Centre for Epidemiology and Research

The Centre for Epidemiology and Research monitors and reports on the health of the NSW population and develops and funds health and medical research infrastructure.

It also provides NSW Health with the epidemiological and statistical skills and resources to service requests for population health information.

Core functions

• The Health Research and Ethics Branch operates as a resource for Human Research Ethics Committees in the NSW public health system, providing education, training and support. The Branch is also responsible for policy analysis and development in relation to clinical and research ethics issues. The Branch also oversees the Capacity Building Infrastructure Grants Program.

• The Health Survey Program Branch conducts the Health Survey Program, which monitors health behaviours, health status, use of and satisfaction with health services, and other factors that influence the health of the people of New South Wales. The core activity of the program is the continuous New South Wales Population Health Survey. The program also collects or commissions a range of other surveys—including outbreaks of communicable disease and exposures to environmental hazards—and publishes reports on monitoring population health and methodological issues.

• The Population Health Indicators and Reporting Branch is responsible for developing and documenting indicators of population health status in NSW and systems for measuring, reporting and promoting the use of these indicators. The Branch is responsible for coordinating the production of the Report of the Chief Health Officer on the Health of the People of NSW, and for developing and conducting the NSW Biostatistical Officer Training Program.

• The Population Health Information Branch develops epidemiological information systems as well as analytic and reporting tools for NSW Health. It also operates:
  • Health Outcomes Statistical Toolkit (HOIST), a SAS-based data warehouse comprising epidemiological data sets
  • Open source tools for population health epidemiology, a number of tools intended to make aspects of population health epidemiology and public health practice easier and more efficient.

• Public Health Training and Development Branch supports the development of the public health workforce in NSW by:
  • coordinating the NSW Public Health Officer Training Program
  • producing and distributing the NSW Public Health Bulletin

• The Surveillance Methods Branch develops and validates epidemiological methods for health surveillance in order to inform and support health planning and monitor health system performance. The Unit also:
  • manages the NSW Birth Defects Register and the NSW Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Register, which are used to monitor perinatal outcomes in NSW
  • produces the annual NSW Mothers and Babies report.