Policy development in public health has never been confined to a set of health programs, and in 2003/04, the lead was often taken from outside the health sector. Most significant was the adoption of the National Agenda for Early Childhood [6] , pushed by public health advocates for child health since the mid 1990s. The National Public Health Partnership responded by coordinating a scoping of child health strategies across Australia. Elsewhere in Government, "Promoting and Maintaining Good Health" was adopted as one of the National Research Priorities [7] . Healthy ageing also emerged as a policy theme in Ageing Research.