Celebrating 20 years of prevention collaborations

Emeritus Professor Adrian Bauman AO, former PRC Director 2004-2019 and longstanding member of the Prevention Centre Leadership Executive, delivered a video message at the celebratory event and contributed his reflections on two decades of innovation and impact in a special publication to mark the occasion.

While initially recognised for its expertise in obesity prevention, nutrition and physical activity, more recently the PRC has been supported by The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre to undertake programs of research in implementation science, systems approaches, and the application of evaluation methods to complex programs. In addition, work in tobacco control has increased, as has mental and social health, and work on health equity.

Emeritus Professor Adrian Bauman AO

For over a decade, the Prevention Centre has collaborated with the PRC, sharing chief investigators who contributed to establishing the Prevention Centre in 2013, and supporting many PRC researchers working with us on internationally significant programs of research.

These joint projects included the:

• Development of the Intervention Scalability Assessment Tool (ISAT) for use to determine the scalability of evidence-based interventions
• Application of systems-based approaches to boost physical activity by the Australian population
• Testing of innovations in legal mapping to assess the laws that influence walking and cycling.

Our Co-Director Professor Lucie Rychetnik and several Prevention Centre researchers also shared their thoughts on the impact of the PRC on public health and prevention.

For 20 years the PRC has been an inspiring and influential leader in supporting evidence-informed decision making; both through the applied, policy-relevant nature of the research that it leads, and in the nature of its partnerships that translate the best available research to inform prevention policy and practice. The Prevention Centre and many other agencies around Australia have benefited greatly from that expertise.

Professor Lucie Rychetnik

The PRC’s expertise in prevention research methodologies and policy and program evaluation has also added tremendous value overall to the work of the Prevention Centre.

Congratulations to the PRC on this 20-year milestone and we look forward to continuing these partnerships for many years to come.