Data presented in this paper were gathered during the Urban Hearing Pathways study. The objective of the study was to investigate how access to, and availability of, ear health and hearing services contributes to the burden of avoidable hearing loss experienced by young, urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families. The objective of this paper is to present the perspectives of parents and carers about awareness and concern in their community, detection and diagnosis of children's ear health and hearing problems in primary care, and impacts of delays in diagnosis on children and families. These perspectives are complemented by those of health professionals. Importance of study: The study findings address an evidence gap relating to factors that prompt an ear health and hearing check for young, urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. They reveal the difficulties families experience in establishing a diagnosis of chronic ear disease and receiving the care they perceive will effectively addresses their child's needs. Qualitative study with surveys. The project team consisted of six Aboriginal researchers and 10 non-Indigenous researchers. Data collection tools and methods were designed by the project team. A total of 33 parents and carers completed surveys, and most also took part in interviews (n = 16) or focus groups (n = 16); 23 described their child's ear health journey. Fifty-eight service providers from the health, early childhood and community service sectors completed anonymous surveys and 26 were interviewed. Descriptive statistics were generated from survey data and thematic analysis was conducted for interview and focus group data. Five main themes emerged from the analysis of parent and carer interviews: community knowledge and parent/carer recognition of signs of ear health and hearing problems; parent and carer action-taking; getting ear health and hearing checks; recognition of persistent problems; and impacts of delays on children and families. Reiterating previous findings, there is no evidence of a systematic approach to ear checks for this at-risk population. A significant proportion of parents and carers are noticing problems by watching their child's listening behaviours: early and reliable indicators of hearing status that can be harnessed. Some persistent ear health problems are being managed in primary care as acute episodes, thus delaying specialist referral and increasing developmental impacts on the child. Parents' and carers' practical recommendations for improving hearing health services are presented.

Volunteer observational cohort study. Flutracking is an email-based surveillance tool for influenza-like illness that collects information about symptoms and influenza vaccination. We used historical data from 2014 to 2017 to estimate baseline vaccination status before funding of childhood influenza vaccines was introduced. We compared self-reported vaccine uptake in children younger than 5 years, children aged 5-17 years and adults (18-64 years, and 65 years and older) in 2018 and 2019 by state or territory. Mixed effects logistic regressions were used to measure the association between vaccination and a number of predictors, including whether the child was eligible for free vaccines, and whether adults resided with children or not. We found large increases in vaccine uptake for children younger than 5 years in 2018 in all jurisdictions except Western Australia (where vaccines were already funded) and the Northern Territory (where funded vaccines were not introduced until 2019) that coincided with vaccine policy changes. Self-reported vaccination rates for young children in 2018 increased 2.7-4.2-fold in jurisdictions that funded the vaccine (compared with the previous, unfunded period). Being eligible for the funded vaccine was associated with much higher odds (odds ratio [OR] 4.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.57, 4.79) of a young child being vaccinated. Older children and adults younger than 65 years were also more likely to receive the vaccine following policy changes. The seasonal influenza vaccine is an important protective measure for those at risk of serious outcomes, including young children. Flutracking data demonstrates that government-funded vaccines can lead to an almost five-fold increase in self-reported vaccine uptake of the targeted age group, as well as previously unreported flow-on effects to older children. This suggests that funded vaccines for young children may encourage caregivers to also vaccinate themselves and their older children.

This paper describes traditionally effective approaches for anti-smoking mass media advertising and explores challenges and future directions for campaign planning. The changing characteristics of the current smoking population and media landscape are examined. Type of program or service: Anti-smoking mass media advertising campaigns. We present a commentary on the established creative and media strategies proven to be effective in prompting quit attempts among smokers, discuss new challenges facing anti-smoking campaign managers today and propose considerations for the future. Although evidence of effective approaches for tobacco control messaging and execution remains clear, the media landscape in Australia has changed dramatically in recent years with some audiences moving away from frequent and heavy television consumption towards online platforms and digital media channels. In addition, as smoking rates continue to fall, characteristics of current smokers are becoming increasingly relevant considerations for anti-smoking messaging and placement within a media environment that is becoming more expensive and fragmented. Funding anti-smoking advertising at the levels required to effectively prompt and maintain smoking cessation remains a high priority considering the extensive social and economic costs of smoking. Although it is known that hard-hitting, emotional and/or testimonial anti-smoking advertisements can be effective in prompting quit attempts, optimal media channel selection and media mix for reaching and engaging audience segments is dynamic in an ever-changing media landscape. Targeting media channels popular with lower socio-economic status (SES) smokers can efficiently achieve wide population exposure as well as effectively reaching population groups with higher smoking prevalence. A collaborative approach between health professionals, researchers, creative directors and media buyers is required to ensure advertising materials are communicating the right message for the audience, and that it is being delivered effectively.

Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) requires that: "In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law." While this sets clear standards for governments, there is no equivalent for health and related organisations and those who work with them. The tobacco industry, now more than ever, seeks the credibility of association with reputable scientists and organisations, as part of a strategy to present itself as part of the solution to a problem it has created and continues to promote. At the same time, it opposes evidence-based action to reduce smoking and its harms. This paper proposes that it is time to establish a civil society equivalent of Article 5.3 to protect reputable organisations from associating with or lending support and credibility to the tobacco industry.

We searched Medline, Embase, All EBM Reviews, CINAHL, PsycINFO and grey literature focusing on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries. We selected studies that targeted adults with type 2 diabetes, described a provider-focused intervention conducted in primary health care, and included an evaluation component. Four researchers extracted data and each included study was assessed for quality by two researchers. Of the 15 studies identified, there was one systematic review (high quality), four randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (two strong quality, one each moderate and weak) and 10 cluster RCTs (two strong quality, five moderate, three weak). The range of follow-up periods was 3-32 months. In all but one study, the intervention was compared against usual care. The applied interventions included: computerised and noncomputerised decision support; culturally tailored interventions; feedback to the healthcare provider on quality of diabetes care; practice nurse involvement; and integrated primary and specialist care. All interventions aimed to improve the biochemical outcomes of interest; 13 studies also included clinical, psychological and/or health-related quality-of-life outcomes. Outcome results were mixed. All interventions had mixed impacts on the outcomes of interest except the one study testing a decision aid, which did not show any improvement. A number of interventions are already available in Australia but need wider adoption. Other effective interventions are yet to be broadly adopted, and need to be evaluated for their applicability, feasibility and sustainability in the Australian context.

By definition, extreme events are rare. Socio-economic and human systems have not experienced adverse extreme events frequently enough to develop resilience, whether this be physical, economical or structural. Humans are vulnerable to extreme events because of our physiology and because we build thresholds into our socio-economic and human health systems. When these thresholds are exceeded the consequences can be devastating. This perspective will discuss changes in heat, drought and heavy rainfall extremes in the context of climate change.

Professor Peter Shergold was appointed as the New South Wales (NSW) Coordinator General for Refugee Resettlement in 2015, providing him with an opportunity to reimagine how the not-for-profit, public and private sectors could collaborate to improve the wellbeing of refugees settling in NSW, Australia. Through collaboration, NSW agencies are shifting the service response from one that is reactive to refugees' immediate settlement needs towards an investment approach that creates employment pathways. By identifying and building on refugees' strengths, resilience and human capital, Professor Shergold believes NSW can deliver better outcomes for both refugees and the communities they live in. PHRP asked him about his role, its objectives and its achievements.

Strong collaboration between researchers, policy makers and practitioners supports the use of research evidence in policy and practice. Strategies for increasing the use of evidence in policy development and implementation include creating more opportunities for closer collaboration between researchers and policy makers, ensuring research syntheses are more accessible to policy makers, and increasing workforce capacity to utilise evidence. Type of program or service: The BBV & STI Research, Intervention and Strategic Evaluation Program, 2014-2019 (BRISE) is a coherent and integrated program that delivers policy-relevant research, strategic advice, capacity building and communications to support the response to blood-borne viruses (BBV) and sexually transmissible infections (STI) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. BRISE has five key objectives: generate high-quality research; maximise the use of research; build research capacity; communication and marketing; and governance and management. BRISE facilitates the coproduction of research where researchers and policy makers are meaningfully involved in all stages of research priority setting and codesign from development to application, building an understanding of the way evidence is generated to allow for greater integration between research and use of evidence. Bringing multiple research projects together under a single contract and budget provided the NSW Ministry of Health (the Ministry) with cost efficiencies and streamlined contract management and project reporting. A flexible work plan allowed for a mix of longer-term (up to 5-year) projects and shorter projects that were responsive to emerging policy-relevant research priorities. The Ministry became involved in the production of collaborative research as a research partner, rather than solely a research 'funder'. The joint management of research projects involving a policy officer from the Ministry provided opportunities for individuals to build on their research capabilities and literacy. Collaborative priority setting and project work, and increased research literacy, improved the likelihood that research generated would then be used in policy and practice.