Libby Kalucy, PHC RIS
 Health Impact Assessment is a combination of procedures, methods and tools by which a policy, program or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population. (Gothenberg Consensus Statement definition of HIA adopted by NSW HIA Project)
Local government has an important role in planning, creating and maintaining the local physical social, economic and man-made environment. In Australia and internationally, local government has been an important partner with health services in undertaking health Impact Assessments. For the past five years NSW Health has funded the Centre for Health Equity Training, Research and Evaluation (CHETRE) to develop capacity within the NSW health system to undertake HIA.
This succinct 15 page report reviews the experience of local government on six HIAs undertaken with them, on the usefulness of the HIA process. It identifies ways in which HIA can most effectively be built within local government planning processes. Local government staff found that doing the HIA deepened their understanding of how Council activities can influence people's health substantially. Bringing people together from different disciplines and backgrounds can broaden everyone's understanding of issues and come up with solutions that add value to projects. Assistance from Area Health Services was crucial for the success of HIAs in local government, because of their research skills and administrative support.
Reference
Menzies T. (2007). Reflections on ways HIA can be made most useful to Local Government in NSW. UNSW Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales
Two related reports are:
Harris P, Harris E, Harris-Roxas B, Kemp L. Healthy Urban Planning: Recommendations from the NSW HIA project, 2006.
Harris, E. 2007. NSW Health HIA Capacity Building Program: Mid-term Review . UNSW Research Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales: Sydney.
All reports are at:
Web: notes.med.unsw.edu.au/CPHCEWeb.nsf/page/Reports
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