Topic-
Advertising of junk food to children
This assessment will test your ability to apply your knowledge of health law to analyse a complex health problem and communicate your understanding.
Task details
Individual 10-minute (+/- 1 minute)* recorded PowerPoint presentation on a selected public health law topic (more details are provided in guidelines below).
Note: markers will cease marking at 11 minutes.
Assessment criteria
This assessment will measure your ability to:
Demonstrate knowledge of public health law relevant to the topic (20%)
Interpret and apply the key legislation and/or regulation relevant to the topic, including pinpointing relevant parts and sections (20%)
Present a clear argument and analysis (20%)
Use evidence to support key points and reference it correctly (20%)
Present an original, interesting and relevant presentation (20%)
Instructions
Topics:
Each student must choose one of three topics on public health law for their video. Detailed topic instructions are found below.
Tobacco plain packaging legislation
Advertising of junk food to children
Effectiveness of compulsory treatment orders for patients with mental illness
For each topic, there is a set of four questions to address, and a set of links to associated resource materials.
Students should plan to spend approximately 2 minutes addressing each question, with one minute allocated for an introduction at the beginning of the video PPT presentation and one minute for a conclusion at the end (note: this is a rough guide, and the time allocated will depend on the topic and questions).
Submission format
Prepare PowerPoint slides to support your presentation, including a final slide with a full reference list, and then record your presentation using meeting software or screen capture software. It is important to have the slides, and you visibly speaking to the slides (headshot), in the final video recording and that the reference slide remain onscreen for several seconds. Below are some possible software programs you can use to record your presentation and relevant how to articles for each application. You are required to submit your video using the Echo360 mashup tool via the LMS using your assessment’s submission link located on your Assessments page. See the article and video below for user guides to assist you with the submission of your assessment.
ASSIGNMENT TOPIC 2: Advertising of junk food to children
There have been several attempts in Australia to legislate for a ban on advertising of junk food to children. The majority of focus has been on advertising during children’s TV programs. One prominent example is a Bill put forward by the Australian Greens Party in the Federal Parliament, the “Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising (Broadcasting and Telecommunications Amendment) Bill 2011”. More recently, independent MP Sophie Scamps tabled the “Broadcasting Services Amendment (Healthy Kids Advertising) Bill 2023” in Parliament in June of last year.
Healthy Kids Advertising Bill 2023 – Dr Sophie Scamps
The link below will take you to the ComLaw website, which will allow you to examine the 2011 Bill and associated materials (e.g. the Explanatory Memorandum). Although the Bill was voted down in the Senate, it remains an example of how legislation may be used to intervene in this area.
Along with a brief overview of the 2011 Bill and of junk food advertising to children generally, please consider the following questions in your presentation:
What would the practical effect of the 2011 Bill have been on existing legislation and associated codes, if it had been enacted?
How has the “junk food industry” responded to concerns about their advertising?
If enacted, how effective do you think this legislation would be in prohibiting advertising of junk food to children on TV or via the internet?
What progress, if any, has been made on protecting children from junk food advertising since the Bill was introduced to Parliament, and what have been the major barriers and/or facilitators?
Starting points:
Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising (Broadcasting and Telecommunications Amendment) Bill 2011 at ParlInfo – Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising (Broadcasting and Telecommunications Amendment) Bill 2011 (aph.gov.au)
Hickey K, Schmidtke A, & Martin J. (2021). Brands off our kids! – Food For Health Alliance Obesity Policy Coalition, Melbourne. (you will also find references to key academic literature in the reference list in this report)
The Conversation has a collection of articles summarising the debates/research; you may find some of the more recent articles useful background.
Parliamentary library research paper: Marketing obesity? Junk food, advertising and kids (apo.org.au)
Hebden, L.A., King, L., Grunseit, A., Kelly, B. and Chapman, K. (2011). Advertising of fast food to children on Australian television: the impact of industry self-regulation. Medical Journal of Australia, 195: 20-24. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2011.tb03182.x
Obesity Evidence Hub (2023). Australia’s lack of unhealthy food marketing regulation | Obesity Evidence Hub
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (2023). Press release: RACGP – ‘We need to act’: Junk food advertising bill tabled
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