With Tasmania heading to an early election, its political leaders have an opportunity to address the state’s most urgent challenge: its health.

All parties and candidates can no longer ignore the alarming health statistics that place Tasmanians at levels you would expect to see in the nation’s remote, disadvantaged communities.

Tasmania has the highest rate of chronic disease in the country. Seven in 10 adults are living with at least one chronic condition. These diseases include diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular conditions and mental illnesses.

Tasmania has the highest mortality rate, and one of the highest rates of potentially avoidable deaths, in Australia. The state consistently records the largest proportion of people who deferred seeing a GP because they can’t afford it.

This places enormous pressure on the state’s public health system. The hospital system lags behind the rest of the country in health infrastructure and workforce. The state has 32 per cent fewer mental health beds than the national average. The public health system has no exercise physiologists despite being a key part of multidisciplinary teams across the mainland health systems.

Accredited exercise physiologists (AEPs) play a vital role in falls prevention, injury recovery, mental health treatment, prehabilitation (preparing for and recovering from surgery), cancer treatment, diabetes management, chronic disease management and preventive health care in the community.

This election, Tasmanians must demand all parties commit to policies prioritising physical and mental health care. That means a modern, fit-for-purpose workforce including allied health professionals who do incredible work keeping Australians out of the acute care system and busy emergency departments.

It is deeply concerning that the University of Tasmania no longer offers qualifications in exercise physiology. The next Tasmanian Government must make health workforce training, attraction and retention one of its top priorities.

ESSA represents Australia’s exercise physiologists, exercise scientists and sports scientists. Its members will also be urging candidates to support urgent investment in school-based physical activity programs to help set the next generation on a healthier path. Approximately 40 per cent of Tasmanian children do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity as outlined in the Australian Physical Activity Guidelines.

Approximately 80 per cent of the state’s adolescents are not achieving the recommended activity levels, while 65 per cent of Tasmanian children exceed the recommended limits for screen time, contributing to sedentary lifestyles. Today’s physically inactive, screen-obsessed children risk becoming tomorrow’s hospital waiting list, facing poor health and diminished economic and social outcomes.

To its credit, the Tasmanian Government is actively developing a 20-Year Preventive Health Strategy. This initiative recognises that over 70 per cent of health outcomes are influenced by factors beyond the healthcare system, such as living conditions, education, physical activity, nutrition, employment and social inclusion. ESSA is actively contributing to the strategy.chil

Tasmanians should not have to accept poorer health outcomes simply because of where they live. The state deserves the same standard of healthcare as every other part of Australia. As we head to the polls on 19 July it’s time we demanded better.

Scot MacDonald is General Manager Policy & Advocacy at Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA).

Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.

Support us in expanding our coverage and developing new content by and for Tasmanians. 

New initiatives on the way include:

  • a weekly podcast covering current affairs
  • a revamped website
  • a monthly cartoon competition
  • a user-friendly app for both Android and Apple devices
  • a weekly roundup of key stories