NAS Project update

December 2017: 

Food allergy prevention project 

The National Allergy Strategy food allergy prevention project, funded by the Australian government aims to implement the ASCIA guidelines for infant feeding and allergy prevention. 

A social marketing company has been engaged to assist with the development of a communication strategy.

Focus group sessions with consumers and health professionals will be conducted early in 2018. This project is funded by the Australian government.

250K youth project

A 250K Facebook campaign was recently undertaken to promote the 250K website.  A series of 6 different advertisements featuring avatar animations were the focus of the campaign. The National Allergy Strategy will continue to add news items on topical issues for young people to the website and Facebook page.

The National Allergy Strategy funding request in the 2018 pre-budget submission includes a number of initiatives for this project including further social media engagement, a mentor program and camps for younger teens. www.250K.org.au

Food service project

The All about Allergens online training developed by the National Allergen Strategy in partnership with other key stakeholders is being utilised well by those working in the food service sector.

A minor update to the course will be undertaken in December 2017. www.foodallergytraining.org.au

Food service in hospitals project

As part of the National Allergy Strategy food service project, we are working with key stakeholders to develop resources for hospitals and other institutions to assist with safe food provision for people with food allergy.  Food allergy policy and audit tool templates are being developed. In addition, a food allergy menu assessment tool for use by dietitians is being developed in partnership with the Dietitians Association of Australia. These resources will be released in May 2018. These resources have been funded by a non-industry donation to the National Allergy Strategy.

Environmental health officer resource

As part of the National Allergy Strategy food service project, we are working with Environmental Health Australia and other key stakeholders to develop a free downloadable resource for environmental health officers (EHOs).  This resource aims to assist EHOs in helping food businesses  improve food allergen safety. This resource will be released in October 2018. This resource is funded by the Australian government.

Shared care model pilot

In October this year, a shared care model pilot was undertaken in the Kimberley region by the National Allergy Strategy with the support of the WA Health Department. This visit to Kimberley allowed us to engage with health professionals and the community to determine how to optimise allergy services in the region with the goal of the patient seeing the right person at the right time in the right place. This pilot project was supported by unrestricted education grants from industry.

2018 pre-budget submission

The National Allergy Strategy recently forwarded a pre-budget submission to the Australian government for the 2018 budget. This pre-budget submission has identified the following projects as urgently requiring support:

• National implementation of the ASCIA guidelines for infant feeding and allergy prevention (funding for the final year of the project - national roll-out).
• Additional resources required to improve food allergy management in food service to build on the work undertaken in 2016-17.
• Additional resources required to improve food allergy management in teens and young adults to build on the work undertaken in 2016-17.
• Scoping the development of a Shared Care Model for allergy to ensure patients receive the right care from the right person, at the right time, in the right place.

A public version of the pre-budget submission is available here:
  National Allergy Strategy Pre-budget Submission 2018600.93 KB

Thank you

The National Allergy Strategy is thankful for the support we have received to date. Many have donated their time and expertise whilst others have offered financial support to progress important initiatives. Thank you to the National Allergy Strategy Steering Committee and Working Group members, and to the many stakeholder representatives who have participated in meetings and the consultation processes that have allowed us to produce useful resources that are now being utilised by many, mostly free of charge.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas and we look forward to continuing our work with you in 2018.