Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be participating in this debate this afternoon on the Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill 2010. The bill establishes, as we know, the Australian National Preventive Health Agency to support Australian health ministers in tackling the complex and growing challenges of preventable chronic disease. Others in this place have spoken about the construction of the agency. It has its origins in the report of the National Preventative Health Taskforce, which was a very worthwhile and detailed document. The taskforce outlined a comprehensive plan to advance the prevention agenda in Australia and identified that to address the disparity in sickness and death in the Indigenous population, in particular, we needed to focus on tobacco, alcohol and obesity.

I will talk about those two elements in a moment, but I just remind the House that the establishment of the agency was also a recommendation of the final report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, chaired by Dr Christine Bennett. I know that members on this side of the House read that report assiduously. Recommendation 9, which is significant, recommends the establishment of an independent national health promotion and prevention agency, and it says:

This agency would be responsible for national leadership on the Healthy Australia 2020 goals, as well as building the evidence base, capacity and infrastructure that is required so that prevention becomes the platform of healthy communities and is integrated into all aspects of our health care system.

I want to speak briefly about some elements that were identified by the National Preventative Health Taskforce and I want to illustrate why it is so important that health prevention is given the priority that this government seeks to give it. The first element is that we now know that smoking continues to be Australia’s largest preventable cause of death and disease. The National Preventative Health Taskforce report identifies that smoking is the cause of 20 per cent of all deaths and is the major single contributor to ill health amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people generally, smoking rates are about 50 per cent. For the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, smoking rates are about 16 per cent. There are smoking rates of up to 83 per cent recorded in some communities.

Under the COAG National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous health outcomes, the Commonwealth is already providing $100.6 million directly for the Tackling Smoking measure. This includes the establishment of a new workforce of regional tobacco coordinators and tobacco action workers led by Mr Tom Calma. This shows what is required to prevent tobacco consumption. The new tobacco workforce will work directly with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities on healthy lifestyle development and quitting smoking.

Alcohol was another significant issue that was raised by the taskforce. I will not go into detail because the time for debate is about to elapse, but I want to make sure that people understand that the Commonwealth government recognises the importance of investing resources into addressing alcohol misuse because of its impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes. We are investing $164.7 million over six years to increase treatment and rehabilitation services, $22.3 million for local capacity building pilot programs and $2.5 million for foetal alcohol spectrum disorders. In addition, 120 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander substance abuse services across Australia are being supported under the Australian government’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander substance misuse program.

I conclude by saying that there are other areas where communities have shown the way in prevention and I want to pinpoint one. The community of Amata in the north-west of South Australia made a decision that its store should no longer stock drinks with high sugar content. As a result, there has been a reduction in sugar consumption in that community alone of 4.3 tonnes. This is a really important example of how communities, if they are aware of what is required, can take the sort of action that is needed to address issues relating to prevention. By doing so, they can have a direct impact on the early onset of diabetes, and in the longer term these communities can address the issue of life expectancy, which is the issue we are focused on.

This is a very important piece of legislation. It again highlights the reformist attitude of this government in the health field. I hope that the opposition will not do as they have done previously and oppose this legislation. It is for the benefit of all Australians. I hope the opposition will see the merits of this legislation and support the government in its endeavour to make prevention a priority for all Australians.

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