N
O
I
T
N
E
V
E
R
P
T
S
E
B
E
H
IS T
E
N
I
C
I
D
ME
LABOR’S PREVENTATIVE
HEALTH STRATEGY
Creating a
Healthy Tasmania
From 2018, Labor will implement a
long term strategy aimed at easing
the burden on our hospitals and other
health services and improving the
long-term health of all Tasmanians.
Our hospitals are under siege from
the Liberal Government’s cuts. Labor
will ease the pressure on our hospitals
by investing in early intervention and
preventative health.
Our strategy is about reinvesting
into frontline early intervention and
preventative health services to create
a healthy Tasmania.
A Healthy Boost
Tasmanian Children
for
Labor will lift vaccination
immunisation rates in Tasmania.
and
Immunisation coverage rates for
Tasmanian children aged between
24 and 27 months decreases to
89.7%, compared to the national
average of 90.1%.
Labor will make the protection
of children from disease – and
protection for staff who care for
children – a priority.
A Labor Government will achieve that
priority by legislating to build a path
toward lifting Tasmania’s immunisation
rates above 95% with the ultimate aim
of achieving a 100% coverage among
Tasmanian children.
Under Labor’s plan, child care centres
and primary schools will be given
the authority to refuse enrolment to
families and children who are not fully
immunised by amending the Public
Health Act.
Active Kids for Active
Communities
By joining in a sporting club, young
Tasmanians and their families have a
chance to engage with positive role
models, establish new friendships
and become actively involved in
their communities. However, Labor
understands that all too often, the
cost of membership fees and new
equipment prevents some children
from participating.
That is why, in our first year of
Government, Labor will direct the
Communities, Sport and Recreation
Putting people first
! taslabor.com
" @TasmanianLabor
# TasmanianLabor
Tasmania
Division
to
establish
a 12 month ‘Active Kids - Active
Communities’ pilot program.
Invest in Two New Child
and Family Centres
A Labor Government will build two
new Child and Family Centres in its
first term.
Child and Family Centres have
transformed the lives of children
and their families by giving them
better access to learning, health
services and support.
Child Health and Parenting
Services
Child Health and Parenting Services
(CHaPS) nurses play a critical role in
looking after the health of the children
and families in Tasmania. At Child
Health Centres around the State
they provide key child health and
development checks at the following
recommended ages: 2 weeks, 4 weeks,
8 weeks, 4-6 months, 12 months, 2
years as well as Healthy Kids Checks.
They support not just children’s
health but the health and wellbeing of
families, offering parents information
on a wide range of topics including:
immunisation, child health and
development, practical parenting tips,
nutrition, breastfeeding, sleep and
settling, communication, play and
safety, nutrition, oral health, post natal
depression, fathering, balancing work
and family life, play, injury prevention
and SIDS.
That is why Labor is committed to
ensuring that all current CHaPS
nurses positions are filled to ensure an
ongoing service is available for children
and families in their communities, and
critical early checks can be performed.
To help us attract and retain staff,
Labor will employ CHaPS nurses within
the Tasmanian Health Service, rather
than the Department of Health and
Human Services so their conditions
are equivalent with other nursing staff.
Putting people first
! taslabor.com
" @TasmanianLabor
# TasmanianLabor
Closing the Loophole for
Electronic Cigarettes
Labor will close the loophole that allows
the sale of e-cigarettes to children.
In Government in 2018 Labor will
immediately introduce amendments
to the Public Health Act 1997 to
regulate the sale and use of electronic
cigarettes (also called e-cigarettes,
e-cigars or vape pens).
Evidence from overseas tells us that
e-cigarettes are being aggressively
marketed to young people and
that many teenagers have tried, or
regularly use, e-cigarettes. There is
considerable risk that e-cigarettes
normalise smoking behaviour and will
lead to younger Tasmanians taking up
tobacco products.
Reduce Access to Sugar
Drinks
It is a priority for Labor to prevent
children becoming overweight so that
they don’t face the lifetime of health
risks associated with obesity.
In Government Labor will phase out
the sale of soft drinks in public school
canteens and the provision of soft drink
in vending machines in schools. We will
work with school canteen managers as
well as existing programs such as Move
Well Eat Well and the School Canteen
Association to ensure this policy can be
successfully implemented.
Enhancing the Mental
Health of Young People
There is growing understanding that
young people need support to manage
their health and wellbeing, especially
their mental health.
Recent data shows that young
people aged 16-24 have the highest
occurrence of mental illness compared
to any other age bracket.
That is why Tasmanian Labor is
committed to introducing compulsory
age appropriate social and emotional
Putting people first
! taslabor.com
" @TasmanianLabor
# TasmanianLabor
learning (SEL) programs in schools,
starting in primary school.
Lifting Accountability
external to the health system. These
factors include things such as housing,
education, transport, infrastructure,
the arts and planning.
In order to improve the health of
our community it is important that
we understand why certain health
outcomes in Tasmania are poorer than
the national average.
A greater degree of collaboration is
required across government agencies,
with communities and across the health
sector, to help coordinate a statewide
preventative health strategy.
Without
evidence
to
drive
improvements we cannot expect to
see changes that will support people
to stay healthy.
A Health in All Policies approach
focuses on the social determinants
of health and requires government
leadership;
including
policies,
intervention and actions beyond the
health sector.
That is why Labor will amend the
HealthStats which are released
quarterly, to include preventable
illness,
including
communicable
diseases, tobacco, drug and alcohol
related diseases, avoidable deaths,
avoidable hospitalisations and early
detection of diseases.
Labor will direct the Department of
Premier and Cabinet to act as the lead
agency to adopt a Health in All Policies
approach to improve the health and
wellbeing of Tasmanians.
Working Together
Inequalities in health and wellbeing
are often determined by factors
Putting people first
! taslabor.com
" @TasmanianLabor
# TasmanianLabor
For more information go to
taslabor.com
Authorised by B. Green, Parliament House, Hobart.