Ensuring a fair chance at health for everyone
We are committed to preventing diseases before they start by delivering effective, scalable programs. Achieving genuine health equity means we and our partners address the social and environmental causes of disease, ensuring healthcare is accessible and leading to better health outcomes for communities across Australia and beyond.
Our Programs
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Prevent2Thrive
Diabetes disproportionately affects vulnerable Australians, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The Prevent2Thrive initiative investigates multi-component prevention strategies through community co-design and digital health tools. Working with partners including ACADI with its 60+ partners, Onemda, the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Miwatji Health Aboriginal Corporation, Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative and Diabetes Victoria, the project evaluates how tailored lifestyle interventions, models of care and policy shifts can reduce disease incidence. Building on trusted community relationships and focusing on culturally informed, proactive care, we aim to strengthen health equity and reduce the long-term burden of diabetes complications.
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Home Remedy
Substandard indoor environments—marked by extreme temperatures, dampness, mould, and poor air quality—contribute significantly to chronic illness in Australia. The Healthy Housing project is investigating evidence-based health standards for residential housing to address these risks. By collaborating with stakeholders like Tenants Victoria, Asthma Australia, and the Green Building Council, we are evaluating how improved building regulations and retrofits can protect health. Our goal is to develop scalable, research-informed solutions and recommendations that reduce hospital presentations and ensure safer, healthier homes for all Australians.
Health without barriers
True health transformation happens before a patient ever enters a clinic. Following a rigorous selection process—including 40 expressions of interest and co-design workshops—we’ve identified projects aiming to shift healthcare from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. Addressing critical evidence-to-practice gaps, our projects aim to create ambitious primary prevention solutions to priority health equity issues.
Primary prevention
We aim to reduce hospital pressure and help more people stay healthy for longer by stopping disease or injury before they start. This differs from secondary prevention, which aims to stop the escalation of health issues, or tertiary prevention, which reduces the impact of an existing illness. We're enabling projects that build the skills of health professionals and key partners to apply evidence-informed prevention methods in the real world and embed these strategies into policies, services and lifestyles.
Health equity
We’re moving beyond one-size-fits-all solutions to new approaches that support diverse needs. Rather than a universal approach that may overlook unique challenges, we’re focused on building a health system capable of delivering targeted strategies. By co-designing these pathways, we aim to address systemic barriers and ensure that social or geographical circumstances do not limit a person’s opportunity for good health.
Analysis to answers
Our Impact Area is working to create a world where everyone has an equal chance at good health. Over the past 100 years, we've seen decreases in infectious diseases and an increase of people's lifespans. What we've seen along with all this progress has been a widening gap between the health outcomes across population groups - a disparity in the access to good health outcomes arising from economic, societal, disease-specific or geographical barriers. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, leads of our Area, Professors Lisa Gibbs, and Richard Chenhall have been collaborating with researchers across the University and the healthcare industry to make impactful differences to prevent poor health before it starts. Through a rigorous EOI process, projects were presented and selected for pitch presentations. The Area established two advisory committees, one for health equity, and another for impact and policy, to advise programs of work across all Impact Areas. At the pitch presentations, committee representatives guided programs to refine their approaches to align more closely with the ambitions of the Impact Area. By strengthening partnerships and embedding equity at the heart of every decision, this Impact Area is building collective momentum to transform early ideas into action. We’re moving closer to a future where good health is not determined by circumstance, but accessible to all.