For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote communities, increasing access to traditional foods offers wide-ranging health benefits as well as economic opportunities, according to a new national strategy released this week.
The National Strategy for Food Security in Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities 2025 – 2035 says traditional foods have long been identified as critical food sources, and are beneficial for chronic disease prevention and management, as well as general health and wellbeing.
However, restricted access to traditional foods and limited varieties of healthy food in remote stores have undermined the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote communities, says the strategy.
Improvements across the supply chain, together with community-led initiatives, such as environmental health programs, on-Country learning programs and community-owned infrastructure, are key enablers to improving food security, it says.
The strategy reveals the very high levels of food insecurity in remote communities, described by some as a “life and death situation”, and how this contributes to health disparities and perpetuates cycles of poverty that limit career and training opportunities.
Across Australia, four percent of households experience food insecurity, while in remote areas, seven percent of people regularly experience food insecurity. However, 51 percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households in remote areas of Australia experience food insecurity.
The high cost of food in remote communities makes it more difficult to afford other essential items such as rent, power and transport, and also forces people to opt for cheaper, lower-quality processed food out of necessity. Mental health was also impacted by chronic food insecurity.
Barriers to addressing food insecurity include loss of access to land and waterways, limited access to appropriate housing, power and potable water, and poor quality infrastructure, such as roads and barge landings that can disrupt supply chains, further limiting access to grocery stores, fresh food markets and traditional foods.
Caring for Country
Consultations informing the strategy heard that traditional food practices – including traditional harvesting of bush foods, medicine, and hunting – are important to ensure culture stays strong for the health and wellbeing of the whole community, including young people.
The strategy also highlights the importance of Caring for Country and notes that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ranger programs contribute to food security.
They do this through: revegetating, cultivating, and protecting native plant and animal species; collecting, and distributing bush food to Elders and other community members; and passing traditional knowledge onto future generations.
The strategy says the traditional foods sector offers an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to improve their health and create viable financial opportunities and support on-Country activities that promote social, cultural, and economic sustainability.
Such opportunities could expand beyond food security to include education employment and business opportunities.
Community-led development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems can enhance financial independence, says the strategy, by creating jobs, supporting skill development, and boosting local economies.
Initiatives like school bush classes and teaching traditional food gathering and preparation were highlighted as successful examples of engaging young people and addressing food scarcity.
Communities noted that they increasingly depend on traditional hunting to survive, due to the high levels of poverty and food insecurity they are experiencing.
However, barriers such as hunting restrictions, licensing issues, high fuel costs, seasonal factors, lack of storage facilities, and interference by feral animals significantly impact hunting as a food source
The strategy also highlights the many ways that ACCHOs have long been working towards addressing food security.
For example, Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation has driven place‑based, co‑designed nutrition resources and education activities, nutrition training resources and sessions for Yolŋu community-based staff, and food systems projects including working with remote stores, schools, and youth programs.
Workforce matters
The nutrition workforce in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities largely consists of public health nutritionists and dietitians, says the strategy.
Often lacking is a local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition workforce that understands local cultures, can communicate in language and provide nutrition knowledge in a culturally responsive manner.
The strategy notes a lack of training opportunities to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote communities to develop skills in nutrition and an understanding of food security issues and underlying contributors.
The strategy has seven pillars.
Next steps
A governing body will be established to oversee implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Strategy. It will include Commonwealth and jurisdictional government representatives, as well as representatives from relevant ACCOs – based on the model used in developing the strategy.
Its first task will be to develop an action plan to support the seven pillars of the Strategy.
At the time of the strategy’s development, there was no policy or governing structure to address food security for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote areas of Australia, at either Commonwealth, or state and territory levels.
“The lack of coordinated decision-making across governments meant limited opportunities for community voices to influence policy approaches and service design,” says the strategy.
“There remain significant data gaps – there is no reliable, relevant and consistent information about the rate and impact of food insecurity in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This hinders the ability to understand, monitor and effectively address the issue.”
The strategy was developed after a recommendation by a 2020 inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs into food pricing and food security in remote Indigenous communities.
Writing in the strategy, NACCHO CEO Pat Turner said it had been shaped by the voices and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Consultations with remote communities revealed a pressing need for sustainable, community-led solutions to food insecurity, and emphasised the importance of local knowledge and cultural practices in addressing this critical issue, she said.
“We know that when our people have agency and control to lead their own responses, we get better outcomes. This strategy highlights the need for tailored solutions that reflect the specific needs and strengths of each community, and which build on existing systems and infrastructure.”
The Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) welcomed the strategy’s release.
“For too long, prohibitively high grocery costs and supply shortages have made healthy eating nearly impossible in many remote communities, where geographic, climate, and logistical barriers further restrict access to fresh food and essential supplies,” said CEO Dr John Paterson.
“Limited access to nutritious food has contributed to widespread health issues, including high rates of anaemia in children, diabetes (some of the highest rates in the world are found in central Australia), and other chronic diseases – not because people don’t want to eat healthily, but because they don’t have the choice.
“We acknowledge that stores are working hard to encourage healthy food consumption, but without additional funding, there is only so much that they can do while ensuring that they are viable. This is why we also welcome the food subsidy on 30 essential items as this will provide immediate relief to communities.”
Paterson said affordability was just one part of the challenge, and welcomed the strategy’s focus on achieving long-term, sustainable change “by working in partnership with Aboriginal communities to develop locally led solutions that reflect the realities on the ground”.
Associate Professor Megan Ferguson, from The Remote Food Security Research Collaborative and The University of Queensland, also welcomed the strategy.
The group’s research found that three out of four families with young children in remote communities in Cape York and Central Australia were experiencing food insecurity, and recent data has also shown high rates of food insecurity in remote communities nationally, she said.
“Food insecurity in remote communities is a longstanding issue impacting the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. The Strategy provides a significant opportunity to act on priorities and solutions to address this inequity,” she told Croakey.
“We are pleased to see that a wide range of issues that have been raised by communities and organisations have been considered in the Strategy, and we look forward to the government developing implementation plans which are funded, with communities, and ensuring that progress is monitored, evaluated and reported back to communities.”
Previously at Croakey
- Food and other essential products to become more affordable for remote communities, by Alison Barrett (11 February, 2025)
- See Croakey’s archive of articles on Indigenous health
