Conference Theme

The Preventive Health Conference is an important conference on the public health calendar. Convened by the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), the Preventive Health Conference is an annual conference aimed at providing a platform to engage, challenge and exchange ideas, where pivotal issues for building prevention in Australia is discussed and where delegates can learn from the experience, opinions and perspectives of sector leaders and their peers.  Attendance is in Person or watch plenary sessions online live via the ‘Plenary Hub’ portal.

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The 2025 Preventive Health Conference theme is: ‘Prevention is political’.

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There is no doubt that preventive health initiatives and programs provide tangible health outcomes for the individuals, are excellent value for money and deliver co-benefits to many other aspects of society and community. However, working in prevention is not as straightforward as identifying and delivering evidence-based programs to improve outcomes. This year’s theme and sub-themes have been selected both with a nod to our host city, and also to surface the reality that is extremely familiar for those working in prevention and public health.

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Politics plays a critical role in both the success and failure of preventive health initiatives. We are aware of the role that governments play in funding the generation of evidence and implementation of initiatives, the impact that a change of government or structures within government can have on preventive health programs and approaches, and of the challenges that come from the interaction between different governments, agencies and organisations. However, the politics of prevention goes much further than the machinations of government, with politics influencing who works with who, how organisational relationships play out over decades, and how well-intentioned initiatives end up failing due to the complexities of their authorising environment. There is also the role of the relationship between unhealthy industries and government, through lobbying, revenue, donations and other more subtle means of exercising influence. Politics is everywhere in prevention and it’s time to discuss the benefits, challenges and opportunities it presents.

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We invite everyone working in prevention to the Preventive Health Conference 2025: academics, policy workers, and on-the-ground workers in preventive health.

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Sub-themes

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Navigating the politics
It’s not just politicians and governments who are impacted by politics. The way individuals and organisations, including commercial players, interact, manoeuvre and strategise, significantly impact preventive health.  We encourage abstracts that tell your stories of the politics of prevention and discuss their lessons for other prevention activities.

Prevention for equity
Addressing the underlying determinants of health and preventing risk factors can improve the equity of health outcomes.  We encourage abstracts exploring prevention activities which include diverse community voices, explore the multiple determinants of health, including social, cultural and commercial determinants, and reflect on how we can best keep equity rather than politics at the centre of prevention decision making. 

Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander prevention success stories
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have led and co-designed many innovative preventive health successes and have survived with cultural strength despite the enormous ongoing challenges that have come with colonialism.  We encourage abstracts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prevention stories, especially those that demonstrate how their activities can promote and incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control and self-determination.

Prevention frameworks and methodologies
Since the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in 1986 there have been many useful frameworks and methodologies for health promotion.  We encourage abstracts which explore and have used such approaches, from settings approaches to co-design, implementation science to systems science which can add to our understanding about how to do prevention.

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Sustaining action for prevention health

How do we reframe prevention activity away from singular, short term initiatives or campaigns, to embedded ways of working for government and society? How do we move beyond short term research projects, pilot projects, or a new preventive health program with only short-term funding. We welcome abstracts exploring the experiences and challenges of changing the framing including, long-term implementation and planning of and the embedding of prevention activities in core functions and funding.

The Prevention “Narrative”
How do we tell the story of preventive health?  How do those who oppose preventive health reform tell that story?  How do we communicate the benefits of “stopping bad things from happening”.  What role does economics play? What is the role of governance and the way decisions are made?  Do unhealthy industries have the right to   influence policies aimed at curbing the health harm their products cause?

Topical prevention challenges
Our media is full of stories of preventive health challenges: the heating climate, obesity, vaping, family violence, mental health, and other topics.  We welcome abstracts exploring these topical challenges that go beyond the magnitude of the problem and talk about creating more supportive environments for their prevention and addressing the underlying determinants of these challenges.

Disruption by AI, machine learning and social media
The disruptions caused by AI, machine learning and social media offer opportunities for preventive health, but also challenges, such as the rapid spread of fear-inducing misleading information by social media.  We welcome abstracts exploring these digital technologies and how they can best be used for prevention activities.

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​Conference objectives​

• Create an environment that promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing and facilitates engagement among delegates to work together to achieve better health outcomes for Australians;

• Create opportunities to discuss issues of diversity, disability, and accessibility, and provide opportunities for all delegates to participate;

• Provide guidance and insight into ways of capacity building and strengthening of prevention systems; and

• Provide conference delegates with new and innovative ideas that can be applied to local settings to help create and improve preventive health for local communities.
   

Our challenge set by the previous conference chair is to make this conference work better for on-the-ground health promotion workers involved in prevention, while making sure it keeps working well for academics and policy makers.

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Target audience
 

• Our target audience is stakeholders able to effect and/or influence change at the systems and/or practice level including:

• Researchers and Academics

• Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services sector

• Health care professionals engaged in prevention (doctors, nurses, allied health, dentists, pharmacists

• Commonwealth and state policy staff including Ministers/ministerial staff, and health and social sector department representatives.

• Local government

• NGO/community and social sector provider and advocacy organisations

• School Health Promotion workers
   

Program content and structure

The program will run over three days with plenary and concurrent sessions including long oral presentations, rapid-fire presentations, conversation starter and tabletop presentations, workshops, and keynote plenary presentations.

 

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