enHealth Council

Session Reports

Report of 10th Session of the enHealth Council
11 June 2002, Sydney

Opening of Tenth Session of enHealth Council

Administration Matters

Policy Issues

Next Meeting

Opening of Tenth Session of enHealth Council

The tenth session of the enHealth Council was held in Sydney on 11th June 2002. The following Members were in attendance:

Professor Christine Ewan	Chair
Mr Owen Ashby	Australian Institute of Environmental Health
Dr Martin Bicevskis	Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmania
Ms Jan Bowman	Department of Human Services, Victoria
Dr Kevin Buckett	Department of Human Services, South Australia
Mr Peter Burnett	Environment Australia
Dr Helen Cameron	Australian Department of Health and Ageing
Dr Stephen Corbett	NSW Health Department
Mr Brian Devine	Health Department of Western Australia
Ms Sophie Dwyer	Queensland Health
Mr Dieter Jurgeneit	Department of Health and Community Care, ACT
Professor Ian Lowe	Australian Consumers' Association
Dr Anne Neller	Public Health Association of Australia
Ms Merle O'Donnell	National Indigenous Environmental Health Forum
Mr Paul Prendergast	Ministry of Health, New Zealand
Mr Xavier Schobben	Territory Health Services, Northern Territory
Ms Alison Smith	(for Mr P Taylor) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
Dr Roscoe Taylor	NHMRC Health Advisory Committee
Secretary - Ms Claire Brady	Australian Department of Health and Ageing

Others in attendance
Dr Cathy Mead	Executive Officer, National Public Health Partnership
Ms Marion Dunlop	Assistant Secretary, Strategic Planning Branch, Department of Health and Ageing
Mr Paul Kesby	Environment Australia

Apologies
Mr Peter Taylor	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission

Administration Matters

Minutes of the ninth session and Session Report, February 2002

Members noted and endorsed the Minutes and Session Report from the ninth session of Council.

Action arising

Members noted the status of action arising from the ninth session of Council. The following items were discussed in detail:

a) Non-auditory Effects of Noise: The report on the non-auditory effects of noise is nearing completion and will go to the Steering Committee for finalisation before being circulated to enHealth Council members out-of-session.

b) Sustainable Development Kits: The Steering Committee for this project will meet with the Australian Department of Health and Ageing to discuss the contents of the kits.

Correspondence

Members noted the correspondence register.

Out-of-Session Items

a) Letter from EPHC seeking an enHealth Council nomination for the NEPC Working Group on Air Quality:

Four nominations were put forward by Council Members. Members endorsed Dr David Simon, SA Department of Human Services, as the enHealth Council representative.

b) Letter from Director, Environmental Health Section, Commonwealth Department of Health to State/Territory Directors of Environmental Health, March 2002 re: State and Territory-based funding for future face-to-face meetings of the Indigenous Environmental Health Forum:

Directors of Environmental Health will discuss this issue at their meeting on 12 June. It was noted that the relationship between ATSIWG and the enHealth Council Indigenous Forum would be discussed at the NPHP meeting next week.

Matters arising from Circulated Papers

a) Economic Evaluation Guidelines: The Guidelines were sent to Members out-of-session for their consideration. In addition, Members were requested to consider appropriate people to be included in a Workshop during the consultation phase of this document and respond to the Secretariat.

Policy Issues

Strategic Planning

A strategic planning session followed the ordinary Council meeting and was facilitated by Professor Andrew Wilson. The purpose of the planning session was to focus on Council’s work priorities for the next three years and develop a work plan.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of enHealth Council is proposed for 5th and 6th November 2002 in Adelaide.