Australia's Food Environment Dashboard

Data Highlights

Domain Indicator Result Assessment What was measured?
Food composition

Proportion of packaged food and drinks classified as unhealthy

52%

Packaged food and drinks available in Australian supermarkets (2023)

Food labelling

Proportion of packaged food and drinks that display the Health Star Rating

36%

Packaged food and drinks available in Australian supermarkets (2023)

Food promotion

Number of TV ads for unhealthy vs healthy foods in children’s peak viewing time

2.3/hr  vs  1.0/hr

Product type and frequency of TV food ads on four Adelaide channels over 12 months (30,000 hours) (2017)

Number of unhealthy food and drink promotions to which children are exposed online

10/hr

Children (aged 13-17yrs, n=9) recorded mobile device screen every time they went onto relevant online platforms or apps for two weekdays and one weekend (2018-19)

Food prices and affordability

Cost of healthy diet as a proportion of income (low-income groups)

Queensland:  27%
Sydney:           26-28%
Canberra:       28%
Rural Vic:        32%

Cost of recommended (healthy) diet as a proportion of indicative disposable household income in different regions of Australia

Remote Qld:  34-36%

Supermarkets

Proportion of checkouts that display unhealthy food or drinks

90%

Placement of discretionary food and drinks at staff-assisted checkouts across a sample of all major supermarket chains (n=104) in Victoria (2019)

Average discount on unhealthy vs healthy foods

25.9% vs 15.4%

Weekly online price data for food and beverages from the largest Australian supermarket chain over 1 year (2017-2018)

Fast food

Average energy content of ‘combination meal deals’

66.4% of average daily recommended energy intake

Mean contribution of large-sized combination meal deals to average daily recommended energy intake for adults, when highest-energy side and drink options are selected, 10 major fast food chains (2020)

Food in settings

WA: Proportion of school canteens that met all healthy food policy criteria^

57%

Adherence of primary and secondary school canteen menus (n=286) to WA Healthy Food and Drink Policy in metropolitan and regional WA (2019)

NSW: Proportion of school canteens that met all requirements of the Healthy School Canteen Strategy^

95%

Proportion of NSW Government schools (n=1,612) that have had at least one successful menu check since the launch of the Healthy School Canteen Strategy in 2017 (results as at 30 April 2021)

Assessment rating: Green = ‘Promotes health’; Amber = ‘Needs further improvement to promote health’; Red = ‘Unhealthy’.

^ Schools: Each state/territory has different criteria in their healthy school food policies and so direct comparison between jurisdictions is not recommended.