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In Australia, nicotine vaping products are regulated as prescription‐only medicines which can only be sold from a pharmacy, with the aim of preventing youth access and allowing use by adult smokers with a doctor's support. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has acknowledged that this policy has not achieved its goals. Instead, a thriving black market has developed which sells unregulated vape products to children and adults. Very few adult vapers use the legal prescription pathway. Regulation should find the optimal balance between facilitating legal access for adult smokers while restricting access by youth. The preferred approach is a tightly regulated consumer model with nicotine vaping products sold by licenced retail outlets with strict age‐of‐sale verification. Regulations should be proportionate to risk and reflect the lower harms of vaping relative to smoking. A consumer model would bring Australia into line with other Western countries and improve population health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To quantify sales trends for key energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods and beverages over 5 years in Australia.Design: The Euromonitor Global Market Information Database and linear regression models were used to estimate average annual change in sales per capita of thirteen EDNP food categories and two EDNP beverage categories (defined using Australian Dietary Guidelines) over 5 years (2012-2017 for foods and 2011-2016 for beverages). The average annual change in sales was divided by the observed sales in 2012 (foods) or 2011 (beverages) to estimate the average percentage-change in sales per capita per annum.Setting: All major retail outlets in Australia.Participants: Euromonitor Global Market Information Database sales data.Results: Between 2012 and 2017, sales per capita per annum of frozen pizza (6 %), pastries (5 %), potato chips (crisps) (5 %), tortilla chips (3 %), chocolate confectionery (2 %), frozen processed potatoes (2 %), ice cream (2 %) and sugar confectionery (0·2 %) increased. There were no changes in sales of sweet biscuits, chocolate spreads and cakes, and sales of savoury biscuits and processed meat decreased (-2 and -1 %, respectively). Between 2011 and 2016, sales per capita per annum of sports and energy drinks increased (4 %), sales of regular (sugar-sweetened) cola (-6 %) and all non-cola soft drinks (-1 %) decreased and sales of diet cola did not change.Conclusions: Sales of EDNP foods and beverages generally increased or remained stable relative to population growth. Our results demonstrate the need for public health policies to reduce sales of EDNP foods and beverages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the cost and availability of fruit and vegetables at farmers' markets, supermarkets and greengrocers/primarily fruit and vegetable retail outlet. Data on 43 seasonal fruit and vegetables were collected in person from 17 accredited farmers' markets, 17 supermarkets and 16 greengrocers across 20 locations (9 rural, 11 urban). Greengrocers were found to be significantly cheaper than supermarkets (AU$4.70 (2.99, 7.99) vs AU$5.00 (3.00, 8.88) p = 0.010). Farmers' markets had lower availability or fewer varieties of fruit and vegetables (32 (20,35) compared to greengrocers 37 (31.75, 40.5) p = 0.028). Greengrocers may be the most accessible fruit and vegetable retail outlet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School Neighbourhood Nutrition Environments (SNNEs) can facilitate or impede healthy eating. This study describes the SNNEs surrounding 6 Good Start Program (GSP) schools in 5 suburbs in Logan, Queensland. Relative density of healthy and unhealthy food outlets was calculated for SNNEs surrounding GSP (6) and non-GSP (10) schools within the 5 suburbs. Relative accessibility of minimally processed and highly processed food and drink in SNNEs of the 6 GSP schools was determined using shelf measurements of snack foods. Unhealthy outlets greatly outnumber healthy outlets (mean relative density 15.6%, median 19.1%). The majority of outlets stock predominantly highly processed food and drink. Study areas are dominated by unhealthy food outlets and highly processed food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Despite a variety of long-standing tobacco control policies in most countries, smoking remains a source of considerable economic and health costs, resulting in ongoing discussion of potential policy changes. The contribution of retail tobacco distribution to prompting, facilitating and normalising smoking has received increasing attention, but the effect of retail outlets on tobacco consumption is relatively under-researched. In particular, there has been almost no empirical research on whether different retail outlets types have different effects on tobacco consumption by different types of smokers. This paper reports on two large studies examining the purchase behaviour of independent samples of smokers. The results provide the first evidence on the frequency of exposure of adult smokers to tobacco outlets, and show differences in tobacco purchase size across different retailers, and differences in the use of tobacco retailers by different smoker types. Implications for public health and tobacco control policy are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Airports are remaking Australian cities as they remake themselves as privatised enclaves of commercial entrepreneurialism. In line with overseas trends towards airport cities, all major federally leased Australian airports now derive a significant proportion of their revenue from non-aeronautical property development. New land uses such as direct factory outlets, big-box retailing, and even brickworks have proven most controversial. State governments, local councils, community groups, industry, and professional associations have expressed concerns about these commercial developments with statutory responsibility for development approvals vested solely in the federal government. The paper draws on the concept of 'actually existing neoliberalism' to interpret the making of the new market-driven airport spaces, the controversies which have ensued, and the re-regulatory interventions of the Commonwealth required to address community tensions. The debate about development of non-aeronautical activities on federally leased airport land is explored through the lens of the National Aviation Policy Review. The recommendations of this Review aim to incrementally reconfigure the policy commitment to 'light handed' regulation but future planning conflicts seem inevitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study examining the association between tobacco outlet density and area socioeconomic status (SES) in Western Australia (WA). The study reveals that in WA suburbs and towns, those with very low Index of Relative Socioeconomic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD) has four times more number of tobacco outlets as compared to those having high IRSAD. It also highlights that there exists a strong relationship between area SES and tobacco outlet density.

Background: Availability and accessibility of nutritious foods can vary according to the food outlets present within a neighbourhood or community. There is increasing evidence that community food environments influence food choice, diet and the risk of diet-related chronic disease, however contemporary community food environments assessments (e.g. unhealthy fast food outlets versus healthy supermarkets or fruit and vegetable shops) may be too simplistic to accurately summarise the complexities of their impacts on food choice. This study protocol describes the development of the Food Outlets Dietary Risk (FODR) assessment tool for use by local government in Perth, Western Australia.Methods: Similar to food safety risk assessment, the FODR assessment tool rates the potential harmful public health nutrition impact of food outlets by identifying and characterising the issues, and assessing the risk of exposure. Scores are attributed to six public health nutrition attributes: 1) availability of nutrient-poor foods; 2) availability of nutritious foods; 3) acceptability and appeal; 4) accessibility; 5) type of business operation; and 6) complex food outlet considerations. Food retail outlets are then classified as having a low, medium, high or very high dietary risk based on their total score.Discussion: A local government administered tool to rate the public health nutrition risk of food outlets requires data which can be collected during routine assessments or sourced from the internet. The ongoing categorical classification of foods available within food outlets as either unhealthy or nutritious will require nutrition scientists' input. An objective risk assessment of the dietary impact of food retail outlets can guide local government planning, policies and interventions to create supportive community food environments. It is intended that locally relevant data can be sourced throughout Australia and in other countries to apply the local context to the FODR assessment tool. Utility and acceptability of the tool will be tested, and consultation with environmental health officers and public health practitioners will inform future iterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]