Introduction: Advancing the Geneva Charter for Wellbeing, which recognises health as the ‘outcome of policies, institutions, economies and ecosystems in which people live’, requires co-designed prevention policy. This presentation outlines a process and outcomes for co-designing alcohol policy for breast cancer prevention with women (community members) based on options deliberated with researchers (the authors), the media, NGOs, health promotion agency representatives, advocacy groups and service providers.
Method: We undertook a deliberative approach to data collection (July 2023-July 2024) following Experience-Based Co-Design to investigate women’s ‘asks’ for systems-level changes that would increase their knowledge of alcohol-breast cancer risk, and potentially support alcohol reduction, and then devise policy options with various stakeholders. We recruited 15 Australian women (aged 40-65 years self-reported light/medium/heavy drinking, different social class backgrounds and living/working conditions, no previous breast cancer diagnosis). This group of women remained engaged through 5 focus groups and informed the content for deliberation and development of policy options with stakeholders involved with women's health, alcohol and/or breast cancer prevention (n=3 groups of 10-12 stakeholders; approx. 2 hours per dialogue group).
Findings: Our process identified key areas for policy responsive to structures that contribute to misinformation/misperceptions about alcohol-breast cancer risk, including to regulate ‘harmful’ corporate practices. It indicated areas where women’s trust in prevention policy could be improved, involving them in setting priorities and venerating their recommendations for improving transparency in policy development. Our deliberative dialogues with stakeholders supported guidelines for communication about alcohol-breast cancer risk that spotlight determinants (not individual behaviours).
Discussion: Co-designed policy has high potential to improve service delivery, community practice and communication delivered through media, focused on reducing preventable alcohol-related breast cancers. Our process for co-designing policy reacts to the intersecting social, political and commercial determinants of women’s health, to create supportive environments that promote health and advance prevention goals. The process shared is transferrable to other areas of preventive policy-making.

Problem: Public health non-government organisations (NGOs) are increasingly active in the governance of alcohol and ultra-processed foods in Australia. Public health NGOs seek to influence health harmful industries in diffierent ways, including via government regulation and direct tactics targeting the industry actors themselves. What startegies are used,why anmd what are the perceptions of their effectivness in regulating these actors?

Methods: 30 qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with representations from peak NGOs active in Australia on alcohol and/or ultra processed food. Organisations were recruited purposively from our original list of 136 NGOs through identification of key organisations by a panel of academic and practitioner experts. Interviews focused on both the strategies NGOs used to influence the regulation of alcohol and /or ultra processed food industries, why they use these strategies, if they differed by HCI, perceptions of success, and how organisations managed engagement with commercial actors.

Results: Analysis of qualitative interviews reveals a range of tactics used by Australian public health focused NGOs - a majority of which target government actors directlyto regulate industry, and 'inside' tactics. The study reveals key themes for why organisations use the tactics they do - including who they primarily 'serve' (membership and board makeup), funding source, resource access, branding and reputation concerns, and political capital of the organisation. The presentation highlights key themes for success and challenges.

The problem

In Australia, children are exposed to significant amounts of marketing for unhealthy food as they go about their daily lives, and there is no Australian Government regulation to stop it.

What we did

Food for Health Alliance's Brands Off Our Kids! campaign calls on government to take four actions to protect children from unhealthy food marketing:
1. Make all online environments free from unhealthy food marketing
2. Ensure TV, radio and similar media are free from unhealthy food marketing at all times when children are watching or listening
3. Make all public spaces, public events and retail environments free from unhealthy food marketing
4. Prevent companies from marketing unhealthy food directly to children with tactics like cartoons on product packaging, toys and prizes

In November 2024, Food for Health Alliance launched an open letter to Australia’s Health Minister. At launch, the letter was supported by 45 key public health, consumer and community organisations, and celebrities and high profile individuals, including Jamie Oliver.

Results

The presentation will discuss the impact of the Brands off our kids campaign, the open letter and engagement with high profile individuals, including:

• how FHA’s campaign and policy platform has helped us to support public health advocacy in the context of the Australian Government’s current work on unhealthy food marketing.

• the support, reach and impact of FHA’s open letter to Australia’s Health Minister, including in building support for the campaign, raising awareness in media/social media and in enabling advocacy to decision makers.

• how celebrity engagement amplified the campaign, in particular support of Jamie Oliver.

Lessons

The presentation will discuss opportunities and challenges highlighted by this campaign and next steps for advocacy on this issue and in government action.

The Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) program has been funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) since 2010. Initially developed as part of the ‘Closing the Gap' initiative, the program has undergone several iterative and dynamic changes, driven primarily by grass roots monitoring and evaluation. However, 15 years later the program is as strong as ever. What makes the program so successful in terms of longevity? How have we achieved bipartisan support and ongoing funding whilst so many other equally important (and successful) projects fold in response to changes in social, economic, and political environments?
In this session we will describe how and why the program has been transformed since 2010 and the positive impact it continues to have on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We will explore how the voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has influenced policymakers thinking, and how stakeholder advocacy enables sustained funding. We will also consider the role that we play as the National Best Practice Unit Tackling Indigenous Smoking (NBPU TIS).
We will demonstrate that the success of the program is underpinned by collaboration within and between communities, organisations, services and funders. We argue that this Indigenous-led, systems-orientated approach to preventative health is the best way to address the unacceptable health inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We explore how the insights gained from the collaborative work of NBPU TIS with the regionally funded organisations can inform other programs, and influence future policy to ensure sustained action in preventative health.

Evidence-based policymaking is increasingly recognised as essential for translating prevention research into impactful action, supporting the efficient public spending of limited resources. Yet, significant barriers persist in bridging the gap between prevention research and legislative impact, with an average lag of 17 years before research findings inform practical action. The Australian National Preventive Health Strategy 2021–2030 identifies workplaces as critical social determinants of health, underscoring the role of work health, safety, and occupational disease prevention in Australia’s broader public health efforts.
In 2024, Australia became the first country globally to prohibit the use, supply, and manufacture of engineered stone benchtops, slabs, and panels, marking a pivotal step in preventing silicosis—a fatal occupational lung disease caused by silica dust exposure. This policy reform stems from a decade-long journey of rigorous research, advocacy, public awareness, and persistent lobbying. This presentation highlights the journey as a successful research translation case study.
Guided by John Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework—focusing on the policy problem, solution, and political streams—this presentation will examine how collaborative efforts among diverse stakeholders fuelled this significant policy reform. It will emphasise the role of evidence, Australia’s robust work health and safety policy infrastructure, multi-actor involvement, and political will. It will also provide an opportunity to discuss challenges faced and draw out valuable lessons for guiding future prevention policy initiatives aimed at driving positive societal change.
In conclusion, Australia’s pioneering ban on engineered stone not only showcases the power of evidence-based policymaking in addressing urgent public health risks but also demonstrates the effectiveness of collaborative, multi-stakeholder efforts in driving meaningful legislative change. For the preventive health community, this landmark decision serves as an inspiring model, reinforcing the importance of aligning scientific evidence, advocacy, and political will to create policies that can significantly reduce health burdens.

Introduction. Alcohol consumption at any level is harmful to health. However, nutrition and other health-oriented marketing claims (such as low sugar, natural, and organic) commonly feature on alcohol products on the Australian market and target younger audiences. These claims have the potential to mislead consumers and undermine public health efforts to reduce alcohol-related harm.  

Methods. Australian young adults aged 18-24 (N=1,009) rated 10 alcohol products in an online between-subjects experiment comprising a ‘control’ (no claims) and ‘claim’ (low sugar/carb, low calorie, natural, organic, and preservative free) condition. Participants rated 10 otherwise identical alcohol products (including equivalent labelled alcohol and energy content), with the respective health-oriented marketing claims displayed in the ‘claim’ condition. 

Results. Overall, alcohol products with health-oriented claims were rated as significantly healthier, less harmful to health, lower in sugar and kilojoules, and more suitable for weight management and a healthy diet than those without claims (p=.005-p<.001), and effects were consistent across most individual claim types. Claims did not influence product appeal, perceived alcohol content, or intended consumption, except that when products displayed a ‘natural’ claim, participants intended to consume a higher number of serves of that product than when no claim was displayed (p=.032). 

Conclusions. Common health-oriented marketing claims on alcohol products generate a health halo, whereby young adults mistakenly perceive products displaying those claims as healthier on many dimensions even in the presence of information to the contrary. This misleading form of marketing exploits the health- and weight-related motivations of some young people and should no longer be permitted on alcohol products, which are inherently energy-dense and harmful to health by virtue of their alcohol content. There is a need to strengthen the regulation of alcohol labelling and marketing in Australia by prohibiting misleading health-oriented marketing claims made about this harmful commodity.  

Introduction:
Alcohol remains one of the leading individual risk factors for death and disability among young Australians. Exposure to alcohol advertising is recognised a key influence on alcohol consumption among adolescents. Promotion of zero-alcohol beverages (<0.5% alcohol by volume) has increased rapidly in Australia in recent years. These beverages hold a close physical resemblance to, and often share branding and design features with, alcoholic products. However, regulations for zero-alcohol advertising differ to those for alcohol, presenting a potential route to increase adolescents’ exposure to alcohol-like products. We examined whether exposure to zero-alcohol advertising was associated with adolescents’ attitudes and consumption intentions toward alcohol.

Methods:
The study sample consisted of 382 Australian adolescents aged 15 to 17 years recruited via an online panel. Participants viewed zero-alcohol advertisements from four parent alcohol brands and reported past exposure and liking of each ad, attitudes and consumption intentions toward alcohol products from the parent brand, general attitudes and consumption intentions toward alcohol, self-reported location-based exposure to zero-alcohol advertising, prior consumption of alcohol and zero-alcohol, and demographics. Associations were examined using linear mixed effect models and linear regression.

Result:
In unadjusted models, attitudes toward and intentions to consume alcohol from the parent brand were associated with ad exposure (attitudes: B=0.55, p<0.001; intentions: B=0.37, p<0.001) and liking (attitudes: B=1.45, p<0.001; intentions: B=0.70, p<0.001). Adjusting for prior zero-alcohol and alcohol consumption, gender, and parent presence during survey completion, associations with liking remained significant (attitudes: B=1.42, p<0.001; intentions: B=0.66, p<0.001). No associations were found between self-reported location-based exposure to zero-alcohol advertising and general attitudes and consumption intentions toward alcohol.

Conclusion:
Seeing and liking zero-alcohol beverage advertisements increases adolescents’ positive attitudes towards and intentions to consume alcohol. Mandatory regulations regarding alcohol advertising should extend to zero-alcohol to limit young people’s exposure to advertising for alcohol-like products.