Fair Food WA is focused on connecting to secure healthy food for all West Australians, and is the key body that brings together relevant sectors – business, government, university and not-for-profits to ensure people don’t go hungry in Western Australia.
It was established in 2017 to lead the development of a strategic charity food relief framework in WA, which culminated in the Food Relief Framework and generated a range of other solutions-focused outcomes for the charity and food relief sector. The original membership comprised of the largest charity food providers and distributors in WA, in addition to WACOSS, the Department of Health, Department of Communities, and both state and federal funders.
Following the launch of the Framework report in 2019, the group commenced progress on the recommendations and subsequently rebranded to Fair Food WA.
Food Relief Framework Report launch 2019
Fair Food WA has experienced considerable achievements since its initiation, from the launch of the Food Relief Framework, and hosting of the inaugural Premier’s Roundtable, through to the development and socialisation of the Food Stress Index. Fair Food WA has experienced solid outcomes through the collaboration and leadership during the initial and subsequent COVID-19 lockdowns in Western Australia, and has proven valuable to other Australian states by providing strategic advice and guidance to ensure better outcomes for people living with food stress and insecurity.
FFWA has had more requests for its time and advice that can be achieved by the current membership, particular areas of focus have been supporting the development of new and emerging models of delivery and FFWA influence across systems integration has been challenging especially in recognition that currently members are largely weighted towards the distribution of charity food rather than systems change and integration.
The Premier Mark McGowan and Minister McGurk, hosted a Roundtable to improve responses to food insecurity across the state. All levels of Government, community services, and the commercial sector were invited to take part in a strategic conversation to address food insecurity in WA. The Roundtable was a recommendation out of the Food Relief Framework.
The Community Organised Resource Exchange (CORE) has been designed and developed to enable the sharing of resources between the business and not for profit sectors. The CORE portal will assist businesses and charities to list items of scale for use of and distribution by community based services and organisations. The platform was launched by Minister McGurk in October 2021.
FFWA was awarded the Moore Australia (WA) Gold Award for Best Practice in Collaboration Between Government and any other organisation at the 2021 IPAA Awards. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group’s coordination and collaboration in responding to rising food insecurity and emergency relief has been regarded as ground-breaking.
The Community Organised Resource Exchange (CORE) has been designed and developed to enable the sharing of resources between the business and not-for-profit sectors. The CORE portal will assist businesses and charities to list items of scale for use of and distribution by community based services and organisations. The platform will be a valuable tool when responding to disaster.
The charity food clearinghouse is a sub-committee of Fair Food WA, it was initiated during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to mobilise across charity food system gaps. During March and June 2020, the clearinghouse group coordinated 108 pallets of food across 22,694 km, providing food to over 37,360 people who were left at risk of food insecurity.
In partnership with Curtin University, the Department of Health, and the Public Health Advocacy Institute, WACOSS delivered two webinars about the Food Stress Index and the COVID-19 and Food Relief prioritisation.
The webinars are available for viewing and sharing.
Government Supporters
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Read MoreFair Food WA would not be possible without the generous support of Lotterywest.
