The Australian Health Promotion Association is the only professional association specifically for people interested or involved in the practice, research and study of health promotion. The Health Promotion Association's major objectives include providing opportunities for members' professional development, increasing public and professional awareness of the roles and functions of health promotion practitioners, advocacy and contributing to discussion, debate and decision-making on health promotion policy and programs.

Since its incorporation in 1988, the Association has grown and developed so that it now has an established function and a central place in Australia's health promotion landscape. The Health Promotion Association is now recognised as an integral and vital component of the public health sector.

The Health Promotion Association operates at both the National and Branch level in order to achieve its objectives. At the national level, two of the Health Promotion Association's major programs are the Australian Health Promotion Association National Conference, which is usually held annually, and publication of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia.

In 2003, responding to feedback from members to hold Conferences away from major metropolitan areas, the Association did not hold a National Conference. Instead several Branches hosted Conferences including Western Australia (Fremantle - LEAP '03), Queensland (Mackay – Promoting Health: Taking it to the Streets) and New South Wales (Coff's Harbour – Building Bridges in the Bush). The Northern Territory and South Australia branches joined with other organisations holding Conferences to enhance health promotion aspects.

In 2004 the Association joined the Australian Centre for Health Promotion and the International Health Promotion and Health Education to host the World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education - Titled 'Valuing Diversity: Reshaping Power' the Conference held April 26-30th 2004 in Melbourne, Australia. Attracting around 3 000 national and international delegates it was the most successful World Conference ever held.

Vancouver Canada will be the venue for the next World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education – its theme is Health Promotion Comes of Age: Science, Policy & Practice for the 21st Century to be held 11-15 June. For more information about this Conference follow the links from Conferences page of this website.

Health Promotion Dreaming: Shifting the Sands was the title of the 16th Australian Health Promotion Association National Conference 2006 hosted by the Northern Territory Branch in Alice Springs. The 2007 Conference in Adelaide, Grass Roots to Global Action, will be held 1-4 May. For information go to the Conferences page and follow the links. Members of the Association receive a significant reduction in Conference registration fees.

The Health Promotion Journal of Australia (HPJA) was established in 1991 and continues to evolve and grow, publishing high quality articles on a wide range of health promotion topics. Periodically the Association endeavours to publish a special issue of the HPJA that focuses on one particular area of health promotion. The special issue for 1998 was on Health Promotion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. The special issue for 1999 was on Mental Health Promotion. These issues of the journal were hailed for the inclusion of articles and reports on health promotion activity that had not previously been published, and for the culturally appropriate methods used in the writing, peer-review and publication process. Following on from the 1998 special issue Journal focussing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues another special issue Journal highlighting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research and activities was published in December 2004. In December 2006 a special issue on the Social Determinants of Health was published. There are plans for a Journal focussing on Mental Health in 2007.

Over the years the Journal has covered topics such as Body Image, Illicit Drug Policy, Mass Media, New Technology & Health Promotion, Transport and Health, Inequalities in Health and many more.

The Journal's Editorial Team comprises Chris Rissel, Adrian Bauman and Jan Ritchie. In early 2005 the Joint Editors of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia were very pleased to announce that the Journal had been accepted for indexing by the US National Library of Medicine in the prestigious library database Index Medicus/MEDLINE. For more information about the Journal and previous topics see the Journal section of this website. Back copies of some journals are available for purchase from the Secretariat and you can now register for e-notification of the Table of Contents of the Journal as it is published. To register just enter your name and email address in the New Journal Alert area, it is located on this page just below the navigation section on the left side.

Other benefits of membership include: access to the members only section of the Association website; regular updates of employment and professional development information via the Association's national and branch listserv facilities, a 10% reduction when joining the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), subscription to both the Australian Health Promotion Update – the national newsletter of the Association.

There are now Health Promotion Association branches in all States and Territories. Branches are heavily involved in professional development, including conducting seminars, workshops and training courses on a wide range of topics. Some state branches also provide scholarships for health promotion students or graduates (Vic and WA), mentoring programs (SA has produced a CD – Mentoring Programme: Facilitator's Manual for sale from the Secretariat) as well as listservs and newsletters.

Membership of the Health Promotion Association is diverse, and includes designated health promotion practitioners, researchers and students, as well as others involved in promoting physical, mental, social, cultural and environmental health, whose primary profession or area of study may be something different, but whose responsibilities include promoting health. Our members come from a broad range of sectors including health, education, welfare, environment, transport, law enforcement, town planning, housing oral health and politics. Members are drawn from Government departments and agencies, universities, non-Government organisations, community-based organisations and groups, private companies and industries, and students.

Currently there are over 1100 members and journal subscribers.
Members' details are forwarded to branches and additional local information will be forwarded to you directly from your branch. For more branch information check the branch section of this website.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact the Secretariat – ahpa@usc.edu.au .