Tuesday, April 29, 2025

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Centenary Ballroom 1

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Overview

Advocating for national policies and what to do when there’s inaction – Why hasn’t Australia developed a National Physical Activity (PA) Action Plan and does it matter?

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Details

There is no additional cost for attending the workshops but you will need to register as space is limited - To register go to https://www.prevention2025.com/program/workshops Hosted by: UNSW Facilitated by: Mr Peter Mccue - UNSW Co-Presenter: Dr Sam Cassar, Lecturer - CQU​ Description: Evidence clearly states that physical inactivity has many negative economic, health, social and environment consequences. Epidemiological data suggests inactivity is high across the world, including in Australia and current academic discourse suggests developing national physical activity (PA) policies may help address the problem. Australia has advocated for the development of a National PA plan/policy for more than 30 years with limited success. In the absence of a national intersectoral PA plan, national sector specific plans, State and/or Territory cross sector plans and/or sector specific plans and local council plans have been developed and implemented with minimal impact on population level PA. More recent research proposes that public policy literature can offer new insights to challenge the existing prevention ‘narrative’ in relation to advocating for policy action. Format The workshop will begin with a series of brief presentations (30 minutes) to interrogate: • the case for the development of an intersectoral national PA plan • advocacy efforts undertaken to date to navigate the prevailing politics • examples of PA policies that have been developed in Australia in the absence of a national plan • insights from political science and public policy to challenge the prevailing prevention 'narrative' Participants will then work in groups with guided activities (60 minutes) to examine • Proposed national physical activity action plan content • Relevant public policy evidence considerations to inform content and policy development • Lessons that can be learnt from allied health partners, is there another way? Learning Objectives: - Analyse the political and policy dynamics influencing physical activity advocacy in Australia - Participants will be able to identify key political and policy factors/influences to developing a national physical activity plan and explore strategies used to navigate these challenges. - Examine successful physical activity policy examples and potential alternative approaches - Participants will learn from existing state, territory, and local physical activity policies across Australia and identify lessons that can be scaled or adapted to advocacy. - Think more politically based on the theory and evidence about actionable strategies for advancing national physical activity policies - Through group exercises, participants will consider content for a national physical activity action plan, discuss potential alternatives, and policy lessons.

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Speaker