It’s seen as a “global template for how to get health promotion right,” with almost four decades of health promotion work, including on nutrition, smoking prevention, and the successful This Girl Can initiative, supporting women and girls to get active.
But now the standalone Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (known as Vichealth) is set to be abolished, with the prevention work it undertakes folded into the Department of Health.
The shift comes as part of the state’s wider cost-saving measures announced by Premier Jacinta Allan last week and following a review into the Victorian Public Sector.
The loss of VicHealth comes at a time when public health is under attack globally, and after the Office for Women in Sport was defunded earlier this year, which had delivered several major campaigns and opportunities for women and girls to get active.
Now, former leaders of VicHealth as well as health and gender equality advocates across the spectrum are urgently calling on the premier to reverse the decision, including four former chairs of VicHealth, and the outgoing chair and former federal health minister Nicola Roxon.
They say the plan will undermine chronic disease prevention efforts and increase overall health costs across Australia. At the Federal level, it’s estimated that every dollar spent on health prevention results in $14.30 in future health cost savings.
Women Sport Australia President Chantella Perera says VicHealth has been a cornerstone in promoting health, wellbeing and gender equality through sport, including programs that empower women and girls to participate.
She says the programs have done more than improve health outcomes; they have also driven cultural change toward inclusion and equality.
“Losing this support is a significant setback for the progress we’ve made,” she said.
Perera is calling on the state to reconsider the decision and for all stakeholders to work collaboratively to protect VicHealth’s legacy and maintain the momentum already achieved.
Nicola Roxan told Croaky Health Media there will be organisations “delighted to see VicHealth go” like those within the alcohol industry, as well as tobacco companies, soft drink and fast food manufacturers.
Proud Yorta Yorta man Ian Hamm was named the new chair of VicHealth just a week before the defunding announcement.
At the time his appointment was shared, he noted VicHealth’s role in “supporting Victorians to live healthier, more connected lives and I look forward to building on that legacy.
He said that, “a truly healthy Victoria is one where everyone belongs and can thrive, regardless of who they are or where they come from.”
Prevention work in public health requires serious patience and long-term investments. But outcomes can deliver massive social, cultural and economic benefits that far outweigh the costs outlayed. We only need to consider what’s been achieved by VicHealth to help reduce smoking rates across the population, and more recently, to see how women and girls are now participating in sport at record numbers. It’s disappointing to see VicHealth succumb to short-sighted cost-cutting measures in this way.