AFS: Addressing Food Security for Aboriginal Families

This project includes co-design, implementation of the co-designed strategies and evaluation and reporting. The project provides a framework for co-designing local solutions to food insecurity that links schools, community and relevant local community organisations to address food security for Aboriginal families. It builds on a local pilot project where a working group composed of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations across the community, health and education sectors co-designed strategies to implement the local primary schools and neighbourhood centre setting to address food insecurity. The framework is evidenced based and informed by the Australian Institute of Family Studies strategies for addressing food insecurity in the Australian context: 1) Partnering to deliver localised solutions 2) Providing emergency food relief 3) Enhancing food and nutrition literacy An essential part of the project framework is the co-design process, and the development of partnerships between schools and community to support families. 1. Co-design – reflecting the pilot, the co-design process will engage Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations across the community, health and education sectors. Co-design workshops will facilitate the development of suitable strategies that are localised, provide emergency food relief and enhance food and nutrition literacy. The co-design work will determine whether interventions/strategies from the pilot are suitable for local implementation, or whether new strategies are required. The co-design process is ‘in development’ and will be guided by local need. Likely it will include 3-4, 1-hour workshops delivered over a period of 8 weeks to identify local strategies. 2. Interventions: Based on the pilot project the following interventions could potentially be implemented: a. School level– the provision of a student pantry, lunchbox packs, school support, referral and promotion of neighbourhood centre supports. The local health promotion officer will support the school to implement these strategies, if identified as suitable for the local community through the co-design process. b. Community level – intake assessment, food relief, referral to relevant supports (financial, electricity bill support, clothing), cooking workshops, and other activities that may be identified through the co-design process. If identified as suitable for the local community through the co-design process, these interventions would be delivered an Aboriginal community liaison officer (ACLO). The interventions will be delivered over the implementation period of four school terms. Families will engage with the ACLO to identify their needs and engage in appropriate aspects of the program to meet their needs, over a relevant time frame.