The Local Governments Creating Healthy Food Environments Interest Group shares knowledge to spread positive changes in local government food policy across Australia. We are focused on generating interest and commitment to change among local governments, and informing the development of mechanisms to facilitate action. This includes enhancing the research capacity of local governments, and supporting scale-up of evidence-based policies and practices to improve the healthiness and sustainability of the food environments in local government settings.
Our focus
To enhance and accelerate research and evidence-based action to improve the healthiness and sustainability of the food environments in local government settings in Australia.
Want to join us?
If you are interested in joining the Local Governments Creating Healthy Food Environments Interest Group or have any questions, please contact Dr Cindy Needham.
Dr Needham and Dr Lalchandani are Co-chairs of the Local Governments Creating Healthy Food Environments Interest Group (formerly Nourish Network Local Government Interest Group) a collaborative group containing both internal and external interest holders in creating healthy and sustainable food environments in local governments.
Upcoming Events
The next meeting of the Local Governments Creating Healthy Food Environments Interest Group will be the Symposium on 16 March 2026.
Contact Dr Cindy Needham for further information at cindy.needham@deakin.edu.au
Local Governments Creating Healthy Food Environments Meetings
November meeting summary
Our second meeting, convened by Dr Cindy Needham, heard from 3 outstanding speakers, highlighting the outstanding work happening within local governments and also the research being conducted to support this. We thank James McLennan (james@farmmyschool.com.edu.au), John Jacky (john.jacky@thekids.org.au) and Tia Whyman (tia.whyman@thekids.org.au) for their generosity.
Download John and Tia’s presentation slides from the meeting.
Download James’ presentation slides from the meeting.
July meeting summary
Our inaugural meeting, convened by Dr Cindy Needham, heard from 4 outstanding speakers, highlighting the outstanding work happening within local governments and also the research being conducted to support this. We thank Di Dixon (ddixon@sthgrampians.vic.gov.au), Monique Sobey
(monique.sobey@kitchengardenfoundation.org.au), Rebecca Dalrymple (r.dalrymple@bendigo.vic.gov.au) and Dr Miranda Blake (miranda.blake@deakin.edu.au).
Local Governments Creating Healthy Food Environments Symposium 2025
The Local Governments Creating Healthy Food Environments Symposium free hybrid event was held on March 17, 2025, to share evidence and tools to inform policy and practice in local governments. Read our news story for full details on the event
Missed the symposium? Catch up on the presentations and resources from our expert speakers.
Associate Professor Belinda Reeve from the University of Sydney Law School presented on ‘How local governments in our study were using planning frameworks to create a healthy and sustainable food environment; and what challenges they faced in doing so’.
• Download the presentation slides
• Visit the Strengthening Local Food Systems Governance website
Deakin Distinguished Professor Steve Allender from the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE) at Deakin University presented on “Systems approaches for community-based interventions“.
• Learn more about the Systems Thinking in Community Knowledge Exchange (STICKE) technology
Dr Needham facilitated an interactive activity to identify research priorities to support future strategy, policy and planning activities for local governments creating healthier food environments. The information captured will be summarised in a future publication and inform the agenda for the 2026 symposium.
Professor Gary Sacks from GLOBE at Deakin University presented on ‘Benchmarking local governments on policies to improve population diets’.
• Download the presentation slides
• Visit the Local Food-EPI+ Tool website and the Food Policy Index website
Dr Claire Pulker from Edith Cowan University presented on ‘The Food Outlets Dietary Risk tool (FODR) and the Menu Assessment Scoring Tool (MAST)‘.
• Explore more work by the Food Environments team at Edith Cowan University
• Read the FODR tool & the MAST tool papers as well as a recent food environment paper
Dr Maureen Murphy and Tara Behen from the University of Melbourne presented on ‘An evidence-informed toolkit for planning resilient food systems’.
• Download the presentation slides
• Visit the FoodPrint Melbourne website
Laura Duff from Latrobe Community Health presented on the ‘Reach for the Stars project – making it easier for customers to find healthy foods in supermarkets’.
• Download the presentation slides
• Visit the Reach for the Stars website
• Contact base.nutrition@monash.edu for Store Scout registration
Gemma Simpson from the Central Goldfields Shire Council shared on council’s experience of ‘learning with community and creating a roadmap to a healthier food system in Central Goldfields‘.
• Learn about the Food System Roadmap
Kirsten Beckingham from the City of Armadale in Western Australia shared the councils’ ‘Nutrition and food security activities, programs and policies’.
• Download the presentation slides
• Learn more about the LiveLighter partnership & council policies on healthy eating
Kristine L Vigsnes, a PhD candidate from University of Agder shared ‘Public Health Challenges on Local Government Agendas’ from Kristiansand Municipality in Norway.
• Download the presentation slides
• Watch out for Kristine’s forthcoming paper
Sharon Laurence, Food Systems Manager at VicHealth shared ‘Reshaping local food systems together for a healthier, fairer Victoria‘.
• Download the presentation slides
• Presentation resources, links and websites
Dr Needham and Dr Lalchandani
Dr Cindy Needham transitioned into academia from local government with extensive experience in public health policy and planning and is currently a Research Fellow at Deakin University. Her work focuses on the food retail environment and how access and availability to food retail can influence health. Dr Needham’s work emphasises knowledge translation including providing evidence that can support the development of policies to support healthier food retail environments; and supporting local governments, health services and local public health units to implement systems thinking techniques to inform Municipal Public Health Wellbeing Plans and health service delivery. The development of the Australian Food Retail Outlet Monitoring tool was led by Dr Needham, and is an online platform is utilised by researchers, key decision and policy makers and is housed in the Australian Food Environment Dashboard. Dr Needham is also the Co-Design Lead for a $9m MRFF funded project DELIVER (Delivering Enhanced heaLthcare at home through optImising Virtual tools for oldEr people in Rural and regional Australia) which being delivered across the Institute for Health Transformation.
Dr Neha Lalchandani is a Research Fellow within the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE), a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention. She currently manages an NHMRC funded partnership project Promoting CHANGE, which aims to support Victorian local governments in creating healthier food retail environments within sports and recreation centres. Her research focuses on advancing public health nutrition through the creation of health-enabling environments, guided by implementation science principles. She employs mixed-methods approaches and has broad interests spanning the socio-ecological influences on food choice, health social marketing and choice architecture, and design and delivery of health promotion initiatives.
Useful Resources
Local Food Systems Policy Index (Local Food-EPI+) Tool
The Local Food-EPI+ tool is designed to benchmark local governments on their implementation of policies to improve the healthiness, equity and environmental sustainability of food systems. The purpose of the tool is to assist local governments in prioritising their actions to improve the healthiness, equity and environmental sustainability of food systems. Learn more about the tool and the implementation toolkit.
Promoting CHANGE
A partnership to test and refine real-world solutions for promoting nutritious purchases in food outlets within local government settings across Australia and beyond, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Explore more
Best Practice Guides for Conducting Healthy Food Retail Research
An innovative series covering all stages of the research process, including practical considerations for engaging with retailers and developing partnerships, co-designing initiatives, data collection and analysis, and research translation. Explore more
Looking for more resources on healthy retail food environments? Visit our website’s Resource Hub
