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Public Health Workforce Development Steering Group

History

Public health workforce development is a priority of the National Public Health Partnership (NPHP) Group and is viewed as an important component of capacity building.

Initial efforts focused on determining areas of public health workforce needs through a process of national consultation undertaken in 1998. As a result, further investigation has been undertaken on issues for the workforce in environmental health; health promotion; and in leadership skills. Longer-term objectives arising from the consultation included the development of mechanisms for analysing public health workforce needs; recommending options for a more robust system for priority setting for workforce development; and developing mechanisms for linking investment to workforce need.

A number of initiatives of the NPHP have benefited a more systematic approach to public health workforce development generally including:

• guidelines for improved strategy development and coordination;
• a statement on the core functions of public health;
• planning and practice guidelines for public health;
• an annual series of public health expenditure reports; and
• public health performance indicator set.

In addition, national public health strategies and action overseen by sub-committees of the NPHP have provided a focus for workforce development in particular in relation to environmental health; nutrition; injury prevention; strategies coordination; information development and communicable disease control.

Building on the greater clarity around the public health workforce and the strengthened capacity in member jurisdictions for workforce development, the NPHP initiated a project in 2001 to develop and implement national methods for the systematic identification of workforce development needs for an effective and efficient approach to the core functions of public health. A Workforce Development Steering Group was established for this purpose.

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