From the Director
At a range of events and other occasions over the past few months I have received very positive and unsolicited feedback about the work that the AIHW has been doing, and its quality and influence. The reputation of the AIHW continues to grow and be recognised more broadly in the community. We see value in the many ways in which our information is being used, which of course is something we can all take pride in here at the Institute.
Australia's health 2012 conference and report launch and app
Our flagship report, Australia's health 2012, was released at our biennial Australia's health conference in June.
The report, launched by Health Minister Tanya Plibersek (see article in this issue of Access), showed that while Australians are generally healthy, with the majority feeling positive about their quality of life, most Australians also have at least one health risk factor that is likely to contribute to poorer future health. Both the full report and the summary In Brief are available on our website.
The one-day conference attracted around 400 delegates, bringing together many of the nation's leading thinkers and decision-makers in health. It was certainly a stimulating and enjoyable forum for discussion and debate on health and health services in Australia. All of the presentations are available on our website.
To coincide with the report the AIHW has also developed an Australia's health 2012 'app' for Apple iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod). The app contains the latest information on Australians and their health.
Data linkage milestone
We recently celebrated a major milestone for the AIHW— accreditation as a Commonwealth Integrating Authority, which means that at the time of writing we were one of only two such organisations accredited to link sensitive Commonwealth data in a secure environment.
This was possible through the expert work of staff across the Institute and with $2 million in funding for infrastructure investment from the Commonwealth Department of Innovation, Industry Science and Research.
This great development in our data linkage capabilities is already producing benefits for us and the nation, with the Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages re-committing to providing us with unit record cause of death data. An example of data integration work we will be undertaking is a project to link health data to examine the safety of a range of medications when used in pregnancy.
Launch of Australia's food & nutrition
It was nearly 20 years ago that we published the first comprehensive report on Australia's food and nutrition.
Australia's food & nutrition 2012 is the much-anticipated revised edition, launched by Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Catherine King. It highlights the key parts of the food and nutrition system from 'paddock to plate', and how food choices affect health and the environment.
CEO sleepout
This year I again took part in the St Vincent De Paul CEO sleepout in Canberra to raise funds for, and awareness of, homelessness in Australia.
Like last year, St Vinnies also provided us with some insights into the diverse life journeys of homeless people. I then had the good fortune to be able to have a warm breakfast, hot shower, and change into dry clothes before drying out the sleeping bag.
More Canberra-based CEOs are getting behind the event, and this year there were around 150 from both the private and public sectors sleeping out on a wet Canberra evening.
Annual report awards
Together with a number of AIHW staff, I had the pleasure of attending the Institute of Public Administration Australia Annual Report Awards night. The evening included a speech from Dr Ian Watt, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, who commented on the role that annual reports play in the accountability and transparency of agencies to the public and as a historical record of what agencies have achieved.
The AIHW received a Bronze Award for the online version of our 2010–11 Annual Report. The judges concluded that, 'Overall, this is a very competent and well-presented on-line annual report and it is hoped that the AIHW persists with the process of continuous improvement over the coming years'.
While there are many requirements we have to meet in our annual reporting, and we are fine-tuning the 2012 report as I write this column, there is also considerable value in what we convey to the outside world through this important document and we see this as a critical part of our public accountability.
David Kalisch
Director (CEO)