About health security
The threat and risk of public health emergencies are increasing. Australia has seen this in recent disease outbreaks and more frequent natural disasters.
Health security is about what we do – before, during and after major public health threats – to minimise their impact now and in the future.
We collect and analyse data to identify emerging health threats. This helps us prepare for and act quickly on potential threats to public health to ensure Australia’s health security.
Read more about health security.
Impact
Health security is critical to tackling Australia’s growing health challenges, including the:
- growing threat of disease spread from trade and travel
- continued threat from known infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza and measles
- emergence of new infectious diseases
- increase in antimicrobial resistance
- increase in diseases that spread from animals to people (zoonoses)
- increase in our health vulnerability driven by climate change
- potential threats to the supply and availability of medicines and medical devices.
Role of the CDC
We are strengthening Australia’s health security and preparedness against health threats. We assess the human health impacts of those threats through:
- national and international surveillance and situational awareness
- engagement and collaboration with key partners across Australia
- developing national public health threat assessments and risk assessments.
Who we work with
By working with other agencies, we can make better use of health intelligence to identify and assess emerging health threats.
We work with:
- state and territory governments, which are responsible for delivering significant components of Australia’s health system, including many aspects of public health
- other Australian Government agencies
- the World Health Organization
- other international health agencies.
Related documents
See the:
- health emergency management plans we follow when responding to both domestic and international health emergencies
- National Health Security Agreement, the National Health Security Act 2007 and Biosecurity Act 2015 for information about the legislation that governs our work.
Related topics
Our health security work builds on other health security functions, including managing:
See also: