Many opportunities for stakeholders to engage with and provide feedback on the Health Star Rating system have been provided since implementation.

2019

Five year review of the HSR system

The final public consultation period for the five year review ran from 25 February 2019 until 25 March 2019. This consultation enabled stakeholders to provide comment on the draft Five Year Review Report prior to the report being finalised. Submissions could be made via the Australian Department of Health’s Consultation Hub.

For further information on the five year review, go to Formal review of the system after five years of implementation.

2018

Five year review of the HSR system

mpconsulting, the independent consultants undertaking the five year review of the Health Star Rating system, led public workshops across Australia and in New Zealand in February-April 2018 to hear stakeholder perspectives and discuss key themes. A Navigation Paper to inform these workshops, available on the five year review page, was provided by mpconsulting.

mpconsulting identified 10 key issues relating to the products on which the HSR appears and the way that stars are calculated, and proposed a range of options for addressing identified issues and, where possible, specified its preferred option. Stakeholder views on the issues and the options, as well as any alternatives, were sought through written submissions. Submissions were open between 12 October 2018 and 7 December 2018 and could be made via the Australian Department of Health’s Consultation Hub. A Consultation Paper was made available by mpconsulting to guide submissions.

In November 2018, mpconsulting facilitated a second round of forums in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. These forums enabled stakeholders to continue to provide input on key issues for the review, including on options for system enhancements, and discuss options in greater detail.

Form of the Food (‘As Prepared’) Stakeholder Workshops

The Health Star Rating Advisory Committee reappraised the form of the food (or ‘as prepared’) rules in The Guide for Industry to the Health Star Rating Calculator. The ‘as prepared’ provision in the Guide allows manufacturers of products intended to be prepared prior to consumption to calculate their HSR based on 100g/ml of the product ‘as prepared’ according to the instructions printed on the product label. As a consequence, the HSR of these products can be altered by the nutritional components of the added ingredients.

A first round of public workshops was held in 2017. Further details and outcomes are below.

A second round of public workshops was held in April 2018. A discussion paper was provided to guide the workshops:

'As prepared' discussion paper - second round of public workshops, April 2018 (Word 149 KB)
'As prepared' discussion paper - second round of public workshops, April 2018 (PDF 187 KB)

Appendices to the discussion paper provide significant background information. All interested stakeholders are encouraged to refer to the appendices. These have been compiled into a second document:

'As prepared' discussion paper - second round of public workshops, April 2018 - appendices 1-9 (Word 763 KB)
'As prepared' discussion paper - second round of public workshops, April 2018 - appendices 1-9 (PDF 827 KB)

2017

Form of the Food (‘As Prepared’) Stakeholder Workshops

On 28 April 2017, the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation noted concerns from stakeholders in relation to the ‘as prepared’ rules and asked the Health Star Rating Advisory Committee to address these concerns as a matter of priority.

The issue is complex, as the products affected are from a diverse range of food categories and all of these product categories will need to be considered so that any unintended consequences of potential options are identified. The Health Star Rating Advisory Committee has agreed that consultation with stakeholders will be required before any changes are made to the HSR system.

The Health Star Rating Advisory Committee commenced reappraisal of the ‘as prepared’ rules through a public submission process which opened on 19 May 2017 on the Department of Health’s Consultation Hub and closed on 30 June 2017. A total of 74 submissions were received. A summary of the submissions is below.

Attachment 3 - Summary of public submissions on 'as prepared' rules under the Health Star Rating (HSR) system (PDF 333 KB)
Attachment 3 - Summary of public submissions on 'as prepared' rules under the Health Star Rating (HSR) system (Word 71 KB)

Three workshops were held in Sydney, New Zealand and Melbourne from late September to mid October 2017. The purpose of the workshops was to consider the pros and cons of potential options to address the ‘as prepared’ issue in the context of the objectives and principles of the HSR system. A discussion paper outlining the options that were raised through the public submission process was considered at the workshops.

Discussion paper for face to face consultation (PDF 79 KB)
Discussion paper for face to face consultation (Word 62 KB)

Summary reports from these workshops are below:

As Prepared workshop summary - Sydney (PDF 102 KB)
As Prepared workshop summary - Sydney (Word 58 KB)

As Prepared workshop summary - Auckland (PDF 64 KB)
As Prepared workshop summary - Auckland (Word 38 KB)

As Prepared workshop summary - Melbourne (PDF 81 KB)
As Prepared workshop summary - Melbourne (Word 58 KB)

2016

The stakeholder workshops held in 2016 were facilitated and focussed on discussions on a range of key issues. The aim of the workshops was to understand how the Health Star Rating was operating, the strengths of the system, the challenges to implementing the system and the opportunities for improvement to the system.

Summary reports from these workshops are below:

Melbourne

Melbourne (morning session) – 18 May 2016 (Word 135 KB)
Melbourne (morning session) – 18 May 2016 (PDF 186 KB)

Melbourne (afternoon session) – 18 May 2016 (Word 836 KB)
Melbourne (afternoon session) – 18 May 2016 (PDF 113 KB)

Perth

Perth – 22 June 2016 (Word 23 KB)
Perth – 22 June 2016 (PDF 49 KB)

Brisbane

Brisbane – 29 June 2016 (Word 878 KB)
Brisbane – 29 June 2016 (PDF 89 KB)

Sydney

Sydney (morning session) – 4 August 2016 (Word 801 KB)
Sydney (morning session) – 4 August 2016 (PDF 120 KB)

Sydney (afternoon session) – 4 August 2016 (Word 808 KB)
Sydney (afternoon session) – 4 August 2016 (PDF 120 KB)

Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand - 12 October 2016 (Word 1190 KB)
Auckland, New Zealand - 12 October 2016 (PDF 150 KB)

SA Health and Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) Workshop

In December 2016 a workshop for dietitians, nutrition professionals and student/graduate dietitians was held in Adelaide by SA Health in conjunction with the DAA. This workshop aimed to highlight the strengths of the Health Star Rating system and opportunities that the HSR system presents.

A summary report from this workshop is below:

Adelaide – 15 December 2016 (PDF 103 KB)
Adelaide – 15 December 2016 (Word 28 KB)

2014 and 2015

The Health Star Rating Advisory Committee held several stakeholder workshops in 2014 and 2015. The purpose of these workshops was to disseminate information about the Health Star Rating system, provide an update on work under way and obtain feedback from stakeholders about their experiences or issues with the Health Star Rating system.

Answers to all of the questions which were asked at the stakeholder workshops in 2014 are available:

Health Star Rating Stakeholder Workshops 2014 - Q&A's (Word 55KB)
Health Star Rating Stakeholder Workshops 2014 - Q&A's (PDF 81KB)