Photo left to right: ABA’s Executive Officer, Victoria Marshall-Cerins, Assistant Minister for Health, Ged Kearney, Board Director and ABA Breastfeeding Educator, Sally Eldridge
In August, ABA’s Executive Officer, Victoria Marshall-Cerins and Sally Eldridge, ABA Board Director and Breastfeeding Educator went to Canberra to meet with the Assistant Minister for Health, Ged Kearney about ongoing 4-year funding of our National Breastfeeding Helpline and LiveChat services and to discuss the Government’s response to the report on the evaluation of the Marketing infant formula in Australia (MAIF) Agreement.
ABA received a positive response to our funding proposal and an invitation to discuss the proposal further before the pre-budget submission process wraps up towards the end of this month. The Minister also updated us about plans to strengthen the controls around the marketing of infant formula in Australia in response to the recent MAIF agreement evaluation report.
The meetings were just one step in our advocacy processes on both issues. Our existing National Breastfeeding Helpline funding concludes in June 2025 and ABA will not find out about the status of our ongoing funding until budget night next year. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission will make a final determination regarding the immediate future of the MAIF Agreement in November 2024 and are in close consultation with Department of Health and Ageing as the protection of breastfeeding and parents’ infant feeding choices from commercial influence are both public health policy matters.
ABA continues to advocate for the implementation of the full provisions of the WHO International Code on the Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes into Australian law.