SWSPHN’s HEAL program and the importance of health literacy in successfully promoting physical activity, were highlighted at the WSYD Moving Symposium 2025 at Western Sydney Conference Centre, Penrith on Thursday, 30 October.
The symposium brought together more than 250 leaders, health practitioners and community voices under the theme Accelerating action – tackling inactivity and inequity, to urge cross-sector collaboration in unlocking healthier, more active lifestyles for all communities.
SWSPHN staff including Nisha Nair, Alyssa Horgan and Luke Swain (pictured) attended the event, with Nisha joining a panel focused on Embedding physical activity into health systems, where she discussed our HEAL (Healthy Eating Active Lifestyle) program.
HEAL is an eight-week evidence-based program designed for people who have, or are at risk of type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease, to improve their health through better nutrition, increased physical activity and long-term behaviour change.
During the panel discussion, Nisha gave HEAL as one example of a SWSPHN initiative which promoted physical activity saying there is capacity for the program to be scaled through joint collaboration.
“HEAL facilitates collaborative opportunities through providing templates for communication, options for the exercise components which can be adapted based on the group of participants and opportunities for health education,” she said.
“We have commissioned service providers within our region to run the HEAL program for our community, and we are hoping to support over 200 people within our region.
“Embedded within the program are opportunities for facilitators to collaborate with GPs and other relevant health providers involved in the care of the participants. We’re looking to explore different versions of HEAL for different population groups to expand the impact of the program.”
Penrith Deputy Mayor Garion Thain opened the event, which included an address by State Health Minister Ryan Park, and 40 speakers from health, local government, sport, academia and community sectors, covering Local Active Partnerships, systems leadership, community-led solutions and new opportunities for collaboration.
When asked about building the capability of the health workforce to champion physical activity – particularly for those who may not see it as ‘their role’ – Nisha spoke about how building opportunities to showcase the impact of those roles could result in ‘lightbulb moments’.
“I was at a youth refugee expo a few weeks ago, where we had a push up competition to build awareness of the impact of physical activity,” she said.
“As language was a barrier with some of the interactions at the event, we saw the impact volunteer interpreters made with bridging that health literacy gap.
“Not only did having interpreters help with building that awareness of physical activity with participants, they saw attendees taking flyers not only for themselves but for their siblings and parents.
“I saw the lightbulb moment in the volunteers’ heads – that sense of contribution they felt in that moment.”
WSYD Moving is a health-promotion charity. The symposium marked the official launch of the WSYD Moving Systems Leadership Course, a first-of-its-kind program designed to build capacity and strengthen collaboration across sectors.
WSYD Moving Convenor David Burns said physical inactivity cost the Western Sydney region more than $1.5 billion every year.
“We can’t solve this alone — it requires all of us working together. The symposium is a key event to bring parts of the system together, build relationships, and help to systemise approaches that enable communities to reduce inequity in access to more active lifestyles.”