Former chairs warn against plan to dismantle health promotions agency
“VicHealth was founded almost 40 years ago and there have been significant changes in public health since then,” the spokesperson said. “The Allan Labor government will continue to invest in preventive health and will consult widely with key stakeholders on the new model within the ministry.”
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said the government must ensure the decision will not lead to a reduction in preventive health initiatives.
The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, an independent organization operating as VicHealth, was heralded as a global reformer when it was established in 1987 with a statutory budget to help rid sport of tobacco advertising. More recently, his work has focused on public health campaigns to prevent chronic diseases caused by malnutrition, inactivity, and obesity.
VicHealth’s former chief executive, Nicola Roxon, says the decision to bring it into the Department of Health was misguided.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Among its former presidents, Roxon served as health minister in the Labor federal government; Birrell, a former Liberal state MP, played a pivotal role in securing bipartisan support for the creation of VicHealth when he was shadow minister for health.
VicHealth’s current board includes three MPs from different political views. Greens board member Dr. Tim Read said it was essential for the agency to maintain its guaranteed budget and political independence.
“While powerful corporations are promoting processed food, home-delivered alcohol, cigarettes and vaping, governments are too timid to stop it, which is why VicHealth’s independent voice and small guaranteed funding are protected,” Read said.
“We spend vastly more money on health than anything else, and very little on chronic disease prevention. If we’re worried about budgets, it’s time to think about prevention.”
In its 162-page final report to parliament last Thursday, the Silver Review devoted a paragraph to explaining its recommendation that VicHealth be abolished.
“VicHealth was established in Victoria to improve health and prevent chronic disease 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 incorporated into DH work without compromising quality of service,” the report said.
The establishment of VicHealth was one of the famous reforms of John Cain’s state government. Credit: Bruce Postle
VicHealth’s annual budget is $45 million; this represents 0.13 per cent of the $33.6 billion the state government is estimated to spend on health this fiscal year. It is one of 29 public entities, or government boards or committees, that the government plans to eliminate, merge or transfer to state departments in an effort to save an estimated $27 million in budgets.
The government claims that all the measures it adopted from the Silver Review, combined with reduced use of consultants and office space freed up by civil servants working from home, will save more than $4 billion in the budget over the next four years.
Two sources at VicHealth told this imprint that the Silver Review team did not consult the organisation.
On 29 November, a week before the Silver report was tabled, VicHealth announced Ian Hamm as its new chairman. He replaces Roxon, whose five-year term ends in November, and will not have a continuing role if VicHealth is dissolved as a standalone organisation.
The Treasurer said last week that the Department of Health was “well placed” to deliver preventive health programmes. “This isn’t about relaxing our health prevention efforts, it’s actually about being more effective, more targeted and moving those functions into the department,” he said.
Symes said the health minister was consulted before the proposal was adopted by the government.
Loading
John Mendoza, former chair of the National Mental Health Advisory Council, described the proposed change as “confronting the most ‘headed’ decisions made by any government in Australia in the last 40 years”.
The main concern of public and preventive health experts is that if VicHealth is stripped of its independent governance and budget, its funding will be diverted and programs will be reduced to prioritize more acute and larger health demands such as hospital budgets, ambulance waiting times and elective surgery lists.
“There’s no guarantee that what they’re doing will continue if this organization is incorporated into the Department of Health,” said Glen Ramos, president of the Australian Health Promotion Association. “His importance will no longer be privileged and his deeds will disappear.”
Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Terry Slevin said the Department of Health’s public health capacity had already been “drained”.
“If the next step is to bring VicHealth into the department, few believe the funds currently allocated to VicHealth will be retained in this area,” he said. “I have great fears about how this will turn out.”
Finance Minister Danny Pearson introduced sweeping legislation last week to either disband or merge the utilities identified by Silver. Incorporating VicHealth into the Department of Health would require changes to the province’s Tobacco Act.
Start your day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
