The Public Health Association of Australia may consider a tax on sugary drinks to be the next logical step in public health, but the health minister does not.
Federal health minister Mark Butler has ruled out a sugar tax for the immediate future, saying that the government would instead focus on education initiatives.
It follows renewed interest in the tax from the Public Health Association of Australia, which released research earlier this year finding that more than half of Australians would support a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.
Association CEO Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin told HSD on Thursday that he considered action on sugar to be “logically … the next cab off the rank in terms of public health priorities in Australia”.
In an appearance on Sunrise on Friday morning, Mr Butler acknowledged that obesity was a growing public health challenge and said multiple approaches were under consideration.
“We’re focused more on educating shoppers with good front-of-pack labelling about the things they’re thinking about buying at the supermarket,” he said.
“There is no plan in our government for a sugar tax.
“We’re instead focusing on education and also working with food manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar that they put into their products.”
Mr Butler said the department had “good success” in working with food manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar going into ice creams and other supermarket products.
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“[We have also worked to make] sure that shoppers are given the best possible information about what’s actually in the products,” he said.
“You don’t see that in the label. You don’t see that in the names necessarily of what they’re thinking of putting into the trolleys.
“That’s why we need an independent, authoritative, front-of-pack labelling system.”
Officially, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is still considering a levy on sugar-sweetened beverages as a recommendation from the 2024 parliamentary inquiry into the state of Diabetes Mellitus in Australia.
Other recommendations from the inquiry included an expedited review of Australian Dietary Guidelines, food labelling reforms and regulation on the marketing of unhealthy food to Australians aged 16 and under.
It also recommended longer MBS-subsidised appointments and access to case conferencing for people living with any form of diabetes.