On Big Food, unhealthy partnerships, and the public health benefits of...
When the junk food and alcohol industries seek to cosy up to health professionals and organisations, beware. The aim of such “partnerships” is to stop the sort of regulation that is needed to improve...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A former health minister tells: three reasons why politicians have failed to...
A ban on alcohol advertising needs to be seriously canvassed, according to a former NSW Health Minister, John Della Bosca. In a speech to the recent NSW Alcohol Summit (you can read a transcript of his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Good Kidney Riddle: Preventing Disease and Dialysis in the Younger...
In 2011 the AIHW published the Chronic Kidney Disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (AIHW, 2011) report which contained some alarming statistics about the renal health of Indigenous...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Profiling a citizen-generated public health campaign against alcohol and junk...
When citizens are prepared to take a stand against the junk marketing so prevalent in sport, perhaps the tide is turning. In the article below, Jeremy Henderson from the Foundation for Alcohol Research...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Right around the country, state and territory governments are letting us down...
Are governments abrogating their public health responsibilities? This was the title of a presentation to the National Rural Health Conference in Adelaide this week, by David Templeman, CEO of the...
View ArticleAs the NT targets “problem drinkers”, it seems government policy may be the...
The NT Government recently announced that “problem drinkers” in Katherine, Darwin, Alice Springs and Gove will be subject to mandatory treatment as part of a new policy starting in July. It expects up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We should help, rather than stigmatise, vulnerable parents
It’s important to challenge those who seek to demonise parents who use alcohol and drugs as “bad parents”, according to Donna Ribton-Turner, Director Clinical Services at UnitingCare ReGen. Rather than...
View ArticleA simple request: Evidence based alcohol policy – not partisan politics
Many thanks to Dr John Boffa, PAAC spokesperson, and Bob Durnan, PAAC member and community development worker, for this piece on one of the Northern Territory’s most challenging health issues. The...
View ArticleHow sport has sold its soul and players to the alcohol industry
The unholy alliance of the alcohol and sporting industries is doing serious harm to the community, warns Mike Daube, Professor of Health Policy at Curtin University He asks: How can we take seriously...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Police chief names the real culprits in alcohol-related offences
WA Police Commissioner Dr Karl O’Callaghan generated quite a few headlines with his keynote address to the National Alliance for Action on Alcohol’s recent Forum. For those interested in more detail...
View ArticleAbout health and the election: some questions that need asking
It seems unlikely that health policy will be a vote-swinger at the federal election, whenever that ends up happening. As Greg Jericho (who will forever be @GrogsGamut to me) wrote today at The Drum,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Calls for more action on alcohol, drugs, STIs and HIV prevention in...
Efforts to reduce the harm caused by alcohol and other drugs need to be made part of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander strategies and plans, the NACCHO Summit heard yesterday. Scott Wilson,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What will it take to get a “fair go” for health under a Coalition Government?...
The 42nd Annual Conference of the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) will be held in Melbourne next week, with the theme: A ‘fair go’ for health: tackling physical, social and psychological...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to work with the new government: some practical advice from former Health...
Former Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon was guest speaker at the Public Health Association of Australia conference dinner in Melbourne last night, and had plenty of practical advice for public...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Health Wrap: Tackling big picture public health issues
Major public health issues facing Australians have been in the spotlight this fortnight including mental health, obesity and rising costs of healthcare. On a more light-hearted note, all you...
View Article20 years after Burdekin: mental health a ‘circuit breaker’ for closing the...
Twenty years ago the landmark Burdekin Report into the human rights of people with mental health issues identified a crisis in Indigenous communities with high rates of mental health and subtance abuse...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Some timely tips for journalists and others reporting on Fetal Alcohol...
The Australasian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) conference in Brisbane this week is likely to attract widespread media interest. Recognising that media coverage can have both helpful and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Petition launched to recognise Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders as a disability
In the article below, journalist Mardi Chapman previews the Australasian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) conference, which began in Brisbane today. And in the second article, Scott Wilson,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“The alcohol industry carries a heavy burden of responsibility for FASD”– and...
The challenges for prevention, for refugee communities and for the justice system were among the topics of discussion at the Australasian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) conference in Brisbane...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How do we build a health system that is not racist? (Start by taking this...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders will be contributing to a “festival of ideas” at this public symposium kicking off in Melbourne today, Closing the Credibility Gap: Implementation of the...
View Article