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In April 2008 the Australian Government announced the establishment of a National Preventative Health Taskforce (NPHT) with the primary function of developing a national preventative health strategy. In October 2008 a discussion paper and three technical reports1 were released with a call for input from individuals and organisations, professional and consumer groups. This editorial outlines four key issues from the Australian Health Promotion Association's (AHPA) submission: the importance of a broad social determinants of health approach; clear explanations of ‘prevention’ and ‘health promotion’; establishing health promotion high on the political agenda; and building the capacity of Australia's highly skilled health promotion workforce to strengthen health promotion action across Australia.

This commentary reports on the development and implementation of the competency-based IUHPE Health Promotion Accreditation System in the context of workforce capacity as a key activity of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE). The process of developing the System is described, including how it built on, and added to, international research and experience in competency-based approaches to health promotion. An overview of how the System works, its current status and future plans, is presented. Evidence of the positive impact of the System to date, in particular in the context of health promotion education, is considered.

This article describes the approach taken in implementing a major organization change in a large home nursing service. Rather than prescribing a model for change, five key issues are outlined: establishing a mandate for change, project management methodology, staff engagement, using data and evaluation, and ensuring sustainability. Professional development was provided to middle managers across the organization to ensure that the capacity for managing change was available. A project identity was established and a detailed project plan identified roles, initiatives, deliverables, timelines, and accountabilities. Staff support for changes was improved through their involvement in creating solutions and developing new processes. Project indicators and reports were produced to monitor the impact of initiatives. The project evaluation showed that there had been considerable improvements in organization performance. Staff were positive about their involvement in the project and the opportunities that were created for them to address the identified issues.