Research to support government policy

RE-FRESH: Next Generation approaches the challenge of creating healthier retail food environments using three different mechanisms to drive change.

About Stream 1 – Research to support government policy:

Our work, including through the previous RE-FRESH Centre of Research Excellence, has demonstrated that retailers are willing to implement changes that promote health when they are also good for business. However, changes that may negatively impact a retailer’s competitive position can be more challenging for retailers to implement.

Government regulation can help by creating a level playing field for sector-wide adoption of healthy food retail practices. For Australian governments to consider such regulation, we need to know more about the specific policy levers available to them, and the evidence that governments need to support policy implementation across various sectors.

This stream will create the evidence needed by governments to prioritise and implement effective healthy food retail policies, including through:

1. The formation of a Food Policy Lab, which will bring relevant parties together to develop research evidence that informs the design, adoption, implementation and evaluation of policies for healthier, more equitable and sustainable population diets
2. National and international case studies on policy design and associated challenges and opportunities, to inform policy recommendations;
3. Economic evidence on the costs and benefits of healthy and environmentally sustainable food retail policies to facilitate cross-sectoral policy decision making.