Abstract

Objective: Food environments are significant drivers of obesity and diet-related diseases, making them key targets for interventions that support healthier food choices. The role of Local Government Authorities (LGAs) is pivotal in shaping community food environments. However, the specific intervention commitments of these authorities remain unclear. The aim of this study was to identify Western Australian (WA) LGA commitments to improve food environments, as specified in their Local Public Health Plans (LPHPs).

Methods: Between July and October 2023, all WA LGA (n = 139) websites were reviewed to identify publicly available LPHPs. All commitments relating to food environments were identified, summarised and thematically analysed using a document analysis methodology.

Results: Thirty-five percent of LGAs (n = 48) had publicly available LPHPs. Within these LPHPs, there were 11 food environment-related focus areas containing a total of 412 commitments. All LPHPs addressed at least two focus areas; the most prevalent being alcohol reduction (n = 44; 92%), food quality and safety (n = 43; 90%) and healthy food/drink policy or provision in LGA settings (n = 37; 77%). Overall, the commitments within each focus area lacked clarity and a clear strategy for how they would be achieved and evaluated.

Conclusion: It is commendable that WA LGAs are committed to enhancing food environments through their LPHPs. For their efforts to be successful, ensuring LPHPs are well-informed, adequately resourced and supported is essential.

So What? Without increased support for LGAs to deliver on their LPHP commitments, food environment advancements may be limited. Future research should assess the implementation of LGA LPHP commitments and subsequent impacts.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2026

Volume

37

Issue

1

Publication Title

Health Promotion Journal of Australia

Publisher

Wiley

School

School of Medical and Health Sciences, Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute

Funders

National Health and Medical Research Council Healthway. Grant Number: 34128 Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellowship Scheme, Edith Cowan University

Grant Number

NHMRC Number : 2028972

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Comments

This is Author Accepted Manuscript of:

Klug, F., Mossenson, S., Pulker, C. E., Whitton, C., Cook, E. J., McStay, C., & Trapp, G. (2026). Commitments to improve food environments in Western Australia: A review of local government public health plans. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 37(1), e70130. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.70130


This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Klug, F., Mossenson, S., Pulker, C. E., Whitton, C., Cook, E. J., McStay, C., & Trapp, G. (2026). Commitments to improve food environments in Western Australia: A review of local government public health plans. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 37(1), e70130, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.70130. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.

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Available for download on Monday, November 30, 2026

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1002/hpja.70130