In February, we welcomed four Masters of Dietetics students to complete their Public Health Nutrition placement with ALPA.

The Monash University students, Alexandra Mannix, Jessica Conser, Karla Lowder-Laidler and Rachael Ebert all made the trip from Victoria to Darwin and shared this reflection with us...

Our 7-week public health nutrition placement at ALPA has been incredibly inspiring, eye-opening and super rewarding. Our project aimed to develop ‘Healthy Food Provision Guidelines’ to support all ALPA departments to provide healthy foods and drinks to their teams when catering. 

We interviewed 43 staff members across ALPA to better understand what catering is currently being ordered within ALPA, and to understand what resources are needed to support teams to increase healthy options.

We also interviewed people from nine organisations around Australia who have implemented similar healthy workplace catering guidelines to learn from their experiences. We would like to thank everyone that gave up their time to be interviewed. We really appreciate all the insights shared and hope these guidelines reflect the feedback provided.

During our time, we were very fortunate to go out to Gapuwiyak and Galiwin'ku. These trips allowed us to see the rewards and challenges present when working in remote communities as well as gain a deeper appreciation of Yolŋu culture. It was amazing to see first-hand all the incredible work being done at ALPA. We were welcomed with open arms and met some incredible community members while shadowing ALPA Nutritionist Sarah Funston in implementing the ALPA Store Nutrition Policy.

Every day at ALPA we learnt something new. We feel so grateful to have had the privilege to work in such an incredible and innovative organisation. The lessons we have learnt during our time here will stay with us throughout our careers. Working alongside the incredible Nutrition team at ALPA has helped us grow as emerging professionals and develop a deeper appreciation for remote health and nutrition. 

- Written by Monash Students, Alexandra Mannix, Jessica Conser, Karla Lowder-Laidler and Rachael Ebert.