Working together to strengthen prevention

Media release: Friday 4 February 2026

Heart Foundation joins national alliance to tackle the causes of chronic disease

The Heart Foundation has signed on as a partner of The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre in a bid to jointly advocate for evidence-based improvements to the environments that influence chronic disease.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death and disease in Australia and shares many similar causes with other chronic diseases including diabetes, cancers, and kidney disease.

The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre (Partnership Centre), part of the Sax Institute, is a national collaboration that unites prevention researchers, policy makers and practitioners to strengthen Australia’s prevention system.

By joining the Partnership Centre as a funding partner, the Heart Foundation aims to help strengthen national leadership, shape conversations and support long-term prevention strategies by connecting evidence, policy and practice.

The collaboration will contribute to a stronger, more coherent voice for prevention, supporting leadership, advocacy and the case for sustained investment in chronic disease prevention nationwide.

The Heart Foundation will have two representatives join the Prevention Centre’s Governance Authority alongside other federal and state government and non-government partners, to provide advice on policy direction and emerging issues, and contribute to its strategic oversight.

What the long-term impact of the partnership will look like and who will benefit:

• Stronger prevention policies and better alignment across sectors.
• Increased investment in prevention that reaches communities most affected by chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease.
• Improved population health outcomes and reduced inequities through sustained, evidence-based prevention efforts.

Key challenges the partnership aims to address through a shared approach to prevention include:

• Fragmented prevention efforts across sectors.
• Short-term approaches to funding and policy.
• Difficulty translating evidence into action at scale.
• The partnership will tackle these by strengthening collaboration, mobilising evidence effectively and supporting a shared national approach.

Quotes attributable to Adjunct Associate Professor Nadia Mastersson, Head of The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre:

“We are delighted to welcome the Heart Foundation as a partner of The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre. By joining forces to address the shared environments, determinants and inequities that drive cardiovascular disease, we can amplify our impact on preventing chronic disease more broadly.

“We are excited to work together to shape and lead collective, system-level action, alongside other national and state government and non-government partners, that strengthens Australia’s approach to disease prevention.”

Quotes attributable to David Lloyd, Heart Foundation CEO:

“The Heart Foundation is thrilled to become a partner of the Prevention Centre. We are proud to support this national collaboration and work together to strengthen Australian’s approach to chronic disease prevention.

“Preventing heart disease is integral to the Heart Foundation achieving our ‘Health for Every Heart’ vision by 2050. By joining forces with the Prevention Centre, our united leadership, advocacy and impact in chronic disease prevention will ultimately bring us closer to our shared goal of making heart health a reality for all people in Australia.”