Policy & Regulatory Guidelines
Guidelines
Diet has long been accepted by both health professionals and everyday Aussies as a key determinant of health. In an era where consumers are increasingly health-conscious and seeking nutrition information from a variety of sources, it is essential for health professionals to provide up-to-date, evidence-based guidance to help navigate the wealth of available information.
The Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADGs) represent the highest level of nutrition recommendations in Australia. Grounded in evidence from around 50,000 studies, they inform national health policy and shape how nutrition is delivered across hospitals, schools, childcare centres, aged care, prisons, NGOs and the private sector. Below, you’ll find the latest updates to the Guidelines. In July 2020, the Federal Government announced a review of the ADGs. The most recent Guidelines were released in 2013, so it’s been a long wait between reviews – the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) anticipates the new ADGs will be released at the end of 2026.
The new ADGs will help separate fact from fiction and will provide general, food-based dietary advice that is supported by the latest, best-available science.
Nutrition science has evolved significantly since 2013, particularly for the dairy food group. One significant update in science, is that regular-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt are now recommended for the general, healthy public, whereas in the 2013 guidelines, mostly reduced-fat varieties are recommended for everyone.
The health and nutrition team at Australian Dairy will continue to provide updates on the process (including expertise and input into the review process) as they become available.
Labelling
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is advancing its work on nutrition labelling standards to help consumers make more informed, healthier choices. Here’s the latest: Australian and New Zealand food ministers recently agreed to FSANZ scoping work to improve the Health Star Rating System and back-of-pack nutrition information labelling.
One key issue for Australian dairy is the cheese Health Star Rating – although cheese in considered a healthy, everyday food in the Australian Dietary Guidelines, ratings tend to be low since it is higher in saturated fat and sodium than other dairy foods. In fact, 50% of cheese sold in Australia currently has a score less than three stars. For more information on cheese’s health credentials, download this paper.
These issues highlight the importance of taking a wholefood approach to analyses around health and nutrition, since we eat wholefoods, not isolated nutrients. This is especially true for dairy, because the dairy matrix is a well-studied phenomenon describing the complex physical and chemical interactions of dairy nutrients which work synergistically to produce unexpected, positive effects.
National data
Food surveillance data is essential to understanding what Australians are eating and how those habits are changing.
The last national nutrition survey was conducted in 2011–2012, but new insights are on the horizon. The ABS is set to release updated findings from the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey in 2025, based on data collected in 2023. These results will offer a clearer, more current picture of Australia’s dietary patterns over the past decade.
Key publications will include:
- The Food and Nutrients publication (anticipated to be realised in the third quarter of 2025)
- The Usual Intake and Australian Dietary Guideline analysis (date TBC).
In the meantime, healthcare professionals can use the Apparent Consumption of Selected Foodstuffs data to provide an indication of purchasing trends. The latest release shows a slight increase in consumption of yoghurt and cheese and a very modest decline in milk and custard consumption.