The 2002/2003 Federal Budget papers stated that "the Government is committed to making disease prevention and health promotion a fundamental pillar of the health system": however, this was not evident in the subsequent 2003/2004 budget. The Government's Focus on Prevention Package in 2002/03 aimed to incorporate disease prevention into the core business of the primary health care system and was reflective of how the public health agenda was evolving at the national level [24] . The package was comprised largely of a range of measures directed at specific diseases, plus a bundle of initiatives for general practitioners, also referred to as the "primary health care system".