Page 903 - Week 03 - Thursday, 7 April 2022
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The Healthy Canberra: ACT Preventive Health Plan guides action to reduce the prevalence of chronic disease by addressing these specific risk factors and aiming to support good health across all stages of life. The plan focuses on the promotion of active living, healthy eating, and the design of broader environmental factors, such as safe and accessible urban spaces, access to nature and other amenities.
The Preventive Health Plan includes many initiatives which aim to encourage and support Canberrans to make healthier lifestyle choices, including Kids at Play Active Play, which builds the capacity of early childhood educators to teach fundamental movement skills and to promote active play for children aged three and up; Fresh Tastes, which supports ACT schools to make healthy food and drinks a bigger part of everyday life for Canberra’s kids; It’s Your Move, which supports student-led health promotion innovation in ACT high schools; and Healthier Choices Canberra, which supports local businesses and sporting clubs to provide and promote healthier food and drink options.
I want to acknowledge the work of many non-government organisations in this space as well, and particularly the work that Community Services #1 has been doing, to engage with its community about how to grow and cook and healthier foods in an efficient and effective way that works for families, making sure that families understand what grows in the ACT and how you can prepare it, giving them the confidence to prepare healthy meals for their children but also engaging children and young people in that process.
The ACT government is planning for the future as we build the new world-class emergency and critical care facility at the Canberra Hospital. In a first for Australia, the new Canberra Hospital expansion critical services building will be an all-electric building, powered by the ACT’s renewably sourced energy. This alliance with the territory’s climate change strategy includes actions to ensure that newly built government buildings are all electric and on the pathway to zero emissions, as well as specifically to reduce emissions from ACT health facilities.
The critical services building will continue to deliver on the government’s green credentials. The CSB was originally committed to as a four-star green star rating. However, we have now increased this commitment to achieve a five-star green star rating. The design team have adopted a ground-up approach to sustainability, with incremental refinements throughout the design development and ongoing enhancements and efficiency gains throughout the design and construction phases, towards delivering a cost-effective sustainable outcome. The integrated design team—including energy simulation, architecture and façade—is working collaboratively to realise a passive thermal design to reduce peak heating and cooling loads and reduce the demand on the 100 per cent electric infrastructure.
These new facilities will build on the substantial emissions reductions Canberra Health Services has achieved of 23 per cent since 2019, while responding to increasing healthcare service delivery needs, supporting the ACT government’s commitment to achieving a zero-emissions health sector by 2040.
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