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Sleep Health Foundation

The Sleep Health Foundation (SHF) is Australia’s leading advocate for healthy sleep that aims to raise community awareness about the value of sleep and its common disorders, and to improve public health and safety. The Sleep Health Foundation is a non-profit health promotion charity that receives no government resources and relies on the untied funding and support of its corporate partners, sponsors, members, and donations.

Healthy sleep is vital for physical health, mental wellbeing, safety, and productivity. Research suggests inadequate sleep is highly prevalent in Australia with an estimated 39.8% of Australian adults experiencing some form of inadequate sleep. Despite this, sleep health receives little attention relative to other aspects of healthy living, such as diet and exercise.

Vision and mission

To improve people’s lives through better sleep.

To promote better sleep to optimise health, well-being and performance for all Australians.

How the Sleep Health Foundation can help

  • Political and community advocacy - The Sleep Health Foundation effectively delivers the sleep health message to the community, community leaders, government and people with sleep disorders.
  • Collaboration - The Sleep Health Foundation works with key players to promote sleep health. These include patient groups, professional organisations, businesses, and researchers.
  • Best practice - The Sleep Health Foundation promotes industry best practice standards for sleep health treatments and patient-focused services.
  • Resources - The Sleep Health Foundation provides evidence-based community education materials about sleep. These resources are freely available via the Sleep Health Foundation website and social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn).
  • Research and development - The Sleep Health Foundation's research and development division explores research opportunities in the areas of occupational safety and healthcare, as well as road safety - building upon the outputs, expertise and legacy of the Alertness CRC.
  • WorkAlert website - The Sleep Health Foundation, in partnership with the Alertness CRC, developed the WorkAlert® website to provide science-driven tips and knowledge to help conquer the challenges of staying alert in a busy world. The website provides advice on how you – as an employer or employee – can keep yourself and your workplace safe.

Information line

  • Call 03 7067 6932 Mon - Fri, 9am to 5pm AEST (non-medical advice)
  • Email: admin@sleephealthfoundation.org.au

Recommended links

Last reviewed: February 2023

Information from this partner

Found 83 results

Daylight Saving

At the end of daylight saving on Sunday, 3 April 2022 for those of us living in NSW, VIC, SA, Tasmania and the ACT the clocks will be put back one hour at 3am,meaning we will enjoy an extra hour in our night, so an extra hour of sleep.

Read more on Sleep Health Foundation website

Anxiety and Sleep

Anxiety and Sleep The Most Important Things to Know About Anxiety and Sleep If you are a ""worrier"", you are at greater risk of having insomnia. Worrying about your sleep can make it worse. This may create a vicious cycle of poor sleep and worrying. Worrying may disturb your sleep even you if you are not an anxi

Read more on Sleep Health Foundation website

Snoring

Why do people snore? You snore when some parts of your throat vibrate. This only happens when you're asleep. The part of your throat that vibrates is called the pharynx. It is right behind the tongue. Several small muscles hold it open. But when you sleep, these muscles relax. This makes it vibrate more easily. It al

Read more on Sleep Health Foundation website

Hot nights – how to help sleep

Many people dread summer because of the problems they experience on the hot nights. There are some things that you can do to help (short of installing air conditioning).Skin temperature is the keyResearch has found the ideal sleeping temperature is around 17 to 19 degrees Celsius. If this level can’t be provided th

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Fatigue as an Occupational Hazard

  Do ‘sleepiness’ and ‘fatigue’ mean the same thing? Often people use them as if they do mean the same thing. Both are linked with feeling "tired", but are two distinct conditions. Sleepiness is when you feel that you need or want to sleep. It happens because of not getting enough good quality sleep. Sl

Read more on Sleep Health Foundation website

Melatonin and Children

What is melatonin? For general information on melatonin please see our melatonin web page. What can children use melatonin for? In children, melatonin is typically used to treat difficulties with going to sleep or staying asleep. It may benefit children who are developing normally as well as children with Attention

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Common Causes of Inadequate Sleep

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE DON'T GET ENOUGH SLEEP 1. Taking sleep for granted Many people do not realize how important sleep is. Instead, they may think of it as a waste of time. Time spent in bed asleep is time well spent. There are many very important things that the brain needs to do while asleep. These include for

Read more on Sleep Health Foundation website

Facts about Sleep

  Sleep need varies Different people need different amounts of sleep.  Eight and a quarter hours is the average for adults.  Some people can cope very well with much less and some need much more every night. Sleep is an active state We used to think that everything shuts down when we sleep.  B

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Menopause and Sleep

How does sleep change during the menopause? Many women report that it is more difficult to sleep well during the menopause. They say that it is not as easy to get to sleep or to stay asleep and they also tend to wake up earlier than planned. This may be due to less oestrogen in the body. After the menopause, sleep wi

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Tips to Help Combat Jet Lag

1. For short trips, stay on home time. If you are away from home for a only a day or two, try to eat when you would usually eat at home, try to sleep when you would usually sleep at home and try to not go outside when it is dark at home. 2. For longer trips, change your time as soon as possible If you are away for m

Read more on Sleep Health Foundation website

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