Shaping Up Down Under

In a recent episode of Shorts With Liz Clark, AUSactive Chair Emmett Williams and former CEO Barrie Elvish shared insights from their Leaders Forum in Canberra, Australia, revealing a sophisticated advocacy strategy that is making significant strides in positioning exercise as a cornerstone of preventive healthcare in that country.

The Leaders Forum brought together approximately 90 industry leaders, allied health professionals, and politicians in Australia’s Parliament House. The event featured presentations from about 10 politicians focusing on health and physical activity policy. Speakers also included the new president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and specialists discussing topics like GLP-1 medications and mental health.

The approach of the two Australian fitness leaders parallels HFA’s own advocacy work in the United States. Williams credits the event’s inspiration to HFA’s congressional Fly-In event, launched in 2023.

Fit for Office and Million Moves

AUSactive has developed two complementary programs, Fit for Office and Million M that engage policymakers and the general public. Similar to Myzone’s Congressional Physical Activity Challenge in the US (Williams is a founding partner of Myzone), Fit for Office uses wearable technology to encourage legislators to meet World Health Organization guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity weekly. After two years, the program has engaged 50 of Australia’s 225 federal legislators, representing about 20% participation.

Million Moves takes a more grassroots approach, asking everyday citizens to pledge to undertake 75 daily movements, representing the 75% of Australians who don’t meet physical activity guidelines. The program has secured state government funding in Queensland and Western Australia, with participating gyms reporting impressive results. One facility saw 105 first-time visitors during a three-week campaign period.

Eyes on 2032

With Brisbane, Queensland, hosting the 2032 Olympic Games, AUSactive sees a seven-year opportunity to create the first Olympics legacy that meaningfully increases population- level physical activity. Previous Olympics have failed to change general population behavior, but Australia is positioning itself differently.

Australia ranked 144th out of 148 countries for adolescent physical activity adherence. “We want Brisbane 2032 to be the first [Olympics] that leaves a true legacy of increased physical activity,” Williams says.