Is it time for Tasmania to take prevention seriously?

While other states are embedding prevention into their systems through independent, legislated structures, Tasmania continues to manage preventive health within the confines of broader health services — and continues to carry the highest burden of chronic disease in the nation.
In Victoria, the creation of VicHealth in 1987 marked a world-first — a dedicated, independent health promotion foundation that drove innovation and long-term change. Queensland has followed with Health and Wellbeing Queensland, embedding equity and systems thinking at the heart of its preventive health approach. Most recently, South Australia passed landmark legislation to establish Preventive Health SA, creating statutory protection and long-term focus for prevention efforts.
These models share common features: independence, clarity of purpose, strong governance, and the ability to innovate without being overshadowed by the urgent pressures of acute care services. Tasmania, by contrast, funds preventive health through its Department of Health, alongside funding service delivery for acute care. In a system already stretched thin, prevention struggles to find the visibility, priority, and resourcing it deserves. Without structural reform, prevention risks always being treated as an optional extra, rather than a vital foundation for a healthier, more sustainable future.

Why should keeping people well always take a backseat to treating those who are already unwell?

What will it take for Tasmania to see prevention as an investment, not a cost?

This is not new thinking.
A dedicated model for preventive health has been suggested before — but as with so many reforms, the real question is always about timing.
Is now the right time? Are we ready to take bold action, rather than revisit the same conversations year after year?

The case for change is clear. Establishing an independent, statutory preventive health body would allow Tasmania to:
- Bring sharper focus and sustained attention to prevention
- Build stronger partnerships across community, government, and industry
- Deliver innovative programs that reduce inequity and chronic disease
- Improve population health outcomes and create long-term savings for the health system

It is time for Tasmania to seriously consider undertaking a full feasibility study into creating a dedicated preventive health authority — one that learns from the best of other jurisdictions while tailoring solutions to our unique local context.

If we continue to do what we've always done, we will continue to get what we've always got. Tasmania deserves better.

Should Tasmania be next? Should we make prevention a permanent priority, not an afterthought?

It’s time to start the conversation.

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