HIA and policy making

In this section we investigate how HIA contributes to policy making.

HIA can be a valuable tool for helping to develop policy and assisting decision-makers. The usefulness and need of HIA within policy and decision making is clear, HIA:

• is used in projects, programmes and policies
• assists policy development
• brings policies and people together
• involves the public
• provides information for decision makers
• addresses many policy making requirements
• recognises that other factors influence policy apart from HIA.
• is a proactive process that improves positive outcomes and decreases negative outcomes
• can provide what policy makers need

Suggestions for how an HIA practitioner might interact with the policy process and policy makers, a description of the different stages in policy making, plus some key steps for HIA practitioners, are also provided.

Some of the HIA guidance documents that are available on this website also deal with guidance on how to carry out policy level HIA.

• How to make HIA work with policy making and decision making
• The role of HIA in decision making
• Barriers cited to using HIA in Government policy making