Question On Notice No. 665 asked in the Legislative Council on 6 April 2022 by Hon Dr Brad Pettitt
Question Directed to the: Leader of the House representing the Minister for Health
Parliament: 41 Session: 1
Question
I refer to the commitment made by the then Health Minister at a Public Health Advocacy Institute of Western Australia forum on 4 March 2021 that, should the McGowan Government be re-elected, the Government would immediately convene an inter-agency taskforce for the removal of unhealthy food and drink promotions from State assets as per recommendation 2a of the Sustainable Health Review Final Report, and I ask:
(a) has the taskforce been convened as promised;
(b) if yes to (a):
(i) who are the members of the taskforce;
(ii) who has the taskforce sought advice from, or consulted with, to date;
(iii) has the taskforce made any recommendations regarding the establishment of a policy to ban or otherwise limit the advertising of unhealthy food and drinks on State assets; and
(iv) if yes to (iii), will the Minister table those recommendations;
(c) has a draft policy to ban unhealthy food and drink advertising from State assets been prepared;
(d) will public consultation be undertaken on a draft policy to ban unhealthy food and drink advertising from State assets;
(e) when does the Minister anticipate that a policy to ban unhealthy food and drink advertisements from State assets to be implemented; and
(f) since the Minister’s appointment as the Minister for Health, has the Minister:
(i) been contacted by the Outdoor Media Association;
(ii) met with the Outdoor Media Association; and
(iii) scheduled any future meetings with the Outdoor Media Association?
Answered on 10 May 2022
(a) – (f)
A Healthy Food and Drink Advertising Working Group (the Working Group) was established in August 2021. The Working Group currently comprises of members from the Departments of Health and Finance, the Public Transport Authority and Healthway. The Working Group has consulted with ACT Health and Queensland Health as those jurisdictions currently have or are considering a policy to ban unhealthy food and drink advertising on public assets.
A draft policy and recommendations have been presented to the Minister. As these materials are yet to be considered by Cabinet, the Government is not in a position to make the draft policy and recommendations public.
The Minister has been contacted by the Outdoor Media Association, but a meeting has not been scheduled to date.