About the Better Health Channel

We provide health and medical information to improve the health and wellbeing of people and the communities they live in. This information is:

• quality-assured and reliable
• up-to-date
• locally relevant
• easy to understand.

The information on our site aims to help people understand and manage their health and medical conditions. It does not replace care provided by medical practitioners and other qualified health professionals.

We are fully funded by the Victorian Government, with no commercial advertising or corporate sponsorship.

A wide range of information

Our content reflects the wide range of health interests and needs in the community and is based on:

• current and emerging health issues
• developments in medical research and practice
• national and state health priorities
• requests from Better Health Channel users and content partners
• findings from evidence based research
• analysis of our site statistics.

Health and medical information you can trust

We use a rigorous quality assurance and approval process to develop and review our content, including consultation and input from subject matter experts, overview by the BHC Editorial team and referral to other areas of the Victorian Department of Health as required. Our content partners are subject matter experts from a wide range of reputable Australian health, medical and academic organisations.

Most popular with users

Our site is one of the most popular health and medical websites in Australia with over two million unique visitors each month. We have received many awards, including being ranked the No. 1 Health and Medical Website in Australia.

Even so, awards don’t mean as much to us as the regular feedback we receive from our users and content partners.

Linking to and from the Better Health Channel

We encourage other websites to link to the Better Health Channel.

We also provide links to other websites throughout its site. We most commonly link to government, educational and other not-for-profit health and health-related organisations. We generally give priority to links to websites where the host organisation:

• has aims and objectives that are consistent with those of BHC
• offers high-quality, consumer-focused and up-to-date information
• demonstrates recognised expertise in their field
• aims to provide objective health information that does not promote a particular product or service
• which provides health information that complements information on the BHC.

We may, at our discretion, choose to link to commercial websites if they:

• offer high-quality content that is not available elsewhere and that we consider to be of particular value to our users
• clearly differentiate content from advertising.

The Better Health Channel team

Information on our site is produced and maintained by a team of professional staff with expertise in writing, editing, communications and technical development. The Better Health Channel is part of the Victorian Government's Department of Health.

How to contact the Better Health Channel

We welcome your feedback about our site. If you have a query or comment, please get in touch via our Contact us page.

We do not give personal health advice

Better Health Channel information aims to help people understand and manage their health and medical conditions, and help them make lifestyle choices based on their needs. It does not replace care provided by medical practitioners and other qualified health professionals. We do not give health and medical advice over the phone or by email.

If you want health and medical advice, see your doctor or contact NURSE-ON-CALL (Tel. 1300 60 60 24) for expert health advice from a registered nurse 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.