The Public Health Association of Australian (PHAA) bestows this competitive award on a person who has provided a notable contribution to the protection and promotion of public health, solving public health problems, advancing community awareness of public health measures and advancing the ideals and practice of equity in the provision of health care. This Medal was designed to be the Associations pre-eminent prize. In 2001, the Public Health Medal was renamed the Sidney Sax Public Health Medal in honour of the late Dr Sidney Sax.