Victorian Sports Injury Prevention Program: An overview

Abstract

In Australia, more than one million people report sporting injuries every year. Sports Injury Prevention has been identified as a public health issue in the 1994 Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health (DHSH) report Better Health Outcomes for Australians. In addition to health costs, the economic and social cost of these injuries to individuals and the community at large are significant. The Australian Sports Commission established the Australian Injury Prevention Taskforce (AIPT) in 1995 to provide direction in counteracting sports injury. One of the recommendations of the AIPT was to develop and implement a systematic approach to injury prevention through a State and national sports safety program. This recommendation was supported by the DHSH, Sport and Recreation Victoria and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth). These three bodies provided funding for a program to be developed and sit within the Victorian Branch of Sports Medicine Australia. This program, titled the Victorian Sports Injury Prevention Program (VSIPP), began in May 1998. The VSIPP has three core strategies in the initial 12 months of the program. This paper will discuss the reasons why such a strategic approach will target a lack of training in injury prevention, particularly in many rural areas.