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Dietetics 2022: The Profession’s Approach to the Budget and Federal Election

Dietetics, The Business of Health, The Health Industry

With Labor recently securing a majority government in the House of Representatives, it is an interesting time to reflect on the approach Dietitians Australia (DA) has taken from pre-budget submission, to post-budget opinion, through to its pre-and post-federal election stance.

Pre-budget submission

Dietitians Australia highlighted 13 priorities for the 2022-23 Federal Budget including health policy, aged care, the Medicare Benefits Schedule, food-based dietary guidelines and rural healthcare:

  • Health policy: DA stated that there is an urgent need for the Federal Government to update the 1992 National Food and Nutrition Policy into an up-to-date National Nutrition Strategy with a well-resourced, co-ordinated, evidence-based and strategic action plan
  • Aged care: DA advocated for the aged care sector receiving additional funding to engage Accredited Practising Dietitians (APDs) to improve malnutrition screening practises and existing nutrition, food and dining experiences
  • Medicare Benefits Schedule: DA suggested that fit-for purpose Medicare item numbers be introduced to support people with mental health conditions and people with disability to access appropriate levels of nutrition therapy; increased access from 5 to 10 rebated allied health service consultations annually for those with a chronic health condition
  • Dietary Guidelines – DA stated that funding is required to develop Dietary Guidelines for Older Australians, to be followed up with prioritising public education, implementation and evaluation of the new Australian Dietary Guidelines
  • Regional, rural and remote health care – DA has advocated for scholarships for allied health students undertaking clinical placement in regional areas to be introduces, and for regional communications infrastructure to be improved to support access to telehealth

Post-budget opinion

In March 2022, Dietitians Australia welcomed the Federal Government’s acknowledgement of the need for a National Nutrition Policy framework. This was following the federal budget’s inclusion of $700,000 over 4 years for the development of a National Nutrition Policy, which will take a multi-sector approach to identify, prioritise and monitor healthy eating in Australia.

Dietitians Australia Predisent Tara Diversi said “This is one small step for the government, and one giant leap for the health and wellbeing of Australians.

“Australia last updated its national nutrition policy in 1992 – which was thirty years ago.

“Since that time, the diet-related health of Australians has become worse, with statistics showing that 27 500 Australians die a preventable death each year due to eating a poor diet.

“Food insecurity is also on the rise in Australia, affecting 1 in 6 adults and 1.2 million children in 2021.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated food access issues for many Australians. Demand for emergency food relief has risen as people experience reduced income from loss of work and our supermarket shelves are going bare due to supply issues.

“And sustainable food production must be addressed with Australia’s diet causing the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions of all G20 countries.

“These are all issues that can be tackled within the National Nutrition Policy Framework.”

Dietitians Australia CEO Robert Hunt presented a view on how the $700,000 outlay could be an investment in the Australian Economy.

“Healthcare expenditure related to unhealthy eating patterns is estimated at $1.4 billion, attributable to insufficient vegetable intake alone,” Robert said.

“Healthcare costs and lost productivity attributable to overweight and obesity is also estimated to be $8.6 billion per annum.

“While $700k is a relatively small investment into such a major issue, we’re grateful to see that the government has finally heard our calls after many years.”

Pre-federal election

Prior to the May federal election, Dietitians Australia CEO Robert Hunt called upon the major parties to prioritise Medicare-funded nutrition support for those with mental illness and disability, as well as mandatory reporting measures to protect older Australians in aged care.

DA published a scorecard rating the major parties’ commitments to nutrition in aged care, mental health, disability and the National Nutrition Policy. CEO Robert Hunt expressed disappointment with the Liberal and Labor response, saying that there was “very little commitment to ensuring our nation’s most vulnerable have access to affordable food and nutrition.

“The downstream healthcare costs of our poor health are worth billions – and rising. So beyond helping Australians live their best lives, preventive health measures through nutrition could actually save the nation billions of dollars.”

Post-federal election

In the fortnight following the federal election, DA called on Hon. Mark Butler MP, who was appointed Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care, to tackle food affordability and a significant rise in diet-related illnesses.

DA CEO Robert Hunt said “27,500 Australians die a preventable death each year from an unhealthy diet.

“And with rising costs of fresh food pushing people further toward cheaper unhealthy alternatives, we can expect diet-related risk factor health system spending to soar above the current $16.2 billion a year.

“We know Minister Butler will have a lot on his plate stepping into the job but developing a new National Nutrition Policy should be the main course to help tackle diet-related illness in Australia.”

“Labor’s 1992 nutrition policy was considered ahead of its time for bringing together all spheres of government to provide food and nutrition security for all Australians. Reviving that policy could be a great catalyst for change.”

Following the election, DA reiterated that they were pleased to see the previous LNP government’s support of the development of a National Nutrition Policy in the 2022-2023 federal budget, and urged the new government to elevate the priority of this policy.

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