Using New South Wales Health Survey data for local planning and evaluation in New South Wales.

The NSW Health Survey provides high quality data for a range of indicators of public health importance at a state and area health service level. The data can be used to advocate for local population health priorities; to measure changes in health status or health behaviours over time; and to evaluate local interventions. The survey process also can be used to develop local research priorities. This article describes some of the ways that data from the NSW Health Survey Program have been used for local planning and evaluation in the Central Sydney Area Health Service.