The City of Mount Gambier Regional Public Health Plan 2015-2020 has been developed in accordance with the South Australian Public Health Act (the Act) 2011 Section 51 provisions. The act describes that local government is in the best position to be delegated functions to take action to preserve, protect and promote public health within its area. Public health is defined under the act as ‘the health of individuals in the context of the wider community’.
The Regional Public Health Plan identifies key emerging priority areas for Mount Gambier’s public health and the determinants of health that are specific to our local population. The eleven priorities areas highlighted include:
Hoarding and squalor symptoms include the acquisition of too many things, difficulty discarding, excessive clutter that interferes with the home environment occasionally with unsanitary conditions, all of which can cause distress.
If challenging living conditions such as these are negatively impacting you or someone you know, please see the above public health link to the hoarding and squalor website for further information.
Monitoring of hair, beauty and skin penetration businesses (e.g. acupuncturists, tattooists and body piercers) that are registered with Council, against the Department of Health Guidelines, forms part of the health prevention program conducted by authorised officers. This is undertaken with the use of an annual self audit and onsite inspections for high risk rated services. Business operators are requested to register with Council (see Public Health Forms) and provide service and contact details.
Communication with the local industry to provide updates and notification of trending issues when received by SA Health is an important step in health protection. Home based activity is included and a leaflet is available on Council’s Development Forms and Leaflet webpage to assist with Planning requirements, if any. These services are inspected to ensure that equipment/premises are hygienic and that appropriate procedures are in place to help protect the community and service providers from the spread of communicable diseases/conditions.
Service operators can display Council’s letter of registration acknowledgement introduced in 2016 which provides community awareness of those being monitored under the Act. A checklist for fit-out of a hair, beauty and skin penetration premise (see above Public Health Form section) has been created to assist with requirements under the relevant guidelines.
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