About Qld Health > Population Health Queensland

Environmental Health Branch - Environmental Health Science and Regulation Unit

Role of the Unit
Key Functions
Legislation and Standards
Key Partners
Resources

The health of Queenslanders is affected by hazards such as air pollutants, chemicals, noise, asbestos and lead in the environment. Queenslanders risk being exposed to these environmental hazards through their daily activities at home and other places. Queensland Health is strongly committed to securing better health outcomes for all Queenslanders by reducing the impacts of environmental hazards in natural and built environments.

Role of the Unit

The key role of the Unit is to minimise health risks from environmental hazards, mainly in the air and soil environments, through undertaking health risk assessments, providing advice to government partners, stakeholders and the public, and through enforcement of the Public Health Act 2005 and Pest Management Act. Issues of particular interest include:

Air emissions from noxious and hazardous industries,
Outdoor and indoor air quality,
Hazardous soils, dusts and wastes,
Hazardous chemical contamination in domestic settings,
Non-communicable biological hazards.

The Unit leads Queensland Health's development of legislation, policies, standards and advice to protect Queenslanders from environmental hazards. This is primarily done by conducting scientific assessments and developing evidence-based control strategies for health interventions. This also includes the provision of expert scientific health risk advice to senior management of Queensland Health, other government agencies and the Queensland public.

Another critical and unique role is to be a leader in the development of policies and programs and provide strategic advice on public health programs which support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander local governments to manage their environmental health responsibilities. The ultimate goal is to ensure that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a standard of environmental health that supports the achievement of quality health outcomes.

At a national level, the Unit's role is aligned with the National Environmental Health Strategy, established by the national Environmental Health Committee (enHealth) of the Australian Health Protection Committee.

Key Functions

The Unit's role in protecting Queenslanders from environmental hazards is achieved through:

providing health risk advice to state government agencies on public health risks from environmental hazards, including those regulated by Queensland Health and with Queensland Health’s regulatory partners
developing systems, processes and resources to support Queensland local governments and Queensland Health public health units in the administration and enforcement of the Public Health Act 2005 for particular environmental hazards
assessing the environmental health risks and impacts of land use planning and development proposals and providing advice to state agencies, local governments and proponents
developing, implementing and reviewing legislation, policies, standards, guidelines and supporting programs relevant to environmental hazards and contributing to the development of national work in this area
providing advice to members of the public on the toxicology and epidemiology of environmental hazards, as well as health protection strategies.

The Unit's role in public health programs to improve environmental health conditions in Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is achieved through:

providing policy and strategic direction, and advocating, Queensland Health's position at a state and national level
participating as a leader in the development and coordination of systems and processes to support Queensland local governments and Queensland Health public health units to implement environmental health programs in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

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Legislation and Standards

Public Health Act 2005 and the Public Health Regulation 2005 for particular environmental hazards.

Key Partners

The Unit partners with many different state and national organisations in the management of environmental hazards, including:

Queensland local governments
Operations and Air Quality Sciences - Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland
State Development Infrastructure and Planning
National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme - Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing
National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology
Griffith University Centre for Environment and Population Health
QUT School of Public Health and Faculty of Science and Technology