Feeding Futures: Reimagining school food in Australia for health, equity and learning
A Food System Horizons Webinar
FRIDAY, 29 August 2025
12:00 to 1:00PM AEST
ONLINE MS Teams
Australia lacks a coordinated school food policy — a gap with potential consequences for children’s health, learning, equity, and family wellbeing. As public interest in universal school meals grows, this webinar will brief policymakers and other stakeholders on the progress already made: public advocacy, early government engagement, community consultation, and cross-sector coalition-building. We will also present our forward research and engagement strategy, including survey data, infrastructure mapping, co-design workshops, and economic modelling. This is an opportunity to align emerging evidence with practical policy planning — and explore what it would take to design a school food system that works for all children.
Who will you hear from?
Associate Professor Liesel Spencer, School of Law, Western Sydney University
Dr Liesel Spencer’s research interests are in public health law and food systems governance, focusing on regulation of food security. Liesel’s research in this area spans school food programs, social security law both in Australian and overseas, the impact of the cost of living crisis on food security, and urban agriculture. She is a lawyer who is interested in diverse methodological approaches to research including empirical methods, comparative law and legal geography.
Dr Katherine Kent, University of Wollongong
Dr Katherine Kent is a public health nutritionist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Wollongong, where she teaches and leads research on food insecurity, food systems governance, and public health nutrition. Her work focuses on improving food access and equity through evidence-informed policy and community-based initiatives. Katherine has led large-scale studies and advocacy projects, including the Let’s Talk About Food survey in the Illawarra Shoalhaven, and research into student food insecurity. She contributes nationally through the Nutrition Society of Australia, the Australian Academy of Science’s National Committee for Nutrition, and the Household Food Security Data Coalition.
Dr Miriam Williams, Macquarie University
Dr Miriam Williams is a Senior Lecturer in Geography and Planning at Macquarie University and Deputy Director of the Macquarie University Housing and Urban Research Centre. Her research explores how urban environments can be made more just and caring, with a focus on food provisioning, public space, planning, and infrastructures of care.
Is there another chance to join?
The presentation part of this webinar will be recorded and be made available on this page for those who are not able to attend on the day. Discussions will not be recorded.
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