Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Recently I met with a number of representatives from the Australian Breastfeeding Association, including one of my constituents, Gaenor Dixon, who is a member of the Aspley chapter. We have a very active organisation in Wavell Heights and the voluntary work they do in our community makes it a much better place. One representative from Aspley, Gaenor Dixon, spoke to me regarding the Australian government’s failure to implement the World Health Organisation code which seeks to regulate the marketing of breast milk substitutes.

On the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the WHO code, Australia is still lagging behind other countries, with no legally binding regulation to protect parents and babies from misleading or inaccurate baby formula advertising. Although Australia was one of the original signatories to the code, Australia does not comply with the internationally recognised set of rules adopted by over 70 countries, and evidence suggests this policy is having a direct impact on the rate of breastfeeding in Australia.

Despite the government making a commitment this year during World Breastfeeding Week to protect breastfeeding as the best start in life, the government has failed to ratify the code. It is a concern that in Australia today breastfeeding is increasingly becoming less of a social norm, with breastfeeding rates in the first six months of life below the world average. Most alarmingly, breastfeeding rates have been on a downward trend over the last five years with a commensurate increase in the number of babies being given complementary infant formula.

Ultimately this is a choice, but it is a choice that we should make easier for mothers. Australia’s breastfeeding rates are low by international standards, with only one in three Australian mums continuing to breastfeed babies under six months of age. Of course, industrial relations laws have a vital impact in this area as well. Considering the considerable volume of literature which extols the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby, this trend is concerning and should be read as a signal for the government to promote the health benefits of breastfeeding and to consider fully implementing the WHO code.

The WHO code was established in 1981 as a minimum requirement to protect infant health with the aim of ensuring that marketing of breast milk substitutes, feeding bottles and teats was appropriate. The code was adopted to recognise that one of the biggest barriers to breastfeeding was the persuasive and sometimes aggressive marketing by infant formula manufacturers which sometimes gives the impression that infant formula is as good or nearly as good for babies as breast milk.

Australia was one of the original signatories to the code. Australia only complies with the Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula Agreement, best described as a voluntary gentlemen’s agreement which restricts the marketing of infant formula. This agreement is voluntary by nature between the Australian government and member companies of the Infant Formula Manufacturers Association of Australia and is not legally binding. It is nowhere near as extensive or as powerful as the WHO code is and the government ought to act and implement— (Time expired)

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