Unhealthy diets and obesity are leading contributors to poor health in Australia. Addressing obesity and improving population diets requires a comprehensive government response at the Commonwealth and State/Territory levels.

There is expert consensus internationally on policy actions that are required to improve population nutrition and create healthier food environments.
 
The Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition Research (GLOBE) at Deakin University (supported by The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre and the Obesity Policy Coalition) has created the Food Policy Index to assess the extent to which each jurisdiction in Australia is implementing globally recommended policies, and identify priority actions at the state/territory and federal level.

The Food Policy Index covers key policy areas, including specific aspects of food environments (such as food composition, labelling, promotion, prices and provision) that have been shown to have an important impact on population diets and obesity, as well as infrastructure support (including leadership, governance, monitoring and funding) that helps facilitate effective policy implementation.