Introduction: Zero alcohol products are a double-edged sword – they can provide drinkers with methods of reducing their alcohol intake while consuming alcohol-flavoured products, but also act as a pathway for young people to be exposed to more alcohol-related advertising and to become acclimatised to alcohol flavours at an earlier age. The aim of this study was to explore these issues as they are understood by Australian consumers to develop a conceptual classification to guide deliberations on public health policies pertaining to zero alcohol products.
Methods: Nine focus groups were conducted with 83 Australian adults who consumed alcohol at least twice per month. The discussions commenced with broad-ranging conversations about the role of alcohol in participants’ lives, culminating in specific consideration of the benefits and disbenefits of zero alcohol products for themselves and society in general.
Results: The extensive range of issues relating to zero alcohol products raised by the focus group participants could be classified into a matrix involving the World Health Organization’s four ‘A’s (Alcohol consumption, Acceptability, Availability, Affordability) and the four Ps of marketing theory (Product, Price, Promotion, Place). Thematic analyses identified a complex framework of benefits and disbenefits that demonstrate the critical importance of proactive efforts to prevent the rapidly growing zero alcohol market from increasing youth exposure to alcohol-branded products, further normalising the consumption of alcohol-flavoured beverages in Australian culture.
Conclusion: Potential public health policies indicated in the data were: (i) the inclusion of zero alcohol products in existing and future alcohol advertising regulations to minimise youth exposure, (ii) requiring 18+ identification for the purchase of zero alcohol products, and (iii) ensuring zero alcohol products are located in separate parts of grocery stores away from soft drink aisles and other areas with high child and youth foot traffic.

From 2026, alcohol labels in Ireland will be the most comprehensive in the world and will include a specific warning linking alcohol consumption and fatal cancers. Ireland’s labelling measure has been contentious domestically, regionally and internationally. One of the arguments industry and alcohol-exporting countries have raised is the concern that Ireland’s labels create fragmentation for transnational alcohol producers who have many different labelling requirements to comply with for different countries. These kinds of concerns are common for countries who attempt to introduce progressive alcohol or food labelling measures.

Since 2017, the Codex Alimentarius Commission — the main international standardising body for food — has been considering new work on alcohol labelling. International standards, like Codex standards, can help to ensure labelling is harmonised ensuring products are safe and can be easily traded. Where international standards, such as Codex standards exist, these can help or — where a bad standard is adopted — hinder countries like Ireland who introduce progressive alcohol labels. For example, countries who follow Ireland’s lead and introduce comprehensive alcohol labels next will likely be required to follow the proposed Codex standard.

Yet work at Codex on alcohol labels has been impacted by many factors, including the fact that government representatives attending Codex meetings are rarely from departments of health and the presence of industry at Codex meetings heavily outweighs public health. This presentation will explore Codex work on alcohol labelling, sharing insights into how Codex standards are developed from the development of Codex guidelines on Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling in 2021 and why engaging with international standards is important for those working domestically in Australian alcohol or food policy.

The intersection of policy, politics, and public health presents significant challenges in addressing the health issues related to illicit drug use in Australia. Evidence increasingly supports the efficacy of harm reduction strategies; however, the disproportionate allocation of funding to criminal justice responses continues to impede meaningful reform. This presentation will explore how this misalignment not only stifles the implementation of evidence-based practices but also exacerbates stigma, marginalisation, and mental health issues among people who use illicit drugs.
While there have been incremental advancements, such as the introduction of on-site drug testing, overall progress in harm reduction initiatives remains slow. The lack of political will to engage in drug law reform is often rooted in fear of public backlash and entrenched societal attitudes. The implications of these political dynamics on health outcomes, emphasise the urgent need for policy reform framed as a preventive health measure.
A critical component of this reform involves realigning spending priorities to support harm reduction initiatives rather than punitive measures. The barriers posed by current political frameworks and cultural attitudes, scores the necessity of a transformative approach to drug policy in Australia.
By appreciating the evidence from a comprehensive understanding of international models that effectively integrate harm reduction and public health principles, Governments across Australia could change the trajectory and significantly improve the health and wellbeing of people who use currently illicit drugs.
Ultimately, this presentation will call for a collective re-evaluation of the political strategies governing the use if currently illicit drugs in Australia, urging policymakers to embrace evidence-based practices that can lead to improved health outcomes for all. Through a committed effort to reform, Australia can effectively address the pressing preventative health issues associated with illicit drug use.

Problem: Place-based approaches are commonly used in prevention efforts and focus on addressing local issues by tailoring solutions to specific communities, recognising that social, economic, and environmental challenges vary across regions. However, evaluating their success is challenging due to the unique, complex, and often qualitative nature of the interventions. Factors like local culture, community engagement, and shifting circumstances make it difficult to establish standardised measures, and results may not be directly comparable across places.

What we did: The Local Drug Action Team (LDAT) Program uses place-based approaches to prevent and reduce harms from alcohol and other drug in over 270 communities nationally. Five external evaluations have taken place since its inception in 2016. These have included qualitative and quantitative measures including work to understand program impact in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Results: The LDAT Program has been successful in building local capacity by fostering partnerships and strengthening community leadership. Key contributors to success included the resources and guidance provided to communities to implement evidence-based prevention activities tailored to their specific needs. LDAT capacity to deliver and evaluate place-based approaches varied, as did their understanding of evidence-based approaches to reducing AOD related harm. LDATs were successful in securing funding to match grants provided through the program, extending program reach and impact.

Lessons: Evaluation of place-based approaches is challenging and needs adequate time to measure interim outcome measures (such as community capacity) as well as longer term impact measures (such as changes in community level protective factors). Communities benefit from the development of easy-to-use tools that support collection of data that demonstrates impact. Challenges in evaluating place-based approaches includes short-term funding cycles and a lack of local data on risk and protective factors.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a lifelong preventable disability caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. It is the most common non-genetic cause of developmental disability in Australia. Launched in November 2021, the groundbreaking “Every Moment Matters” campaign delivered as part of the National FASD program, utilises positive, values-based messaging to raise awareness and drive behaviour change around alcohol use during pregnancy. With the tagline “The moment you start trying is the moment to stop drinking” the campaign is contributing to the prevention of FASD, resulting in healthier babies, families, and communities in Australia.

The campaign was delivered through a mass media strategy including television, radio, online and outdoor advertising. National pre-campaign and post-campaign surveys alongside five within-campaign online survey waves collected feedback on campaign awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and behavioural intentions relating to alcohol use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Results showed increases in:

- The intention to abstain from alcohol when trying to conceive (34.2% pre-campaign to 54.0% post-campaign) among women planning a pregnancy in the next two years.

- Abstinence from alcohol when trying to conceive (30.7% pre-campaign to 58.3% post-campaign) among women who planned their recent pregnancy and saw the campaign.

- Abstinence from alcohol after pregnancy confirmation from 66.0% pre-campaign to 80.2% post-campaign.

- Partners abstaining from alcohol during their partner’s pregnancy increased significantly from 28.6% pre-campaign to 34.0% post-campaign.

- The campaign has also achieved significant reach and engagement with the target audience, over 3 years the campaign recorded 65.7 million video views, 9.8 million people reached through social media engagements and 2.8 million women aged 18-49 reached via radio.

The successful development, implementation, and evaluation of the “Every Moment Matters” campaign informs best practise in the development of health promotion campaigns in Australia and globally.

INTRODUCTION
Alcohol marketing rules in Australia are developed and overseen through an industry-led scheme, Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC). ABAC considers community complaints about alcohol advertising and seeks a response from the company responsible. The scheme includes provisions to protect children, including rules around placement and advertising with appeal to minors. This study investigated whether ABAC is fit-for-purpose to protect Australian children from alcohol marketing.
METHODS
We reviewed ABAC complaints, alcohol company responses and panel decisions between September 2023 and August 2024. We coded complaints as concerning the protection of children if they noted that the marketing: (a) appeals to minors, (b) features under 25s, and/or (c) is placed where minors may see it. We also explored whether companies removed or amended marketing that breached the code.
RESULTS
ABAC received complaints about 167 alcohol ads between July 2023 and August 2024 and the majority (n=103, 61.7%) were related to protecting children. The most common reason for child-directed marketing complaints were that the marketing appeals to minors (n=62, 60.2%), followed by featuring under 25s (n=50, 48.5%) and then placement (n=45, 43.7%). Few complaints about protecting children were upheld (n=36, 35%). Some companies had multiple complaints against their advertising. We will present findings related to the ABAC process, recurring themes in dismissed complaints, and examples of the marketing and of where companies responsible were unwilling to engage with ABAC or remove the marketing.
CONCLUSION
Most complaints to ABAC between September 2023 and August 2024 were about child-directed alcohol marketing, but most were dismissed. ABAC does not meet community expectations about protecting children and is not effective in deterring companies from child-directed alcohol marketing. The alcohol industry should not be responsible for self-regulating their marketing, and there is a need to improve the regulation and governance of marketing of this harmful commodity.

Introduction:
A form of food retail regulation called the Stores Licensing Scheme was introduced by the Australian Government in 2007–2022 to ensure food security in remote Indigenous communities of the Northern Territory. The Scheme required mandatory compliance by stores with a set of standards relating to: range, quality, promotion and pricing of essential food and household items; and, financial and governance processes. We examined evaluations of this Scheme implemented under the Northern Territory National Emergency Response (2007 – 2012) and Stronger Futures Northern Territory Acts (2012 - 2022).
Methods:
Grey literature search identified nine primary source evaluations. Eligibility criteria were grey literature evaluations examining the Stores Licensing Scheme in the Northern Territory in relation to both Acts. Reported outcomes were extracted and thematic analysis with an inductive approach was utilised to assess impact and determine barriers and enablers.
Results:
Impact reported included improved availability and quality of groceries, financial structures, and retail practices, albeit these improvements were not reported by all evaluations. Inconsistent communication in governance practices and high food cost were perceived barriers to the licensing scheme having an impact on food security. A key enabler was reliable management practices.
Conclusion:
Future policy aimed to improve food security through community stores should consider food cost subsidy, measures to incentivise all stores to improve best-practice standards, and improved governance arrangements enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Store Directors to determine policy for their stores for the benefit of their communities. The findings of this meta-evaluation are timely to inform the National Strategy for Food Security in Remote First Nations Communities and the Northern Territory Remote Stores Program, both in development.