News that VicHealth (the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation) will close as a standalone agency – 38 years after launching as the world’s first health promotion foundation – is being met with shock and alarm.
The Victorian Government has announced it will absorb VicHealth into the State Department of Health, as recommended in June by a review of the Victorian public service, as part of plans to cut more than 1,000 public sector jobs to address its budget deficit ahead of a state election next year.
The review said: “VicHealth was established to promote health and prevent chronic disease in Victoria through research, policy development, and community-based health initiatives – including Cancer Council Victoria programs and the QUIT helpline.
“This is important work but does not need to be conducted independently of a department; it can be absorbed into DH work without compromising service quality. This will also reduce current duplicative work across VicHealth and DH. The brand could be retained.”
The rolling post below, compiled by Alison Barrett and Melissa Sweet, is being updated as additional comments land.
Contributors to date include Professor James Smith, Public Health Association of Australia, Dr Jenn Lacy-Nichols, Lucy Westerman, Associate Professor Ben Harris-Roxas, Australian Health Promotion Association, Associate Professor Carmel Williams, Dr Jennifer Browne, Professor Rebecca Ivers, the Victorian Greens, and Professor Becky Freeman.
“Incomprehensible”
Professor James Smith, Global Vice President – Scientific Affairs, International Union for Health Promotion and Education
The decision to abolish VicHealth is incomprehensible.
VicHealth is the longest serving health promotion foundation in the world, and has acted as a national and global leader in health promotion for nearly four decades.
VicHealth provides critical infrastructure and resourcing for promoting equitable health outcomes for all Victorians, particularly those from marginalised backgrounds.
IUHPE unequivocally supports the continuation of VicHealth in its current form, and encourages the Victorian Government to bolster, rather than diminish, it supports for VicHealth.
“A disaster”
Statement by the Public Health Association of Australia
The Public Health Association has today launched the Save VicHealth campaign after the Victorian Government announced it will effectively shut the doors of the world’s first health promotion foundation, VicHealth.
Closing VicHealth will prove a disaster for the health of the people of Victoria and must be reversed, the country’s peak body for public health says.
The independence of the agency that has been vital in preventing chronic disease, and was structurally separated from constant pressures of a Department of Health that has been struggling and in atrophy since the COVID pandemic, almost guarantees that prevention efforts will all but disappear.
As belts tighten in government, programs that focus on the essential work of preventing disease become the casualty. Caring for people who are ill will always be an important and immediate priority. It is always urgent. But reducing the commitment to preventing diseases of the future consigns more Victorians to need those urgent, and often costly, health treatment services.
“I make a personal plea to Premier Allan,” Public Health Association of Australia CEO, Adj Prof Terry Slevin says.
“Please think beyond the immediate pressures, and do not fold one of the world’s leading preventive health agencies into the health department where the enormous pressures to address the urgent will inevitably shrink commitment to the important work of thinking and acting on initiatives to stop Victorians getting sick in the first place.”
Destroying VicHealth will also worsen preventive efforts at the national level. That’s because VicHealth is part of the Prevention Agency Chief Executive Forum comprising the heads of health promotion agencies from VIC, WA, SA and QLD, whose members share insights and expertise and address local and national challenges.
When hard-headed, economics-focused agencies like the Productivity Commission are making strong evidence-driven recommendations to improve our investment in preventive health, any decision to weaken VicHealth is an ill-informed step backwards for the state, and beyond.
Public health and democracy at risk
Dr Jenn Lacy-Nichols, senior research fellow at University of Melbourne, former VicHealth research fellow
We’re losing a beacon of the public health world. VicHealth has led and supported pioneering work to counter harmful business practices. My own research (which VicHealth funded for three years) examines business strategies to influence government and public health policymaking – including alcohol and gambling lobbying in Victoria.
I question whether the Victorian Government might shy away from supporting research and advocacy that shines a light on some of its own shortcomings (for example weaknesses in the regulation of gambling and alcohol in Victoria – see IBAC/FARE reports).
Removing VicHealth’s independence from government risks constraining its progressive public health advocacy – this is a risk to both public health and democracy.
“An enormous loss”
Lucy Westerman, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
Closing VicHealth is an enormous loss of a pioneering, globally respected, independent voice for health. Its convening power, community grants, impactful health communication, and culture of incubation and innovation have empowered Victorians and inspired action locally and globally on social, commercial, and other determinants of health.
Absorbing VicHealth’s functions into government risks eroding the very characteristics that have long made VicHealth effective at improving Victorians’ lives.
Having worked at VicHealth, I know the capability and dedication of the team working behind the scenes to help Victorians enjoy healthier lives, and my thoughts are with those deeply affected by this announcement.
Australians are living more of our lives with physical and mental illness that can be prevented. We urgently need stronger investment in health promotion and prevention to improve those lives. This is the time to build on and scale up VicHealth’s legacy, not wind it down. ”
Global impact
Associate Professor Ben Harris-Roxas, School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine & Health, UNSW Sydney
VicHealth folding doesn’t just harm Victoria, it dismantles a global template for how to get health promotion right. Beyond its visible wins in tobacco and nutrition, VicHealth pioneered how to develop partnerships and frame messages. That’s expertise that took decades to build and can’t simply be transferred with a restructure.
It’s been a model for independent health promotion foundations globally, making sure that at least some of the funds raised from harmful products get reinvested into prevention. This has been a firewall that’s protected health promotion from being swallowed by urgent care pressures every budget cycle.
This is a worrying turn for Victoria, but also for public health. This decision could unravel 38 years of institutional learning about what actually prevents disease.
Stop this “backward and dangerous” decision
Statement by Australian Health Promotion Association
The Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA®), the national peak body for health promotion, expresses serious concern and alarm at the Victorian Government’s proposal to abolish VicHealth’s independent structure and absorb its functions into the Department of Health.
The Government has framed these changes, recommended by the Silver Review, as part of a broader efficiency drive to save $4 billion and protect frontline services. However, abolishing VicHealth’s independence will undermine prevention, the very work that reduces demand on those frontline services in the first place.
Closing VicHealth will be a disaster for the health of Victorians.
For more than three decades, VicHealth has been a global leader in health promotion, driving innovation, research, and community partnerships that prevent chronic disease and reduce inequities. Its independence has insulated prevention efforts from short-term political and operational pressures, enabling bold, evidence-informed health promotion that address determinants of health.
Absorbing VicHealth into a department already under immense strain.
This decision will erode prevention capacity as urgent treatment priorities overshadow long-term health strategies. It will disrupt funding streams for vital programs and research, and widen health inequities, disproportionately affecting communities already facing disadvantage.
AHPA calls on the Victorian Government to:
Reverse the decision to abolish VicHealth’s independence.
Guarantee continuity of health promotion programs and funding.
Increase funding for prevention and health promotion related programs.
Engage with the health promotion workforce and stakeholders to co-design reforms that strengthen, not weaken, prevention efforts.
AHPA will continue to advocate for a strong, well-resourced health promotion sector and work closely with members to amplify these concerns.
Glen Ramos, AHPA President said: “This is a backward and dangerous decision. It represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how prevention efforts need to be designed and appears to be nothing more than a money grab. Without a guarantee of independence and quarantined funds, this decision increases risks of reductions in programs and spending on health promotion and prevention.
“Prevention saves lives and resources. Weakening VicHealth undermines decades of progress and will disproportionately impact communities already facing disadvantage.
“At a time when chronic illness is on the rise here, we have a proposal to abolish the very mechanism that works to reduce this. Not only is it bad for people’s health, its bad economics. We urge the government to rethink this short-term approach and protect Victoria’s leadership in health promotion.”
David Towl, AHPA Vic-Tas Branch President said: “VicHealth and its team do critical work every day keeping Victoria healthy. In the last couple of years, they have helped open up access to public space so families can connect, and kids can be active outside of school times. They are working to reduce the impact of new and emerging threats to our health like vaping.
“They are able to do this because they are not part of government bureaucracy. This short-sighted change might save money this year. But it will cost us a fortune in the future.
“We need a voice that thinks about preventative health beyond election cycles. VicHealth has been that longstanding voice.
“VicHealth is not just a funder. It is a trusted partner and innovator. Its assimilation into the health department will disrupt programs, dismantle partnerships, and weaken prevention efforts at a time when they are needed most.”
Reconsider this mistake
Associate Professor Carmel Williams, Director, Centre for Health in All Policies Research Translation, University of Adelaide
VicHealth is an international leader in health promotion with nearly 40 years of experience and expertise, providing critical prevention policy and action to Victorians and the wider global community.
VicHealth’s loss will be hard felt – locally, nationally and globally.
As the world’s first independent health promotion agency, VicHealth has set the strategic goalpost for other countries – demonstrating how to deliver evidence-informed health promotion strategy and action, action that both meets community needs and is politically astute.
Preventive health issues continue to escalate and in these uncertain times – we need our health promotion institutions to remain strong and continue their valuable work to improve the health and wellbeing of our people and communities.
As a longstanding member of the health promotion profession, I call on the Victorian Government to reconsider its decision.
Save VicHealth!
Dr Jennifer Browne, Senior Research Fellow, Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University
VicHealth was established the year I started primary school. As a result, my childhood and adolescence were shaped in ways I didn’t fully appreciate until much later.
Unlike the generation before me, I grew up without tobacco advertising saturating sporting events, the arts, billboards and the media. Protections that existed because VicHealth had the courage to put health ahead of profit.
Early in my professional life it was VicHealth that reframed my thinking towards health promotion and system change and ultimately inspired me to pursue a career in public health research.
As an early career researcher, VicHealth backed projects that would not have been funded elsewhere.
To dismantle an organisation that has led not only Australia but the world in promoting health and preventing disease is profoundly short sighted.
But prevention is often invisible. When it works, nothing happens and this rarely win votes.
I urge the Victorian government to look beyond the short-term budget cycle and act in the interests of the next generation.
The Victorians who come after me deserve the same “invisible hands” of public health that shaped my life for the better. Please support the Save VicHealth campaign.
Independence is key to this global leader’s success
Scientia Professor Rebecca Ivers AM, Professor of Public Health, UNSW Sydney
At a time when the Productivity Commission has called for greater investment in prevention and development of A National Prevention Investment Framework, which would support investment in effective prevention programs and reduce preventable hospitalisations, it is devastating to see the Victorian Government close down VicHealth as a standalone agency.
This agency is a global leader in prevention and health promotion, and its independence has been key to its success.
VicHealth has positioned Victoria as a global leader in health promotion for decades. If we want to reduce health service costs, greater investment in prevention is key, not less.
A shortsighted mistake
Susanne Tegen, CEO of the National Rural Health Alliance
In an interview with Croakey, Tegen called on the Victorian Government to reverse its “shortsighted” decision to close VicHealth as a standalone entity.
The loss of VicHealth would undermine preventative health efforts and have adverse impacts for rural and regional communities, she said, noting VicHealth’s work with local governments, and for mental health, children’s health and awareness-raising.
Entities such as VicHealth were important for community engagement and for complementing and translating governments’ work, she said, and for ensuring the community had access to reliable, evidence-based information.
At a time when many rural communities are struggling, it was very disappointing that the Victorian Government would cut a health promotion agency that had supported many rural communities, and indeed its own Health Department, Tegen said.
Health system will pay the costs
The Victorian Greens
The Victorian Greens are alarmed by the abolition of VicHealth as part of Labor’s sweeping public sector cuts. A move that the Greens believe is political cover for Labor’s own budget mismanagement at the cost of Victoria’s essential public services.
VicHealth has been a world leader in public health promotion for almost 40 years. Their work on tobacco harm reduction is historic, and included the extraordinary step of buying out tobacco company sponsorship of sports and the arts in 1988.
It has support from across the political spectrum, with protected ongoing funding, its abolition and absorption into the Department of Health is a shock for workers and for the health sector and will compromise the efficiency of Victoria’s health services.
VicHealth’s independence from government has been a critical pillar of its success, enabling it to take on massive commercial interests that cause harm to the health of Victorians, including the food and beverage industry, big tobacco and alcohol, and gambling.
VicHealth can say things that governments too often don’t want to hear. They provide a voice to counter the corporations plugging junk food, alcohol and cigarettes – corporations that often capture Labor and Liberal governments.
Without VicHealth, Victorians will once again be at the mercy of these powerful corporations without proper scrutiny.
Dr Sarah Mansfield, Victorian Greens Health Spokesperson, said:
“The Allan Labor government’s decision to absorb VicHealth into the department of health spells the death of its independence, and undermines a key strength of this vital public health institution.
“VicHealth has always been willing to take on the big corporate interests that harm Victorians’ health, like the junk food industry, big tobacco and alcohol, and gambling – something the Allan Labor government has repeatedly demonstrated they’re too afraid of doing.
“The Allan Labor government is putting short-term political interests ahead of health promotion and prevention, which ironically, will just end up costing our health system even more.”
Global pattern of attacks on public health
Professor Becky Freeman, School of Public Health, University of Sydney
Absolutely shocking to learn of plans to shutter VicHealth – an agency that has played an indisputable leadership role in so many public health success stories.
Australia is clearly not shielded from the growing international attacks on public health.
My heart goes out to all my amazing VicHealth colleagues who have worked so tirelessly and effectively.
A profound loss
Dr Alexandra Chung, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Monash University, former VicHealth research fellow
The Victorian Government’s decision to absorb VicHealth into the Department of Health marks a profound loss for public health.
For decades, VicHealth’s independence has enabled innovative health promotion, empowered communities to take action on issues that affect their health and wellbeing, and nurtured generations of public health practitioners, researchers and advocates.
As a past VicHealth research fellow, I have seen the transformative impact that VicHealth can have. The fellowship program provides researchers the opportunity to challenge harmful influences on health, to elevate community voices, and to connect with others who strive to improve health and wellbeing through prevention.
We live in a time where we need more support for public health and prevention, not less. VicHealth is a global leader. We need to protect VicHealth and the principles that it stands for including independence, equity, and health and wellbeing for all.
This decision will harm people’s health
Public health advocate Caterina Giorgi
The announcement today that the Victorian Government will be disbanding VicHealth and moving it to the Department of Health, is shortsighted and will negatively impact on the health and wellbeing of families and communities across Victoria.
This decision will undo almost 40 years of work and progress.
VicHealth was the first health promotion agency in the world. Many other countries have looked to it for guidance on how to advance health and wellbeing across communities.
VicHealth has been integral in leading changes that have saved lives in areas like tobacco control.
Its independence is what makes it so impactful.
Now more than ever we need independent, trusted bodies in health to provide advice, lead advocacy, support community-based work and lead policy development and research.
It is astonishing that at a time when we are facing some of our biggest health challenges – increasing rates of chronic diseases, recovery following the emergence of COVID-19, the climate emergency and its impact on our health, and many, many more – that this decision has been made.
I hope that the Victorian Government can see that this decision will harm people’s health and make the decision to keep VicHealth in place.
We need to save VicHealth and move to establishing more independent health bodies – not taking them away.
More responses to come…
• Declaration from Croakey: VicHealth was a member of the Croakey Funding Consortium until June this year.