Indigenous Health and Health Promotion
We are committed to improving the health status of the Indigenous population of Australia based on the principles of self-determination and reconciliation. With strong Indigenous leadership and in partnership with community organisations the Centre conducts research, provides education, and contributes to the professional development of Indigenous and non-Indigenous health promotion practitioners, and provides policy advice to managers, researchers and policy-makers. The Centre contributes to the design and teaching of the Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney. Since 1997 more than 40 Indigenous students from across Australia have graduated from the course and we continue to give priority to building the capacity of the Indigenous health promotion workforce.

International Health
We work with organisations such as AusAID, WHO, and UNICEF to provide technical support in health promotion needs assessment, planning, strategy design, monitoring and evaluation in Asia and the Western Pacific.

And as a member of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education, the Centre contributes to the global development of health promotion theory, policy, research and practice and to global advocacy for health.

Policy development and review
We work with the Commonwealth and State governments, community and professional organisations, and NGOs to contribute to health and public policy within Australia. Some examples of our work include a review of infrastructure for national health advancement, the national strategy for HIV/AIDS health promotion for gay and other homosexually active men, and a review of infrastructure for mental health promotion.

We have collaborated with a leading policy consultancy to design and conduct workshops on influencing public policy to promote health.

We have reviewed public health policy initiatives such as the outcomes achieved by a clinical outreach program in Indigenous communities in Far North Queensland, or the implementation of a Coordinated Care Trial conducted by a collaboration of community-controlled and mainstream health services working with Aboriginal communities on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.

The Centre has also contributed to the development of an innovative model to calculate demand for the public health workforce, and recommended steps to improve health promotion workforce planning and development in New South Wales.

Social Marketing and communications
We conduct systematic reviews of the evidence of effective social marketing and communications and run short courses tailored to suit a variety of organisations and groups using these strategies to promote health and social change.

Consultation models
Our work with marginalised communities has resulted in the identification of an expanded range of consultation models that suit the social and cultural contexts of these groups. We are building on models from political sciences to actively involve marginalised communities in social and political decision-making about health.

Research and evaluation
Health promotion research and evaluation using quantitative research methods is a speciality of the Centre. We have evaluated mass media campaigns on sun protection, physical activity and hepatitis C. In collaboration with UNICEF and WHO, we have conducted national surveys of young people’s health behaviours in several countries in the Western Pacific.

The Centre’s research interests include the investigation of the local public health infrastructure necessary to deliver local responses to national and state public health policy in an Australian context, and in a small, developing nation.

The Centre’s Director of Indigenous Health is researching the relationship between the resilience of Indigenous young people, their families and communities and their educational achievements, and their health status.

Professional Leadership and development
We design and deliver short courses, workshops, and formal graduate-level curricula for Australian and international groups in, for example, Aboriginal health, health promotion theories and methods, and health promoting settings. Our expertise in health promotion workforce planning and development has been recognized by the National Public Health Partnership and NSW Health.