Policy & Advocacy
Creating the 
Environment for National Change
Environment for National Change Achieving Australia’s vegetable consumption goal requires more than education – it demands system-level change. Plus One Serve works with governments, industry, researchers, and community partners to make vegetables a national priority across preventive health, food, and agricultural policy.
Our Policy & Advocacy work ensures that vegetable consumption is recognised as a cornerstone of Australia’s preventive health and wellbeing agenda. We advocate for coordinated national investment, evidence-based action, and supportive environments that make it easier for Australians to add one more serve of vegetables every day. By connecting evidence, advocacy, and partnership, Plus One Serve helps create the policy and funding conditions that make vegetables more available, affordable, and desirable for every Australian.
Key Focus Areas
1. National Policy Alignment
Embedding vegetable consumption goals into national strategies, including the National Preventive Health Strategy, National Obesity Strategy, National Food and Nutrition Strategy, and Australian Dietary Guidelines Review.
2. Government Engagement
Partnering with the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Hort Innovation, and other national bodies to ensure vegetables are central to preventive health investment and food system reform.
3. Supporting State & Territory Policy Action
Plus One Serve collaborates with every state and territory to align efforts and embed vegetable consumption priorities into their preventive health, education, and food-environment strategies.
4. Economic & Health Modelling
Using national data to demonstrate the triple-bottom-line benefits — improved health outcomes, grower profitability, and social impact — supported by the Plus One Serve National Strategy and Baseline Report.
5. Sector Representation
Representing the vegetable industry, research sector, and health partners at national committees, ministerial meetings, and multi-stakeholder coalitions.
6. Funding & Investment Advocacy
Advocating for co-investment in national behaviour-change campaigns, settings-based initiatives, and communication programs that deliver measurable population-level impact.
Supporting State & Territory Policy Action
National change depends on local leadership. Plus One Serve collaborates with every state and territory to align efforts and embed vegetable consumption priorities into their preventive health, education, and food-environment strategies.
Victoria
Partnership with VicHealth and the Healthy Eating Advisory Service to support vegetable inclusion in schools, early-years settings, and workplaces.
Queensland
Collaboration with Health and Wellbeing Queensland to integrate Plus One Serve goals within state preventive health initiatives.
South Australia
Engagement with Prevention SA and Flinders University’s School Lunch Collective to promote vegetable-rich food environments and children’s nutrition.
New South Wales
Engagement with NSW Health and the Good for Kids, Good for Life program to integrate vegetables into school and retail settings.
TAS, NT, ACT, WA
Alignment with existing healthy eating frameworks through local health promotion agencies and VegNET Regional Development Officers.
Through these partnerships, Plus One Serve connects state and national strategies, ensuring coordinated action and shared accountability toward the +1 serve goal.
Supporting Non-Government and Peak Health Organisations
Systemic change requires collaboration beyond government. Plus One Serve partners with leading health, nutrition, and social organisations to ensure consistent messaging, advocacy, and evidence-based influence.
Health & Nutrition Peak Bodies
We work with peak organisations to amplify the message that vegetables are vital for health and wellbeing:
Diabetes Australia
Advocating for increased vegetable intake as a key prevention and management strategy.
Dietitians Australia
Promoting evidence-based nutrition communication and supporting policy alignment.
Public Health Association of Australia
Linking Plus One Serve goals to broader national public health frameworks.
Together, these bodies strengthen the policy case for investment in vegetable consumption as a national health priority.
Partnering with the Food Relief Sector
Ensuring every Australian can access vegetables is a national equity issue. Plus One Serve collaborates with leading food relief and food security organisations to increase the availability and promotion of vegetables among communities most at risk of food insecurity. Key partners include:
Foodbank Australia
Expanding fresh vegetable supply through national grower networks.
OzHarvest
Incorporating vegetable-rich recipes and nutrition education into community programs.
SecondBite
Improving access to fresh vegetables across food relief channels.
FareShare
Championing nutritious, vegetable-based meals made from rescued produce.
These collaborations connect growers to food relief systems — ensuring surplus vegetables feed people, not waste streams.
Current Advocacy Activities
Submission to the Federal Treasurer
Requesting $25 million per year for a national vegetable behaviour-change campaign.
Meeting with the Federal Minister for Health
Promoting vegetable consumption as a central preventive health investment.
State Policy Roundtables
Joint action planning across health, education, and agriculture sectors.
Policy Framework Launch
Defining national and state alignment for behaviour change.
