Today in chilly Canberra, I had the privilege of attending Wild Health 2026 and joining a panel on the Great Prevention Pivot. I also saw progress on Canberra’s Light Rail expansion that I had to navigate through (more on this later).
Back to Wild Health… it was one of the best conversations I’ve been part of across general practice, because it moved beyond the usual way we talk about prevention.
Often, when we speak to politicians and policymakers about preventive healthcare, the focus is on the individual patient. Of course, prevention is deeply personal. It means helping someone avoid a heart attack, manage diabetes earlier, detect cancer sooner, or stay well enough to keep working and caring for their family.
Governments also respond to numbers. Big numbers.
Australia is currently having a serious productivity problem. The Productivity Commission’s latest figures show labour productivity fell 0.6% in the March 2026 quarter and grew only 0.3% over the year. Across 2024–25, productivity growth was also just 0.3%, with the five-year average sitting at -0.7%.
The great prevention pivot: We are working more as a nation, and achieving less
A healthier population is a more productive population, maybe even faster nation building infrastructure projects like Light Rail! When people avoid preventable illness, they are more likely to stay in work, contribute to their communities, care for their families and live with independence. Businesses lose fewer days to sickness. Hospitals face less avoidable pressure. Governments spend less reacting to illness that could have been prevented or delayed.
The numbers are significant. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that in 2023–24, $38 billion in health spending was linked to potentially avoidable risk factors. Australia also had 788,000 potentially preventable hospitalisations that year, costing $7.7 billion. Around 36% of Australia’s disease burden could be avoided or reduced by addressing modifiable risk factors.
Behind every one of those numbers is a person, a family and a workplace.
In my own family, I’ve seen what happens in a country where preventive healthcare is not built into the system. Illness is often found late. High blood pressure, diabetes and cancer may go unnoticed until they become serious. Sometimes the first real contact with care is the emergency department, if you get there in time.
The human cost is devastating. The economic burden is enormous.
Thankfully, Australia is not in that extreme position. We have general practice, screening programs, immunisation and strong public health expertise, backed by (an increasingly poorly funded) Medicare.
But we can still do better.
Prevention should be seen as an economic productivity strategy.
It keeps people well, working, caring and contributing. It reduces avoidable pressure on hospitals. It protects the health of our communities and the productivity of our country.
That means investing properly in general practice and primary care. It means using data to identify risk earlier. It means funding models that reward keeping people well, not only treating them once they are already sick.
The Great Prevention Pivot is not just a health conversation. It is a productivity conversation.It is a prosperity conversation.
If we want a healthier, more productive Australia, prevention has to be at the centre of the plan.
