Our History

HPOAA began in March 2020 as a practical way to bring Dr Bruce Aylward from the World Health Organization to speak with Australian health department staff about the realities of controlling COVID-19.

At the time, many countries believed COVID-19 could not be controlled, and some Australian government leaders were doubtful as well. Dr Aylward helped strengthen the confidence of public health staff by making the case that the virus could, in fact, be managed using traditional public health measures such as contact tracing and isolation.

When we were unable to secure an official government organisation to host the webinar, we created the Australian Health Protection Officers Association as a way to extend the invitation. Dr Aylward generously agreed to take part. His presentation had a significant impact, with at least one Chief Health Officer later saying it changed their view on whether COVID-19 could be controlled.

We later changed the name to HPOAA, as the domain for AHPOA was already taken.