Operationalising One Health through Networks: Reflections from two decades of practice in Regional Australia

Despite widespread conceptual endorsement of One Health, many networks established to operationalise this approach have struggled to generate sustained action beyond coordination. This perspective draws on 20 years of continuous experience from a regional One Health network in New South Wales, Australia, to identify characteristics associated with durability, relevance, and operational impact. Established in 2005, the Regional One Health Network (ROHN) brings together public health, veterinary, wildlife, ecological, laboratory, land management, social science, academic, and Indigenous partners across a large and environmentally diverse region. Through regular interaction, informal governance, and shared purpose, the network has supported integrated surveillance, collaborative outbreak investigation, applied research, and preparedness activities across the human–animal–environment interface. Examples including responses to anthrax, Hendra virus, brucellosis, and equine psittacosis illustrate how trust-based data sharing and multidisciplinary collaboration have informed risk assessment, surveillance strategies, and response measures. Contributions from social scientists and emerging engagement with First Nations partners have strengthened risk communication and contextual understanding of disease emergence and response. Evaluation findings highlight the importance of dedicated coordination capacity, concurrent proactive and reactive activities, and resistance to excessive formalisation. This 20-year experience demonstrates that informal, trust-based, multidisciplinary One Health networks can deliver sustained operational value, offering practical lessons for strengthening One Health implementation in diverse settings. Since the early 2000s, One Health has gained global prominence as a framework for addressing health threats at the human–animal–environment interface. However, translating this concept into sustained practice has proven challenging. One Health networks have emerged as a common mechanism for operationalisation. In this context, a network can be understood as a set of autonomous organisations or individuals that are linked through relatively stable relationships, engage in repeated interactions around a shared purpose, and coordinate activities without relying on hierarchical authority [1]. Yet evaluations suggest that many remain focused on dialogue rather than action [2]. This perspective draws on two decades of experience from a long-standing regional One Health network in New South Wales, Australia, to identify characteristics associated with durability, relevance, and operational impact.