Submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Diabetes

The George Institute for Global Health is pleased to provide a submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into Diabetes.

The diabetes epidemic places a significant burden on the Australian health system and economy, with the rate of diabetes increasing almost 220% over the last two decades. To address this, we are calling on the Australian Government to implement 5 key measures:  

1. Commit to fully resourcing and implementing prevention policy, including: 

• Funding the National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030 and National Obesity Strategy 2022-2032.
• Setting a timeframe and strategic plan for incorporating prevention into the Australian Centre for Disease Control.

2. Mandate industry reformulation of salt, sugar, and saturated fats to improve the nutritional value of packaged foods.  

• Revise the Terms of Reference for the Healthy Food Partnership to deliver mandatory food reformulation targets. 
• Legislate a nationwide ban on industrial trans-fats in food.  

3. Introduce a levy on manufacturers of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).  

• Implement a levy to increase retail prices of SSBs by 20 per cent.  
• Earmark revenue to support preventive health policies.   

4. Improve access to nutritional information for consumers.  

• Mandate and improve the voluntary Health Star rating system to apply to all packaged food.  
• Introduce added-sugar labelling in the nutrition information panels on packaged food and drinks.  

5. Introduce regulations to restrict unhealthy food marketing to children. 

• Ensure television, radio and cinema are free from unhealthy food marketing from 6.00am to 9.30pm.  
• Prevent children from being exposed to the marketing of unhealthy foods. 

To read our full submission, please click here