How do I choose which implementation actions are right for our council? 

You should review the range of recommended implementation actions and identify one action per impact stream to complete within the life of the four-year Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. The identified implementation actions should be incorporated into the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan annual action plans, or other relevant council action plans.

How do I complete the implementation actions?

Ambitious actions might require more preparation, requiring councils to map out how they will work through the steps of the how-to guide and could be spread through successive annual action plans. Quick win or step up actions might be scheduled strategically so that opportunities to capitalise on momentum or interest gained in the topic are considered.  

In some actions, the ambitious one requires or would be strengthened if components of a quick win or step up actions were already in place.  Recommended implementation actions are informed by evidence about the types of action that can improve community health and wellbeing when delivered at the local government level.  

What are some examples of implementation types?

Implementation action types may be:  

• Audit or self-assessment of existing activity  
• Delivery of campaigns, events, promotions or communication exercises  
• Delivery of programs and projects 
• Development of policy or strategy 
• Changes to or within the physical or built environment
• How do I involve people throughout the action process?

How do I involve people throughout the action process? 

In the how-to guides, suggestions are made to involve people, including:

• Children, young people and their families, to amplify the needs and priorities and co-design solutions for their health and wellbeing
• People in the community most affected by the action, which may include population groups who are more likely to experience inequities relating to the issue you are trying to address
• People required to drive the action or change, including council staff or teams, partner organisations or broader community groups 
• Decision makers such as council leadership or councillors (see below, Gaining support from council leaders?

What is the implementation action process?

Implementation actions that involve policy, strategy, program, campaign development or built environment change activities may detail each of the steps in the action process. Other implementation actions, such as council audits are focused on just one or two stages. For example, ‘undertaking an audit’ will provide more detail about the Assess phase of the action process.

What do the modules mean by children and young people?

Generally, within the modules:

• Children refers to people aged 0-11 years old
• Young people refers to people aged 12-25 years old

There are some instances where a specific age group is identified – this is usually because the implementation action is better suited to a particular age group e.g., pre-school, school-aged or young adults.  

You may need to adapt recommended steps and actions to suit the needs and priorities of different age groups of children and young people. Further recommended resources, program and campaigns are also provided to assist you with tailoring to specific age cohorts.

What do the modules mean by council owned, operated and managed facilities?

Generally, within the modules: 

• ‘Council owned, operated, and managed facilities’ refers to the spaces and services that you provide to your communities.  
• It is particularly important that councils provide healthy environments and options for children, young people and other people in the community who rely on and use public facilities. 
• These modules encourage councils to prioritise healthy changes through the spaces, services and strategies within councils’ remit.  

These facilities may also be operated by council employees or leased back to community groups and organisations. Contractual arrangements between councils and community or business partners regarding operation of these facilities can add complexity for councils working to provide healthy environments in their facilities.

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Communities of Practice  

As a fast-track council, you have exclusive access to the Communities of Practice – providing opportunities to share, learn and support each other through implementation.  

To find out more and keep up-to-date – join the VLGP Teams Channel.

Implementation Funding 

Fast-track councils will have access to funding for implementation of the modules – more information will be provided when available.  

Council leader and council or support is a critical factor to the successful implementation of action to address health and wellbeing. While formal processes to test and obtain this support vary across councils, it’s recommended that consideration is given to staging leader and councillor involvement for each activity.  

Some considerations that can help identify strategic activities and points to engage and seek leader and councillor support include:  

• Inclusion in the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan or other strategic document – Council endorsement of strategic documents creates an authorising environment to prioritise and progress actions. Highlight where actions can contribute toward multiple goals for council. If the action isn’t explicitly stated in an endorsed strategic plan or document, be prepared to describe how and why the chosen action is the best way to achieve council’s goals and strategies.  
• Bring leaders on the journey – In some instances, determining the best course of action is embedded in the action itself. Where possible, present leaders with your findings from the Assess stages and engage them in the Design stages of the activities. Ensure their contributions are incorporated into the design.  
• Connect leaders to children, young people and community voice – Council’s ultimate responsibility is to deliver with and for the community. Ensure your processes include platforms to amplify the voices of children, young people and others in the community who are best-placed to describe their own need and priorities. Use council's community engagement strategy as a guide.
• Permission to innovate - In some cases, the work or priority is new to council. Consider opportunities to seek an authorising environment to innovate and test new approaches, outlining the potential benefits, any anticipated risk and mitigation strategies and opportunities to learn from the work.  
• Demonstrate the wins – Highlight the community benefits and effectiveness of successful actions. Use quick wins or steps ups to demonstrate an appetite for further council investment in the priority area, and continue pointing to the returns on investment that embedding the action in council strategic plans may have.  

Councils manage a series of policies, strategies, action plans and agreements including details that will impact the successful delivery of the health promotion modules.

The module resources have been developed using the following interpretation of each document type:

• Policy - a ‘policy’ is a document that states the council’s position on a specific topic and sets out rules for council departments to adopt when undertaking their work for the community. A policy generally applies from the date it is ratified by council and may include a review schedule. 
• Strategy - a ‘strategy’ is a document that outlines the process council will undertake to make specific improvements across a particular topic. A strategy generally covers a set period, for example 4 years. A strategy could have an action plan that is incorporated in the document or actions, that are subsidiary plans and strategies of the organisation. 
• Action Plan - an ‘action plan’ is a supplementary document of a policy, plan or strategy that sets out the specific tasks, usually on an annual basis. Activities in the modules can be translated into action plans. Depending on council capacity, activities may be broken down with some elements of the action process competed over successive action plans. 

Considering a standalone or integrated approach for strategies and policies 

Some implementation actions in the modules recommend adopting council policies or strategies and require councils to consider standalone and integrated approaches. Usually, this means a decision about whether a health-related priority is the lead topic (for example having a municipal walking strategy that addresses a range of settings), or whether health priorities are addressed within related documents (for example, a council policy to address walking across council’s transport, youth and precinct strategic plans). 

There are a wide range of contextual factors that to consider to get the most out of the work in your community. 

When reviewing between a standalone or integrated approach, consider whether either arrangement is: 

• More likely to the overall goal council is hoping to achieve 
• Likely to generate useful opportunities for engaging key partners, council teams and leaders in the development journey of the strategy or policy 
• Likely to be given more importance or budgeting opportunities through council’s strategic planning hierarchy 
• Better suited to current council and community sentiment, support or opposition relating to the topic 
• More appropriate to ensure accountability by the areas the change should be applied to 
• Useful for reducing complexity or conflicts in council’s planning arrangements 

Identifying policy windows 

Affecting change across multiple documents requires some additional thought and planning toward bringing responsible departments on-board with the health priorities council is trying to address:

• Audit relevant policy review windows in preparation to seize opportunities through the policy cycle. Complete this as part of the Assess step or as an independent activity to identify opportunities across a range of priorities in the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. 
• Prepare a timeline of policy, strategy, plan or agreement review windows, and identify the changes required to align them with the goals of the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan. 
• Identify the responsible teams and review process for each, and proactively prepare the contributions or actions to foster alignments between the plan. Note any potential areas of competing or conflicting priorities, and prepare a rationale for why and how council could resolve these.  

Communication approaches  

VicHealth supports the health promotion sector to build communication skills, techniques and approaches to highlight health promotion work to different audiences.

Can’t find what you need? Get in touch with the team: [email protected] 

To find out more and keep up-to-date – join the VLGP Teams Channel. 

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