Introduction: Alcohol taxation is one of the most effective policies for reducing alcohol-related harm, yet little evidence exists on how the alcohol tax burden varies across products in Australia’s mixed taxation system. This study estimated alcohol tax per standard drink and tax as a proportion of retail price across beverage types and subtypes in Sydney, Australia.

Methods: Alcohol price data were collected in January 2026 for all products available from five major online alcohol retailers. Excise payable per standard drink was estimated using Australian Tax Office rates for volumetrically taxed beverages, with payable Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) estimated from retail price using assumed wholesale shares. Median and mean tax per standard drink, tax share of retail price, and retail price per standard drink were analysed by beverage type and subtype.

Results: Spirits had the highest mean tax share of retail price (37.6%) and highest mean tax per standard drink (A$1.34). Wine had the lowest mean tax share (17.4%) and the widest variation in tax per standard drink. Some wine in vessels ≥ 1L attracted as little as A$0.07 tax per standard drink. Stronger cider products attracted lower tax per standard drink and were consistently cheaper than low-strength cider products. In contrast, stronger beer products had both higher tax per standard drink and tax share than their lower-strength counterparts, yet were cheaper.

Discussion: Products containing similar amounts of alcohol can attract substantially different levels of taxation. Volumetric taxation more consistently links tax paid to alcohol content, whereas ad valorem taxation under the WET allows cheap, strong wine and cider products to remain lightly taxed.

Implications: Findings contribute new evidence to longstanding debates on alcohol tax reform. A consistent volumetric taxation system would likely increase the price of the cheapest alcohol, although additional measures may be needed to address low beer prices.

Environmental health is one of the least visible yet most critical components of public health protection. While healthcare systems often focus on treatment and response, environmental health functions primarily as an upstream preventive system, reducing risks before illness, injury, and system failure occur. However, the contribution of environmental health frequently becomes recognised only after breakdowns in housing, food safety, air quality, water systems, waste management, climate resilience, or regulatory oversight lead to significant health and social impacts. This paper argues that environmental health should be repositioned nationally as part of the essential prevention infrastructure central to resilient, equitable, and people-centred health systems.
Drawing on international environmental health practice, disaster risk reduction principles, systems thinking, and public health prevention frameworks, this paper examines how environmental health interventions prevent downstream clinical, economic, and societal burdens. Using a “Follow the Failure → Achieve Prevention” analytical framework, the paper explores how major public health incidents can be traced backwards to missed preventive opportunities, weak surveillance systems, regulatory failures, workforce constraints, commercial determinants, governance fragmentation, and insufficient community engagement.
The paper analyses a series of environmental health case studies including bushfire smoke exposure, hazardous air quality events, water contamination incidents, foodborne disease outbreaks, unsafe housing conditions, overcrowding, and delayed infrastructure repair. These examples demonstrate how vulnerable populations—including low-income communities, Indigenous populations, older persons, children, and marginalised groups—experience disproportionate impacts when preventive systems fail. Particular attention is given to the role of environmental health practitioners in translating evidence into practical action through monitoring, inspection, risk communication, enforcement, community engagement, and intersectoral coordination.
The paper also examines the growing role of technology and environmental health intelligence systems, including digital surveillance, low-cost environmental sensors, predictive analytics, and real-time communication systems, in strengthening preventive capacity. However, it argues that technology must support—not replace—professional judgement, culturally responsive engagement, and trusted local public health relationships.
Aligned with the conference themes of Centring Prevention in People, Culture, and Connection and Translating Evidence into Action: Implementing What Works, this paper proposes a stronger international policy focus on preventive environmental health investment, workforce capability, integrated surveillance systems, and cross-sector governance. It concludes that prevention becomes visible only when systems fail, and that strengthening environmental health capacity represents one of the most cost-effective and equitable strategies available for protecting population health, improving resilience, and reducing long-term pressure on healthcare systems.

Background:
This study investigated the current realities, challenges, and future opportunities for workplace health promotion (WHP) professionals in Australia, a group whose contributions remain essential yet often undervalued within organisational systems.
Methods:
Drawing on 40 interviews and three focus groups with workplace health and safety professionals and employers, this study applied an inductive thematic analysis to examine how WHP is understood, implemented, and constrained in contemporary workplaces.
Results:
Participants consistently reported that WHP is frequently marginalised. Many WHP professionals described a mismatch between advertised job descriptions and actual duties, with some experiencing “limited duties in their WHP job practice differed from the job description”, reflecting structural barriers that restrict their ability to apply core health promotion competencies. Findings highlight several systemic issues: low worker engagement in traditional WHP activities, limited organisational recognition of health promotion skills, insufficient integration with occupational health and safety processes, and a lack of regulatory frameworks to support professional identity and quality assurance. Despite these challenges, significant opportunities for WHP professionals across the employment cycle surface—from pre‑employment assessments to return‑to‑work support—particularly when WHP is reframed as an embedded, everyday component of organisational culture rather than a standalone element.

Conclusion:
The study argues that strengthening WHP practice in Australia requires multi‑level advocacy, enhanced collaboration with occupational health and safety professionals, and improved professional preparation, including potential dual‑degree pathways. Overall, WHP remains important but overlooked in many Australian workplaces, and its future development depends on elevating its visibility, clarifying its scope, and building organisational systems that recognise its strategic value.

Introduction: Brief intervention by health professionals (HPs) can increase patients’ smoking cessation attempts. Barriers to the provision of support include lack of time, confidence, and knowledge. Previous review versions show that training HPs in brief intervention techniques can address these barriers, and can be effective in increasing quit attempts. This review update aimed to re-assess the effectiveness of training HPs to deliver smoking cessation interventions to their patients.

Methods: Authors followed Cochrane methodology with guidance from the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group. Databases were searched to August 2024 for RCTs in which HPs were trained in smoking cessation, with minimum 6-months follow-up. Data extraction and risk of bias were conducted by two authors, certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE methodology. Results were combined in a meta-analysis where possible and reported in narrative synthesis.

Results: Twenty-nine studies were included in the review; involving 4,030 HPs and n=38,178 patients. Ten studies were assessed to be at low risk of bias, 17 unclear risk, and 2 high risk. We found high-certainty evidence that when HPs are provided with smoking cessation training, more of their patients quit compared with those whose HPs were not trained (RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.67; I2 = 48%; n = 16,513 patients, n = 16 studies). Features associated with higher cessation rates include higher‐intensity training (RR 1.64, 95% CI 0.86 to 3.12; I2 = 54%; 4 studies, 1151 participants; low‐certainty evidence), adjunct nicotine replacement therapy (RR 1.64, 95% CI 0.72 to 3.71; I2 = 69%; 2 studies, 1892 participants), and prompts to HPs (RR 1.37, 95% CI 0.69 to 2.70; I2 = 66%; 3 studies, 2429 participants).

Discussions and Conclusions: Overall, a moderately large amount of methodologically rigorous evidence supports the effectiveness of training HPs in smoking cessation for both successful cessation, and quit attempts amongst patients.

Every day, businesses make decisions that shape how people live and work. These decisions, from workplace conditions to product design, have significant implications for health and wellbeing. To date, much of the research on the commercial determinants of health has focused on harmful decisions, including aggressive marketing and regulatory capture. These are compounded by economic systems structured around profit maximisation, growth, and consumption. As a result, the public health sector has often been sceptical of commercial sector activities to improve health outcomes.

While much is known about the commercial practices that undermine health, far less is known about the practices businesses should embrace to support health and wellbeing. Including, what positive practices already exist and how these can be identified, strengthened, and scaled into a clear aspirational model for businesses operations.

This presentation summarises Swinburne University of Technology and VicHealth research examining how businesses can promote health and wellbeing for workers, consumers, supply chains, and communities. The research applies a mixed methods approach, including a literature review, content analysis of business reports, interviews with public health and business stakeholders, business sector survey, and case studies. This informed the development of a practical framework to identify and assess business practices that genuinely support health and wellbeing. This research builds on VicHealth’s investment in commercial and economic systems change via the joint venture with Deakin University; the Commercial and Economic Determinants of Health Research Translation Centre.

This framework offers a tool for the public health sector to navigate values aligned engagement with businesses, while also articulating a vision of what better, health promoting business practice looks like. As momentum grows for rethinking the relationship between health and the economy, this research helps to understand the cross-sector changes needed to embed health promoting practices into business as usual.

Nutrition policies targeting food labelling and product reformulation are increasingly proposed to improve population diets, yet concerns about costs to industry are frequently raised in policy debates. However, little is known about how these costs are estimated, framed, and communicated across the evidence base. This scoping review synthesised reported financial and economic costs to food companies associated with implementing nutrition-related labelling and reformulation policies, and examined whether the source of cost estimates was associated with differences in cost magnitude or framing.

Academic databases and grey literature sources were searched from January 2000 to December 2025. Eligible studies included economic evaluations, costing studies, regulatory impact assessments, consultancy reports, and other publications reporting direct industry costs associated with nutrition-related labelling or reformulation policies. Data extracted included policy type, costing methodology, unit of analysis, cost components, discounting, funding source, and source of cost estimates. Findings were synthesised narratively.

Of 19,101 records identified, 32 studies were included (13 academic; 19 grey literature). Studies were highly heterogeneous in policy type, costing methods, assumptions, and reporting practices. Reported costs varied substantially depending on whether studies estimated costs per stock keeping unit, product formula, establishment, or national implementation. Cost estimates were highly sensitive to assumptions regarding business-as-usual packaging cycles, the proportion of products affected, and whether reformulation could be coordinated with routine product updates. Many academic and government studies relied on industry-derived or consultancy-derived costing assumptions, including regulatory models originally developed for government agencies.

Industry cost estimates used in nutrition policy debates are methodologically inconsistent, and assumption sensitive. Greater transparency and standardisation in the development and reporting of industry cost estimates may improve the interpretation of economic evidence used to inform nutrition policy implementation and regulatory decision-making.

Background: Temporary abstinence challenges (TACs) continue to grow in popularity, and can help people to have healthier lifestyles. Two well-established TACs are “Dry January” (DJ) which challenges people to have no alcohol for one month, and “Meat-Free Monday” (MFM) which challenges people to have no meat on at least on day per week. These campaigns focus on individual behaviour, and provide valuable support for individuals. However, it is also important to consider social influences on TAC participants.
Methods: This paper presents the results of a mixed-method study conducted in the UK. Online surveys with a one-month follow-up were sent to participants by the campaign organisers. Follow-up data were available for 410 DJ participants and 334 MFM participants. Participants were also invited to complete an individual interview. Transcripts of interviews with 10 DJ participants and 10 MFM participants underwent Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
Findings: In multivariate analyses, social contextual factors including the drinking and eating practices of other people explained unique variance in behaviour over and above participants’ attitudes and beliefs. Interviewees noted that because drinking alcohol and eating are commonly social behaviours, changing them often requires changes to with whom, where, when, and how they socialise social interactions. Some aspects of social contexts were reported to be supportive of behaviour change - e.g., buddy systems for social support, but interviewees also reported the need to manage deliberate or unintentional undermining of their behaviour change efforts.
Discussion: Despite the TACs having different behavioural foci and different approaches to health behaviour change, participants in both DJ and MFM identified similar social challenges. In addition to providing support to develop skills and to manage individual cravings and temptations, there is a need for the organisers of TACs to help participants to develop the skills required to manage social interactions.

Background
Targeted junk food advertising across social media and streaming platforms represents a growing public health challenge in Australia, particularly for populations with health inequities. Counter-advertising, such as Cancer Council’s LiveLighter initiative, are critical for addressing systemic influences on dietary behaviour. However, limited experimental evidence demonstrates whether anti-junk food messages can counteract and suppress the effects of targeted junk food advertising. This study evaluates the capacity of LiveLighter counter-messaging to reverse and reduce junk food craving and consumption intentions following targeted advertising exposure.

Methods
Using an online experimental design, participants (N = 340) completed baseline measures before exposure to a 15-30 second junk food video advertisement matched to their junk food preferences, followed by a randomly selected 15-30 second LiveLighter video from one of two consecutive campaigns. Junk food craving and consumption measures were assessed at baseline, post-junk exposure and post-LiveLighter exposure. BMI, eating habits and body image were measured to examine individual differences in responsiveness to junk food advertising and counter-messaging.

Results
Targeted junk food advertising significantly increased junk food craving and consumption intentions. Exposure to LiveLighter messages not only reversed these increases but reduced both outcomes to below baseline levels. These effects were similar across BMI groups. However, lower body image scores predicted greater reductions in craving and consumption intentions following LiveLighter exposure among participants with BMI in the overweight or obese range. LiveLighter messages from both campaign periods demonstrated comparable effectiveness.

Conclusions & Implications
LiveLighter counter-advertising demonstrated strong potential as a system-level intervention capable of offsetting the effects of targeted junk food advertising. Findings highlight the importance of sustained, high-frequency public health messaging and identify body image as a key factor shaping responsiveness among higher-risk groups. This evidence supports continued public investment in anti‑junk food campaigns as part of broader strategies to ensure healthier futures in Australia.

Parents are central in regulating children’s sugar intake by gatekeeping discretionary foods and influencing children’s dietary knowledge and attitudes. However, parental practices are also constrained by social traditions which can challenge agency and normalise unfamiliar behaviours. Many Australian children participate in organised sport, with parents often tasked with sourcing refreshments. This situates children’s organised sport as ideal for cultivating social practices involving sugar. Overall, this study sought to explore social practices involving sugar consumption in children’s organised sport through the perspectives of parents. Eight in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with six fathers and two mothers of children aged 7-17 years in Perth, Western Australia; parents collectively had 16 children involved in 14 sports. We were guided by Shove et al.’s (2012) social practice theory as a context-based lens focusing on key elements of materials (objects, infrastructure), competences (skills, rules) and meanings (emotions, beliefs) that are linked and integrated into the performance of the practice, which is the unit of analysis rather than individual behaviour. Findings indicated that social practices involving sugar were occurring during and around exercise activities, while relevant materials included fruit, confectionary, on-site vendors and club fundraisers. Competences in gatekeeping children’s sugar intake were noted as challenging due to the social popularity of discretionary foods. Meanings behind sugar were complex and reflected an internal conflict in parents between wanting to limit their children’s sugar intake and support their social engagement. This research reinforced that some drivers of sugar consumption among child sport participants are influenced by sociocultural norms, independent of parental nutritional knowledge or other individual factors. Policy and health promotion reform should consider addressing cultural change within sporting communities to improve children’s dietary intake.

Reference: Shove E, Watson M, Pantzar M. The dynamics of social practice: everyday life and how it changes. SAGE Publications Ltd; 2012.