This article is part of a series on Workforce in Public Health, edited by Professor Brian Oldenburg and Professor Vivian Lin.

Commentary

The future of public health: the importance of workforce

Vivian Lin¹, Rebecca Watson^2,3 and Brian Oldenburg³

¹  School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia

²  Australian Insitute of Health Policy Studies (AIHPS), Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

³  School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 2009, 6:4doi:10.1186/1743-8462-6-4

Published:	9 April 2009

Abstract

Health workforce has become a major concern and a significant health policy issue around the world in recent years. With recent international and national initiatives and models being developed and implemented in Australia and other countries, it is timely to understand the need and the rationale for a better trained and educated public health workforce for the future. Much more attention should also be given to evaluation and research in this field.

Through this thematic series on Workforce and Public Health, we have drawn on the diverse nature of public health, workforce implications, education and training and national and international case examples of ongoing improvements and issues in this sector.