Although ALPA has had a firm Nutrition policy in place within the retail setting since the 1980s this was not extended to the whole of ALPA. ALPA has now grown to include Community Services, Corporate Services and the Enterprise team in recent years. Our Nutrition Team and Executives saw the need for a set of Guidelines to be used across the organisation to help improve the health of all employees.

Back in February this year we had 4 Masters of Dietetics students from Monash University work with our Nutrition Team to develop these Guidelines. The students Jessica Conser, Rachel Ebert, Ally Mannix and Karla Lowder-Laidler interviewed external organisations that already had a nutrition policy or guideline in place to learn what worked well and what didn’t work so well. The students then interviewed 50 staff within ALPA to find out what they would like to see in the guidelines.

After a draft copy was formed feedback was gained from those who had participated in the interviews to finalise the guidelines.

The guidelines produced are practical and educational providing ‘Grab and Go shopping lists, ‘how to build a healthy meal’ and ‘healthy and non-food gift ideas.’

Now, these guidelines are being rolled out across the organisation through ‘Lunch box Learning’ sessions and discussions with our teams out in the community. The most recent rollout was in Galiwin’ku with our CDP ladies, Activity Coordinators, and Employment Consultants.

It is essential for all organisations to consider the health of their employees and at ALPA the focus has always been to make healthy choices easier.