CAPHIA Competencies Renewal Project Update September 2025

The CAPHIA Competencies Renewal Project is progressing through a collaborative, inclusive, and evidence-informed process to ensure Australia’s public health education framework remains contemporary and fit-for-purpose.

Current Status

What have we done so far?

Set up: establishing robust governance and obtaining approval from 10 institutions across four countries took the majority of 2024. As this is the first Public Health Australasian competency framework, it is important we ensure geographical representation throughout the project and process.
Scoping Review: Frameworks from across the globe were identified and analysed, forming a comprehensive picture of public competencies.
Interviews: Over 60+ interviews with public health experts were held in early 2025 with representation across all four countries, domains of practice / subspecialities, career stages, communities and industries.
Extraction: Data from the interviews and literature review has been translated into a (long) competency list, grouped loosely into “broad competency areas” for feedback during the Delphi.

Next Steps:

Delphi: A modified Delphi process, using survey-based consultation to refine and validate the competency list. Two delphi rounds are expected to obtain consensus, reflecting the depth and breadth of the public health profession. We aim to conclude by December 2025 (pending ethics approvals and analysis) to then finalised the competency framework for launch in early 2026.
Framework: As we wait for ethics amendment approvals, a subgroup of the Competencies Renewal Steering Committee is developing a conceptual model to articulate the revised competencies. This model will be showcased at the 2025 CAPHIA Teaching and Learning Forum (register here), where attendees will also have the opportunity to learn more in a solution room.
Implementation Planning The Steering Committee will develop mechanisms to facilitate implementation in consultation with CAPHIA community. These will be in consideration of regional differences with both the practice of public health and support mechanisms available.
Delphi Yarn: A crucial component of decolonising public health education is centering Indigenous voices and perspectives and embedding these throughout public health teaching and assessment. The Delphi yarn will provide a space for Indigenous voices from across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea to ensure meaningful integration into the CAPHIA Competencies Framework Third Editon.
Launch: We aim to officially launch the new framework in early 2026. As part of the implementation – teaching and learning resources will be created and a self-assessment tool will be developed. Collectively this will enable academics and support staff to familiarise themselves with the new competencies, how to teach and assess them, and how their course curricula is aligned to the CAPHIA Competencies Framework Third Editon.

📅 Timeline Highlights

Delphi Round 1: Late September 2025 (pending ethics approval)
Delphi Round 2: Late October 2025
Forum input: November 6 & 7 2025
Final framework release: Early 2026

🤝 Stakeholder Engagement

We continue to engage with educators, practitioners, and policy experts across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific. Your input is vital to shaping a robust and inclusive competencies framework. Questions? Email