Community Wellbeing Programs | Healthy Cities Australia

According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, in 2020 between 4% and 13% of the general population were food insecure; and 22% to 32% of the Indigenous population, depending on location.

We advocate for healthy diets that are affordable, sustainable, and culturally acceptable. This approach enhances nutrition and health outcomes while minimising environmental impact.

Healthy eating is crucial in the battle to prevent avoidable chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancers, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure. Eating well is also good for our mood! A healthy diet means:

High intake of legumes, fruits and vegetables
High intake of whole grains
Low intake of saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and added sugars
Low and non-fat dairy
Lean protein

“We came here looking for the social aspect, but left with great friends, better confidence in the kitchen and better cooking skills. We came here looking for the social aspect, but left with great friends, better confidence in the kitchen and better cooking skills.”

Janet, CCC Participant

What Causes Food Inequality?

Socio-economic factors, urban planning, and policies drive food inequality in cities.

Income gaps

Low-income families struggle to afford healthy, nutritious food, impacting diet quality.

Unequal access and food deserts

Lack of fresh options limits access to nutritious foods, leading to poor dietary outcomes.

High living costs

Many Australian families are needing to make impossible choices between purchasing food, paying rent, bills, purchasing clothes etc.

Marketing and advertising

Unhealthy, ‘cheap’ calorie-dense foods, which are often low in nutritional value are heavily marketed.

Urbanisation

Loss of agricultural land reduces access to local, affordable, nutritious food.

Weak policies and underinvestment

These factors further limit opportunities for access to healthy, nutrient-rich food sources, like urban farming and local food systems.

What We’re Doing

To address these issues, we work with partner organisations, community groups and funding bodies, to develop and support

the delivery of public health programs focused on healthy eating and food security.

We do this by:

Increase Nutrition Awareness

Leading, developing and delivering programs, resources and opportunities that encourage and support increased nutrition awareness and the knowledge and skills to prepare nutritious and affordable food. Learn more

Improving Local Food Access

Strengthening local food systems to favour local production, decrease food waste and increase community access to fresh, healthy and affordable food.

Advocating for Healthier Food Policies

Driving policy improvement and advocacy activities that encourage the production of healthier food and drinks and reducing exposure to unhealthy food marketing, especially for children

Our Programs

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Our Partners

Our partners are crucial in supporting and enhancing our initiatives to promote healthier and more sustainable food practices across the community.

Food Fairness Illawarra

Food Fairness Illawarra is a community coalition that has worked together since 2005 with the vision to make healthy and sustainable food affordable and accessible for all. The impetus came from events and activities held during Anti-Poverty week, where the concept of food security, a relatively unknown term at the time featured heavily. Founding members of FFI included Healthy Cities Illawarra, Wesley Mission, Community Food Aid providers, Wollongong City Council, University of Wollongong, South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health.

Learn more

Our Impact

Our action on community wellbeing in 2023-24 included:

Delivered more than 590 healthy eating activities in the local community, reaching approximately 11,900 community members
Delivered 3, Dinner Table Program for families and 1 Creative Cooking program for University of Wollongong students
Delivered 4 Cook Chill Chat programs
Healthy eating education and activities for over 200 children per week through Active in Betweens
Supported the establishment of the first ever Illawarra Edible Garden Trail event attracting over 300 visitors to local productive gardens
Staged the annual Connecting over Fair Food event patroned by over 100 people