Funded by the NHMRC Special Initiative in Human Health and Environmental Change with a grant of $10 million over five years, the Healthy Environments And Lives (HEAL) National Research Network aims to catalyse research, knowledge exchange and translation into policy and practice that will bring measurable improvements to our health, the Australian health system, and the environment.

HEAL Global Research Centre at the University of Canberra provides leadership, coordination and oversight to the Healthy Environments and Lives (HEAL) network.

The HEAL Network is a broad and diverse coalition of 100 investigators and more than 30 organisations from across Australia that aims to bridge the gap between knowledge and action by bringing together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wisdom, sustainable development, epidemiology, and data science and communication to address environmental and climate change and its impacts on health across all Australian states and territories.

The HEAL Network is regionally distributed and includes multiple communities of practice, comprising researchers, environmental and health practitioners, community organisations, and policy makers. HEAL includes ten interdisciplinary research themes: Indigenous knowledge systems; data and decision support systems; science communication; health system resilience; bushfires and extreme events; food, soil, and water security; biosecurity and emerging infectious diseases; urban health; rural and remote health; and at-risk populations and life course solutions) and a range of research capacity and capability strengthening activities that will support investigators, local services and communities.