enduring lessons from the National Health Promotion Symposium
See Croakey’s archive of articles on health inequalities
