CPD’s seventh Wellbeing Government Roundtable brought together senior public servants from the Commonwealth and across states and territories. In light of the Productivity Commission’s (PC) interim report, Delivering quality care more efficiently, the goal of this roundtable was to further the momentum for preventive investment between jurisdictions and to develop practical ideas for implementation.
Mirroring CPD recommendations, the PC’s interim report recommended establishing a National Prevention Investment Framework to encourage government investment in preventive programs that improve long-term outcomes and reduce future demand for acute care services. An advisory board, a funding mechanism and an intergovernmental agreement underpin this recommendation. This has the potential to shift the focus from short-term spending to evidence-based interventions for improved population wellbeing and national productivity.
The discussion was guided by three key questions:
This discussion focussed on what can be learned from existing funding models to inform prevention investment and how to share benefits as well as costs.
Participants broadly agreed that evidence should be used to incrementally build out what works, but identified many barriers. These include the difficulty in establishing causation of benefits or costs, particularly for complex interventions; difficulty in demonstrating savings because timelines are too short or funding is too low; and a challenge in communicating the shared benefits of cross-jurisdictional initiatives.
Some of the ways forward discussed by the group included designing contracts that adapt over time; considering more flexible funding mechanisms; learning from existing cross-jurisdictional initiatives, such as the Life Course Data Initiative between the Commonwealth and the ACT; and focussing on a cross-jurisdictional pilot to increase confidence and build the muscle for working together.
Participants explored areas of health prevention policy that could be initiated or expanded to help build the capability needed to analyse costs and benefits. This included areas with clear evidence, such as diabetes and obesity prevention, and a focus on food systems and how food is delivered to community, e.g. lunch programs in schools and health star ratings. Homelessness was an area that was identified as providing a shorter timeline to realising savings, so could be useful to include in the early proof of concept stage.
This part of the discussion examined how far upstream we can go with investment, with participants noting that the further upstream you go the further you move away from a specific portfolio. What’s needed is clear high-level strategic outcomes that multiple agencies can agree on and align investment to, then design a partnership model to pick up the data required and clarify the roles everyone will play.
A key enabler identified was effective data linkage, which begins with being aware of what’s already available. Additional investment in improving data and evidence would also make sense—including links between data sets.
An initial framework could be developed to identify the mix of investments that support various governance and process components and meet a variety of timelines—benefits showing up in short, medium and longer-term timelines. Putting an emphasis on getting runs on the board early would help to sustain investment over a longer period.
This roundtable took place prior to the release of the PC’s final report in December 2025. The final report stood by the recommendation to establish a National Prevention Investment Framework, and also recommended establishing an assessment team within Treasury to support rigorous economic evaluation of prevention and early intervention, in line with CPD’s idea of an Avoidable Cost Unit.
CPD is developing further advice to the Treasury and the Treasurer’s Office on prevention investment, and welcomes further input into this work.
The Centre for Policy Development’s Wellbeing Initiative works on approaches to the economy that meet the needs of people, communities and the environment they depend on.
With world-leading research in wellbeing economics, government practice and public sector innovation, the CPD Wellbeing Initiative has become a leading research effort on Australia’s approach to wellbeing.
The initiative is a nexus for experts, practitioners, public officials and researchers to equip Australia’s government and economy to chart a course to wellbeing for current and future generations.
