Australia should introduce a tax on sugary drinks and make changes to how food products deemed to be "unhealthy" are marketed to children, according to a new report put together by Australian lawmakers.
The House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport's report, tabled on 4 July, makes 23 recommendations, including a proposal that the Australian government "implements a levy on sugar-sweetened beverages", with any such charge "graduated according to the sugar content".
Alongside the levy, the committee's report recommends that the government introduces "food labelling reforms targeting added sugar to allow consumers to clearly identify the content of added sugar from front-of-pack labelling".
It also suggests that authorities should consider "regulating the marketing and advertising of unhealthy food to children", with the definition of what constitutes "unhealthy" developed independently.
If Australia's government decides to greenlight the committee's suggestions, the country will become the latest in a growing list of economies to implement a "sugar tax" on drinks. A World Trade Organization report published at the end of last year found that at least 108 countries apply national-level excise taxes on at least one type of sugar-sweetened beverage. This includes the UK, where the soft drinks industry levy, in place since 2018, requires drinks packagers and producers, and overseas suppliers with a UK presence, pay HMRC a fee of up to £0.24 per litre on soft drinks sold in the country.
A wide-ranging free trade agreement between the UK and Australia entered into force in May 2023, and the UK-based Food and Drink Federation's trade snapshot for the first quarter of 2024 expects exports to Australia to increase going forward.
If the Australian government decides to go ahead with the committee's recommendations, it will likely affect UK food and drink companies shipping their goods to the country.
Tackling a 'diabetes epidemic'
Diabetes is a serious issue in Australia and one of the country's 10 leading causes of death, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Mike Freelander, an Australian MP and chair of the committee behind the new report, says that "approximately 1.5 million people – some 5% of the population – are known to live with a form of diabetes".
"In addition, it is expected that the number of Australians diagnosed with the condition will continue to rise," Freelander says. "The nation faces what has throughout the inquiry been referred to as a diabetes epidemic."
Despite the case made by Freelander, the recommendations have received pushback from Australia's National Retail Association (NRA), which represents more than 60,000 stores in the country.
In a statement issued on 5 July, the NRA says it "opposes a number of the Health, Aged Care and Sport Standing Committee's recommendations on diabetes in Australia, particularly the proposed sugar-sweetened beverages tax".
Alan Barclay, who chairs the NRA's Health and Nutrition Committee, argues that a sugar tax "would put pressure on the whole supply chain, from struggling households and small family businesses to canegrowers. It may further increase food insecurity, which is already affecting nearly one in two Australian households."
Other organisations to comment on the proposals include the Australian Medical Association (AMA). "We are 100% behind this sugar tax on sugar-sweetened beverages because we know it could help reduce the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Australia, as well as reducing other chronic diseases," says Steve Robson, the AMA's president.
"Prevention is better than cure and this inquiry has realised we need to be ahead of what is a national health crisis," he adds.