Why is this useful for rural and remote people?

The Tasmanian Health plan adopts a holistic approach to human health, recognising the critical influence of factors such as employment, connectedness, the natural environment, social cohesion and education on the health of people across the life-course. The Plan adopts a whole of government approach to health, understanding that many of the levers available to government to influence health fall outside the remit of the traditional health system. For example, we know that unemployment is a major contributor to poor physical and mental health outcomes in Australia. The Plan aims to address this through a more coordinated approach across government and communities to promote economic inclusion and employment growth. The Plan is important for rural and remote people because it describes a different way to think about health, and how a whole-of-government approach can be leveraged to improve health outcomes and reduce demand for services. South Australia has adopted a Health-in-all-Policies approach which requires all ministers and departments to consider the health impact of decisions in non-health portfolios. For example, investment job creation programs would consider the flow-on benefits to health in communities, not just the economic benefits. While the Tasmanian approach does not formally adopt the Health-in-all-Policies approach, it has cleverly picked up elements and matched it with a commitment to engage communities in decision making. As a planning framework, it demonstrates how governments can, with the right focus, engage all parts of government in health decision making and contribute to better outcomes for rural and remote people.