Introduction by Croakey: Peak health bodies in Western Australia – the Australian Health Promotion Association WA Branch, Public Health Association of Australia WA, Public Health Advocacy Institute WA and Injury Matters – are urging the next state government to prioritise health promotion by increasing investment in preventive health to at least five percent of the total health budget by 2029.
Also, the WA Chapter Chair of Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) is calling on the new WA government to introduce a Preventive Health WA Bill, establish a WA Preventive Health Agency, and embed Accredited Exercise Physiologists in all major public hospitals and country health services.
“The next State Government must shift away from focusing solely on reactive, acute care and implement strategies that address the root causes of chronic disease such as physical inactivity and poor diet,” said David Beard, Chair of the WA Chapter ESSA.
According to ESSA, the need for Western Australia to invest in preventive health is underscored by Australian Bureau of Statistics data that shows 50.8 percent of the state’s population – or 1.4 million people – live with at least one chronic health condition, up from 41.7 percent a decade earlier. WA has one of the nation’s highest adult overweight and obesity rates at 68 percent, with less than a quarter of adults meeting physical activity guidelines.
Below, AHPA WA Branch also calls for restrictions on unhealthy food and drink products on state-owned assets, just and equitable climate action and to increase employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff in WA’s health system, including investment in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation staff.
Whether the media landscape in WA enables informed public and policy debate about key health concerns is another matter, however.
Geoff Kitney, an experienced political journalist and commentator, has this week bemoaned the quality of media in the state, saying on X that “WA has the worst media in Australia, dominated by Seven West Media, owned by right-wing resources magnate Kerry Stokes.”
Seven West Media has been called out by ABC’s Media Watch for biased and overly promotional coverage of WA Liberal Candidate Basil Zempilas, who has worked with Seven West for over 30 years.
Australian Health Promotion Association Western Australia writes:
Together with our partner organisations, the Public Health Association Australia (PHAA) WA Branch, Public Health Advocacy Institute and Injury Matters, we call on the next Western Australian Government to increase investment in prevention to at least five percent of the total health budget by 2029.
This aligns with the existing commitment by the WA Government as part of the Sustainable Health Review to increasing the spend on preventative health to five percent by July 2029.
As well, AHPA WA urges the next WA Government to restrict advertising of unhealthy food and drink on state-owned assets, commit to net zero emissions by 2050 and employ more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff in Western Australia’s health system.
As the peak professional association specifically for people interested or involved in the practice, policy, research and study of health promotion, AHPA WA Branch firmly believes that concerted sustained action and investment in health promotion is urgently required if we are to achieve WA Health Department’s vision of “the best possible health, wellbeing and quality of life for all Western Australians – now and into the future”.
The new government must prioritise addressing the growing burden of chronic diseases and the ever-widening health inequities.
Invest in health promotion
We would specifically like the government to commit to reporting on baseline prevention expenditure, and ongoing consistent reporting of annual expenditure, including details of the methodology used for calculation.
We also recommend increasing investment in the state’s health promotion and public health workforce, including higher educational opportunities, workforce training, attraction and retention, and workforce positions.
We call on the new government to employ additional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff – including in leadership positions in state-government managed health systems and allocating funding to employ more staff in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation – to meet the WA health system target of 3.2 percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees by 2026.
Increasing investment in food and nutrition actions to address food insecurity including ensuring emergency food relief provides quality, nutritious food, and implementing measures to get nutritious food into regional and remote areas is imperative.
More importantly, AHPA WA calls on the government to commit to maintain Healthway’s activities and increase funding levels with appropriate indexation. Healthway is the only State Government agency dedicated to funding health promotion activities and research aimed at creating a healthy WA. Sustained adequate funding provisioning for Healthway is critical to creating a healthy WA.
Commercial determinants
The WA government is currently not on track to achieving its own ambitious goal to halt the rise in the number of people living with obesity and overweight by 2025. Overweight and obesity rates among children and adults continue to rise. In Australia today, unhealthy diets and living with overweight and obesity are the second biggest risk factors for disease and preventable deaths.
By 2026, the costs to the WA health system from obesity related admissions are estimated to reach $610 million a year if the state cannot halt the rise of overweight and obesity.
The high concentration and strategic placement of fast-food outlets, increased availability and accessibility of unhealthy diets and the excessive marketing of unhealthy food is contributing to the rise in obesity and overweight in our communities.
We acknowledge that there is no silver bullet to addressing these complex challenges, however, study after study has shown that restricting advertising of unhealthy food and drinks is one effective tool that governments can use.
For example, in London (UK), restricting outdoor advertising of unhealthy products (high fat, salt, and sugar foods) on subways, trains, buses, taxis, bus stops and train stations led to reductions in purchases of unhealthy products, showing that advertising restrictions are feasible and can impact population health.
There is clear evidence that food marketing has impacts on children’s nutrition knowledge, preferences, purchase behaviour, consumption patterns and diet-related health. Children’s exposure to unhealthy advertising is directly linked to an increase in energy (kilojoule) consumption, which illustrates the strength of advertising on influencing food choices.
We call on the new government to implement immediate restrictions on advertising of unhealthy food and drinks on State-owned assets, with no exceptions, and to introduce planning law amendments to make public health a consideration in planning decisions, particularly as they relate to placement of fast-food outlets.
Just and equitable climate action
Climate change is a major threat to human health and survival, and the health of our planet. From direct effects, such as frequent extreme heat, floods and bushfires, to indirect effects, including social instability, the impacts of climate change are no more abstract, they are here with us.
The new government must prioritise health, wellbeing and equity in all climate action, and commit to short- and medium-term actions and targets along a definite pathway to net zero emissions by 2050, with reporting across all sectors including health.
Action to ensure a safe climate and a just, equitable, and ecologically sustainable society is a critical and urgent public health priority.
Mental health matters
We call for increased investment in mental health and alcohol and other drugs prevention to five percent of the total Mental Health Commission budget by 2030.
In their annual report 2023/2024, the Western Australian Government reported that 33 percent of Western Australians reported living with a mental illness, which is a considerable increase from 27 percent in 2022.
The impact of mental health can be overwhelming for individuals living with it and can impact on their ability to study, work, and lower their quality of life as well as life expectancy.
Additionally, approximately 73 percent of Western Australians, aged 14 and older, reported consuming alcohol in the last 12 months in 2019. Whilst we are seeing a downward trend in young people starting to consume alcohol, when they do consume it is reported that one-third do so at risky levels.
There is still a large proportion of the WA population drinking at what could be placing them and their health at risk.
There is an established relationship between mental health and alcohol and other drug use. Furthermore, given the association between alcohol and domestic violence and the number of people experiencing domestic violence, government action is urgently required.
In 2024, approximately 30 percent of WA women reported experiencing domestic violence. Given that a large proportion of individuals who experience domestic violence do not report it, these figures could be under representative of the actual number.
Also, alcohol and drug use are associated with road fatalities, emergency department presentations, suicide, drowning, and increases in a number of cancers.
Therefore, we strongly encourage the new WA Government to increase investments in these priority areas.
WA election on social media
Caretaker mode began on 5 February.
Bookmark this link for Croakey’s coverage of Western Australia’s 2025 state election.
