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Our mission to build healthier, more connected communities is being recognised across Australia. This page brings together our latest media releases, news features, and public impact.
As Featured In
For media enquiries, contact admin@healthycities.org.au.
Our official media statements, announcements, and updates about our programs, partnerships, and public health initiatives.
The Illawarra Flame
“Healthy Cities Australia welcomes Wollongong City Council’s support for electrification in the draft Wollongong Development Control Plan 2009 – Chapter D13 Wollongong City Centre, currently on exhibition as part of the City Centre Planning Review.”
May 18 2026
The Bugle App
“Healthy Cities Australia has partnered with Charles Sturt University to launch a new Healthy Ageing and Active Living Initiative aimed at improving the wellbeing of older Australians across regional southeastern NSW.”
May 16 2026
The Region Illawarra
“A blue puffer is not enough: Check your medicine this World Asthma Day.”
May 2026
“Businesses in the Illawarra are helping tackle food insecurity by teaming with charities to donate surplus food.”
March/April 2026
“Some of the positive things that we’re seeing is the relationships.”
March 16 2026
“The next Give Me Space! workshops will be held at Unanderra Community Centre on Thursday, 16 April from 11am until 3pm.”
Region Illawarra
“If you’ve ever switched on the tele to get five minutes of peace, and guilt and uncertainty later set in, you’re not alone.”
February 7 2026
“Food waste can be a gift, not a cost, for hospitality businesses.”
February 4 2026
“As temperatures continue to soar, Illawarra residents are being urged to check on vulnerable neighbours and speak up about how heat is affecting their everyday lives.”
January 30 2026
NCOSS
“Healthy Cities Australia evolved from Healthy Cities Illawarra which was established in 1987 as one of three Federal government pilot sites to replicate the growing World Health Organisation’s Healthy Cities movement in Europe and North America (the other cities being Canberra and Norlunga in SA).”
January 27 2026
The Bugle News
“Hindmarsh Park came alive on Wednesday, 22 January, as families flocked to Play Illawarra, a free event celebrating children, creativity and community.”
January 22 2026
“A healthy city embraces a healthy economy – and not the kind defined solely by Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”
January 05 2026
“When you hear of a mum taking three kids to 20 playgrounds in one day, two questions spring to mind: Why? And, how? Also — seriously, why?
It was somewhere in that “nothing week” between Christmas and New Year’s Day when Warrawong woman Katie Barnes stumbled on Play Illawarra’s 20 Playground Challenge.”
December 23 2025
Australasian Leisure Management
“The City of Wollongong is to join the Spanish capital of Madrid, Lancaster and Liverpool in the United Kingdom and Apartadó in Colombia as part of a Healthy Cities pilot program that will receive support from the World Health Organization (WHO) in identifying key urban-health vulnerabilities, while exploring interventions that can improve wellbeing.”
December 22 2025
“Cycling to work delivers three major benefits: you get to work, you complete your recommended weekly physical activity and you save money on petrol and vehicle maintenance. Seriously, what’s not to like?”
October 23 2025
“Play Illawarra, an initiative of Healthy Cities Australia, has taken the hard work out of finding inclusive playgrounds, publishing a list of 10 play places across the region, from north to south.”
October 18 2025
“Pasifika Island dance, rhythms and cuisine will take centre stage in Wollongong next month as Illawarra women from all backgrounds gather to celebrate culture “
August 26 2025
“Berkeley Public School is serving up more than simply lessons this year, it’s piloting a healthy, hot school lunch program that could reshape how Australian children eat”
August 17 2025
ABC Listen
“School Lunch Project Pilot – listen from minute 1hr 8min”
August 7 2025
“Healthy cooked meals are being served three times a week as part of a ground-breaking school lunch project, which principal Melanie Bowden said has been “really positive” for children, teachers and parents.”
August 4 2025
“More than 350 residents have signed a petition calling on Wollongong City Council to use its planning powers to ensure new developments in Wollongong are all-electric, with the petition presented at a council meeting by Councillor Ann Martin.”
August 3 2025
WIN News Illawarra
“Funding’s now been secured for the shared path, now back on the table of a major infrastructure project.”
August 1 2025
“Illawarra families are learning to breathe easier through a community asthma awareness program aimed at reducing preventable hospitalisations and emergency department presentations, as cold and flu season hits its peak.”
July 28 2025
WIN News
“A local health group hopes a petition to ban gas appliances in new homes will keep the topic on the front-burner as Wollongong Council reviews its development policies.”
July 24 2025
ABC listen
“Graham McCabe shared some really important insights, and it was great to hear him speaking with Melinda James on Illawarra Breakfast about the work we’re doing. If you missed it, the audio is well worth a listen, he captures the heart of the program so well..”
July 23 2025
“Lake Illawarra’s rich cultural and ecological heritage will be explored through a Berkeley edition of the popular 5×5 community walk series”
July 21 2025
“With the Healthy Cities approach, we are reducing risk and preventing illness over time. We’re doing our job well if there’s a heart attack that never happened, or a hospital stay that can be avoided.”
June 8 2025
Shocked by the enormity of land clearing for the $390 million Mt Ousley interchange upgrade, residents have banded together in a group called Save Our Trees.
May 20 2025
Healthy Cities Australia runs a Youth Volunteering Program, giving young people who’ve left the free after-school program Active In-Betweeners an opportunity to return as mentors.
The Flame Illawarra
” On the eve of World Asthma Day, about 50 people rallied outside Wollongong City Council’s Burelli Street offices.”
May 07 2025
ABC Illawarra
“Illawarra Breakfast with Melinda James”
May 06 2025
“The excitement of Easter egg hunts is the perfect opportunity to get our kids outside and active,”
April 13 2025
National Tribune
“With food insecurity rising across the region, a newly established Illawarra Shoalhaven Food Futures Taskforce is taking urgent action to ensure everyone has access to healthy, sustainable, and culturally appropriate food.”
April 2 2025
“Almost 40 years ago the Illawarra was selected to be part of an international experiment. Now we’re taking our achievements to the national stage.”
March 28 2025
Illawarra Mercury
“Children are going hungry in Illawarra and Shoalhaven homes as new research reveals that more than a third of households in the region grapple with food insecurity.”
March 5 2025
“Illawarra residents are changing their eating and shopping habits in response to the climbing cost of food, leading to concerns about the impact on their diets and health.”
March 3 2025
Win News
“Meet the family who visited 20 Illawarra parks in just one day, making some cash in the process.”
January 20 2025
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Plus, stay informed on wellbeing programs and the impact we’re making through public health initiatives.