Australia is a step closer to having its own national agency to inform and coordinate public health responses – a permanent Australian Centre for Disease Control.

Long-awaited draft legislation was tabled in parliament last week to create this permanent CDC, which is to start from 1 January 2026.

It’s a milestone for public health in Australia.

This national agency will help protect us against immediate issues including avian influenza (bird flu), falling immunisation coverage and health misinformation. Down the track it’s expected to address other areas of public health such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

But there’s much we don’t know about how the agency will run. We also need to ensure safeguards are in place against political interference in public health, which we’re seeing play out in the United States.

Public health experts have been calling for an Australian CDC since at least 1987.

At that time, the Australasian Epidemiological Association noted the fragmentation of disease control efforts across the country. It was particularly concerned about the lack of timely data to inform the public health response to HIV/Aids.

More than three decades later, the Covid-19 pandemic also exposed weaknesses in Australia’s public health system.

The Covid-19 response inquiry found that an Australian CDC could have helped. It could have been a trusted voice for governments and the public; it could have clearly summarised evidence and data as it became available to inform policy and the public; and it could better prepare and coordinate responses to future pandemics.

1987

Epidemiologist Prof Bob Douglas asks in the Medical Journal of Australia Does Australia need a centre for disease control?

2011

Public Health Association of Australia and the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine release a discussion paper about the need for an Australian CDC

June 2020

Then opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, calls for an

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