The new four-year Health Warrnambool plan has been adopted by the council and has been described by Cr Ben Blain as "a real change" in the way it looks at delivering health outcomes for the community.

Cr Blain said the city was over represented for tobacco-related illness and drug and alcohol use.

The plan was developed after extensive consultation with 96 participants and over five workshops.

One of the overarching issues in the plan was mental wellbeing, which Cr Blain said had been tested a lot over the past two years.

Some of the major issues identified in the report that Warrnambool was facing include a lack of adequate youth mental health facilities and a long waiting list for support. The number of registered mental health clients in Warrnambool was triple the state average - 32.1 per 1000 compared to 11.9 across Victoria.

The city also faced a lack of adequate housing diversity and "significant house stress" across the municipality, with 32 per cent of households experiencing rental stress.

Data in the report shows that 34 per cent of families were living below the income threshold compared to 31 per cent across the state

The city has almost double the Victorian average of emergency department presentations per head of population - 492 per 1000 compared to 263 statewide.

Alcohol sales in Warrnambool was 14.8 litres per adult compared with the Victorian average of 9.6. The number of clients seeking help for drug and alcohol use was double the state average - 10.5 people per 1000 compared to five across Victoria.

The report highlights the need for a residential rehab facility for the city - something that is on the drawing board but is yet to win the financial support of the state government. The council's strategic community planning and policy manager Ashish Sitoula said figures show that the wholesale of alcohol in Warrnambool was significantly high.

"We're 10th in the state, but a large part of that is also because we are a tourist town," he said.

There was a higher than state average number of people either overweight or obese.

Mr Sitoula said that in terms of healthy eating, the consumption of the recommended levels vegetables was "significantly" low.

"Our numbers in sedentary lifestyle has gone up."

He said there were programs in place and public health campaigns to educate the community about health and wellbeing.

The report identifies a "significant" renewal funding gap to upgrade the city's ageing community and sporting infrastructure.

Investing in community hubs and gardens is one initiative on the drawing board to encourage more healthy eating. Tackling the issue will be done in partnership with external stakeholders and service providers.