A sweeping overhaul of Fiji’s century-old public health law was tabled in Parliament on December 7, 2026, with ministers proposing stronger enforcement powers, higher penalties and new measures to tackle sanitation, disease control and environmental health risks across the country. The Public Health (Amendment) Bill 2026 aims to modernise the Public Health Act 1935, make clear the law applies to the whole of Fiji, and give health authorities expanded tools to prevent and respond to contemporary threats.
Under the proposed changes the Central Board of Health would be restructured and professionalised, with seats for specialists in public environmental health, medicine, law, engineering, local government and consumer protection. The board’s remit would be broadened to supervise local authorities, review enforcement actions and oversee national public and environmental health programmes, a shift designed to strengthen national oversight and coordination.
The bill replaces outdated terminology — such as “sanitary inspector” — with “environmental health practitioner” and significantly expands the powers afforded to health officers. Inspectors would have clearer authority to enter and inspect premises, collect samples, order the abatement of insanitary conditions and, in specified circumstances during an epidemic or disease threat, require vaccination, treatment or isolation. The legislation also widens the statutory list of “nuisances” to include noise, overcrowding, pollution, poor waste disposal and unsafe animal or bird keeping.
Penalties for breaches of the Act would rise sharply. Offences such as causing nuisances, obstructing health officers, failing to comply with notices and contaminating water sources would face fines that increase from token amounts under the 1935 law to new maximums of $1,000, $5,000 or, in the most serious cases, $10,000. The government says the tougher fines are intended to act as stronger deterrents and to bring enforcement penalties into line with modern public health expectations.
The draft law also sets out stricter regulatory requirements in a range of areas: water safety, solid waste and healthcare waste management, mosquito-breeding prevention, standards for common lodging houses, and sanitation standards for ships. Those measures reflect an emphasis on environmental health as a core plank of disease prevention and control.
The bill will be debated in Parliament and is set to be referred to a Standing Committee at the next sitting for detailed scrutiny. That committee stage will be a key moment for stakeholders to test specific provisions and for lawmakers to consider amendments before any final vote. If enacted, the legislation would replace an outdated 1935 framework with a more comprehensive legal architecture intended to strengthen Fiji’s ability to manage public and environmental health risks.
The proposal arrives against a backdrop of recent government efforts to modernise the health sector, including upgrades to diagnostic equipment and infrastructure investments announced over the past year. Legal reform supporters say the update is a necessary complement to those material investments, creating clearer powers and penalties to protect public health in an era of evolving environmental and disease challenges.
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