Health Services > Statewide and Community Health Services > Population Health Branch

Role of local government in hygiene

It is vital that councils support programs that promote good hygiene and the work that their EHWs do in reducing disease.

When dealing with hygiene in the community, councils should always point out the benefits of good hygiene, such as:

children are less likely to get skin, eye, and lung diseases
healthy children learn better, enjoy sport and grow at a healthy rate
older people are less like to get sick and have to go to hospital
healthy parents can take better care of their children
healthy adults live longer and make a greater contribution to the community
if less money has to be spent on sick people, more money can be spent on providing community facilities and services.

Councils that own housing in their communities have responsibilities both as the local government authority and as the lessor (landlord). These include ensuring that: Well maintained laundry/bathroom areas

homes are maintained properly
leaking sewerage pipes are fixed quickly
windows and doors work properly, allowing good ventilation but keeping out mosquitoes, rats and other vectors and vermin
homes are not overcrowded.

Important: Local governments also have specific responsibilities under Queensland's health laws to make sure that some types of hygiene problems don’t affect the community. See the Hygiene Legislation page for more information on these laws.

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Last Updated: 22 January 2008
Last Reviewed: 05 December 2008

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Role of local government in hygiene