Translate20-Year Preventive Health Strategy
Why a 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy?
Chronic conditions are the leading cause of illness, disability, and death Australia-wide. In Tasmania, these conditions are on the rise, impacting too many of us.
The reasons for this are complex. While genetics and ageing play a role, over 70% of health outcomes are shaped by factors beyond healthcare – like where we live, work and play. These are known as the wider determinants of health.
Tasmania faces more of these challenges than other states. We have an older population, higher rates of disability, more people living in rural areas, and lower socio-economic levels. People who experience greater disadvantage have the greatest burden of disease.
The good news is that chronic conditions can often be prevented, delayed, or improved, by addressing the root causes. That’s where the 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy comes in: it’s our chance to give every Tasmanian the tools and support they need to stay healthy, avoid illness before it starts and live in safe, supportive environments.
Preventing illness is far better than better than treating it later. Everyone deserves access to healthy living options, and a healthier Tasmania means a stronger economy and community.
This is an important moment for Tasmania. It’s time to move from a system that reacts to health problems to one that prevents them from happening. By focusing on prevention, we can reduce the pressure on our hospitals, save money in the future, and improve the long-term health of all Tasmanians.
How the Strategy will be built
Timeframe
- Consultation opens: 23 October 2024
- Consultation closes: 25 May 2025
- First draft of the Strategy produced: July 2025
- Independent expert review: July 2025
- Final draft of the Strategy produced: August 2025
- Strategy launches: October 2025
Methods
To make sure the Strategy is comprehensive and grounded in evidence, we are using a variety of methods:
- Scan of existing strategies and frameworks
- Statistics and data
- Evidence briefs
- Policy briefs
- Scan of evaluations, reviews and reports
- Public consultation
- Targeted consultation
- Existing relevant consultation findings
We are working with the Australian Prevention Partnership Centre and its network of 900 experts across Australian research institutes and organisations to help inform and shape the Strategy.
A long-term approach
Our Strategy will not list all the actions we are going to take over the next 20 years. Instead, it will provide a clear framework and direction to guide Tasmania’s approach to prevention.
Specific actions will be in four-year action plans developed under the Strategy. Each cycle will include evaluation so we can learn, adapt and keep improving. We’ll also use health intelligence – collecting and analysing data to understand needs, predict future challenges, and direct resources to where they’ll have the most impact.
Learn more with Dr Scott McKeown
In this short video, Dr Scott McKeown, Deputy Director of Public Health, explains what preventive health is, the approach we will take to developing the 20-year Strategy, and how the Strategy will be built.
What is preventive health?
- Preventive health is the term for activities that help protect, promote, and maintain health and wellbeing. Preventive health works to stop health conditions from developing in the first place.
- In the context of preventive health, prevention describes activities to keep people healthy and well, and preventing risk of poor health, illness, injury and early death.
- There are many types of prevention, depending on where someone is in their health journey. Even if someone is already unwell, there are still things we can do to stop their condition from getting worse and to prevent other health issues.
- Here’s a breakdown of the different types of prevention that apply to the new 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy:
Primordial prevention describes activities to create enabling environments that promote health. This is through encouraging healthy behaviours such as physical activity. It is also through providing access to healthy food, clean air, water, sanitation and more.
Primary prevention describes activities to prevent health issues before they start. This is through addressing risk factors and might include things like:
- Having healthy foods in school canteens and workplaces.
- Supporting breastfeeding.
- Protecting health through measures such as immunisation.
Secondary prevention describes activities to find and treat health issues early to stop them getting worse. Some of the ways we can identify people at risk of ill-health include:
- Self-management programs and improving health literacy.
- Screening programs.
- General health examinations and check-ups.
- Early detection and treatment of additional health problems and complications.
Tertiary and quaternary prevention are out of scope of the new Strategy. They will be covered in other key plans like Our Healthcare Future: Advancing Tasmanian’s Health and the Long-Term Plan for Healthcare in Tasmania 2040. Learn more about these plans.
Preventive health in action
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated what was possible with investment in the preventive health system. Mass vaccination, the establishment of GP led acute respiratory clinics, and individual behaviour change to physically distance and wash hands, all contributed to preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic also required strong collaboration across all levels of government, the lessons from which we can build into our future.
The Discussion Paper
The discussion paper is the starting point for us to set the strategic direction for preventive health action in Tasmania over the next 20 years.
While it is not our draft strategy, it outlines key elements that are important to shaping the Strategy to prompt input into the consultation questions at the end of this document.
This includes potential aims, focus areas where we will take action, enablers that will help us make the strategy effective, and the roles that all levels of government, services and community can play.
Find out more about the 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy by downloading the Discussion Paper
Have your say
Community consultation is now open for the 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy, and we want to hear from all Tasmanians.
Your feedback will directly influence how we address the root causes of health issues to make a healthier Tasmania for the next 20 years.
Ready to make a difference? Explore the options below to get involved and have your say!
How to have your say
The Discussion Paper and Participant Information Statement contain important information about the consultation as well as the questions we want to ask you.
Read the Discussion Paper and Participant Information Statement, then have your say through one of the following:
Complete an online survey
- Complete the community survey if you are a member of the public.
- Complete the stakeholder survey if you are a representative from a government organisation, community sector organisation, business sector organisation, healthcare professional and researchers.
Email a formal submission
- Email your responses to [email protected]. You can send feedback in any format, including text, pictures, voice recordings, or short videos.
Attend a regional forum
- Attend one of our face-to-face sessions across the state in March 2025.
- Venues and times will be available soon.
Phone us
- Phone the Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738 and select option 3 during business hours.
Consultation closes on Sunday 25 May 2025.
What other types of consultation are happening?
In addition to the options above, we are running a range of different targeted consultation types. These are listed below.
We will be running workshops with key groups involved in the preventive health space, such as local government networks, coalitions relevant to preventive health, relevant work areas, key governance groups.
We will be running interviews with key leaders in the preventive health space.
Health Consumers Tasmania will be working with local communities and consumers to share what we’ve learned from conversations over the years about preventive health and make sure we have it right. We’ll also explore with them how to make this long-term Strategy sustainable and impactful.
Dates will be available soon for sessions in:
- Ulverstone (Central Coast Voice for Health)
- Dorset/Scottsdale (Better Health Dorset)
- Tasman Peninsula (Tasman Voice for Health)
- Huon Valley (Huon Valley Voice for Health)
- Glamorgan/Spring Bay
- Central Highlands
There are a number of different groups within Tasmania who experience a disproportionate burden of disease, leading to differences in health outcomes and life expectancy. This inequitable burden of disease is not due to personal fault or responsibility, rather, it is largely avoidable. It is well known that the main causes of these disparities are social inequality and social disadvantage.
We will work with a range of priority groups to make sure we use what we’ve already heard from existing consultation findings and determine engagement preferences for each group.
These groups include, but are not limited to, the following communities:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer or questioning, and/ or other sexuality and gender diverse people (LGBTIQA+)
- Children and young people
- Older people
- people with disability
- Veterans and ex-serving members
- people who are neurodivergent
- people living with mental illness
- people of low socioeconomic status
- rural, regional and remote.
We will be holding a dedicated two-day Health Senate in March 2025 focused on preventive health to inform the Strategy.
We will work with the Premier’s Health and Wellbeing Advisory Council to inform the Strategy.
What happens next?
Your feedback will shape Tasmania’s health policy for the next 20 years. We’ll review all submissions and use them to finalise the Strategy. Stay tuned for regular updates!
Stay informed
Check back to our website for regular updates. We will be setting up a mailing list shortly so you can get the latest news straight to your inbox.
Resources
- In-language translated resources about the 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy consultation will be available soon.
- An Easy Read resource for the 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy consultation will be available soon.
