The environments in which we live, work, play, and learn can encourage and facilitate healthy behaviours. Implementing healthy public policy or opportunistically raising awareness and providing education about healthy lifestyles, can reduce the risk of a number of chronic diseases, including cancer. These actions must be a shared responsibility among all levels of government in Australia. Local Governments are the level of government closest to the community and so are well placed to implement policies, plans, and strategies that help enable Australians to lead healthy, active lifestyles.
Developing a Local Government Public Health Plan
This document is intended to be a guide for Local Governments that want to address any of the following major modifiable risk factor areas for cancer:
- curbing the rise in overweight and obesity
- making smoking history
- reducing harm from alcohol
- preventing skin cancer
Supporting your community to reduce their risk of bowel cancer
Cancer Council WA aims to work with our community to reduce the incidence and the impact of cancer. In line with this, our Bowel Cancer Screening Team is working with local governments across Western Australia to increase awareness of bowel cancer and the national screening program, through a multi-faceted approach. This includes education opportunities and placement of reminders and prompts in a range of contexts in the community.