The Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) is an independent Advisory Committee established under section 93 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. The PHAC was created as part of New Zealand’s health system reforms in 2022.
The Public Health Advisory Committee’s functions are to:
- provide public-facing and evidence-based public health advice to Ministers, the Public Health Agency and Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand)
- focus on innovative and practical solutions to address the persistent inequities in health outcomes in Aotearoa.
Rebalancing our food system report
In January 2023 the Minister of Health commissioned the PHAC to prepare advice on the food ‘system’: all of the structures and processes between the production of food and eating or drinking it.
For public health, food is pivotal for building health, preventing disease, and supporting recovery. However, the health and wellbeing of people is not being prioritised within the current food system and many New Zealanders do not have access to nutritious food in sufficient quantity.
This independent report, prepared by the PHAC and published by the Ministry of Health, takes a public health focus, looking at changes to the food system that could help improve the health and wellbeing of people of New Zealand.
To help inform its work, the PHAC engaged with a range of key stakeholders in both the food and health systems, including non-government groups, industry, government agencies and academics.
The report provides five broad recommendations divided into 13 specific recommendations.
Stakeholder reflections on the food environment: A report for the Public Health Advisory Committee
The PHAC engaged Synergia to lead a series of stakeholder engagements to inform their report on Rebalancing our food system, including key informant interviews and stakeholder workshops. The findings from the stakeholder engagements are published here.