The Labor Government’s recent announcement about Free Lunches for all state primary school students if they are re-elected later this month has been met with mixed reactions from the tuckshop community.
Very little detail has been released on how the program will operate and what it will mean for school tuckshops.
QAST has been working behind the scenes to gain some clarity on what this policy means and how it will work.
We will continue to work with the Labor Government, if re-elected, to ensure the rollout is smooth and sustainable for what is already an industry under extreme pressure.
Here is what we know so far:
Who will be able to receive the free lunches?
Any state primary school student from Prep to Year 6. There are currently 326,000 students enrolled in Queensland state primary schools.
When will it roll out?
Due to feedback from the tuckshop sector and strong advocating from QAST around the short timeframe, the Labor Government has advised that the program will start from Term 1, 2025 but will be a progressive roll-out across the year.
What will be the delivery model… how will it work?
If re-elected, the Labor Government will establish a new School and Community Food Implementation Taskforce, with representatives from P&Cs, tuckshops, principals, nutrition professionals, Health and Wellbeing Queensland, NGOs, grocery stores and supply chain sectors.
Each school and local community is different, and the Labor Government intends to deliver a bespoke approach that best suits the particular needs of the particular school.
The policy involves funding existing tuckshops and working with P&Cs to ensure revenue from school lunches is not diminished while providing additional lunches to those who want them.
Because Queensland is so diverse, with multiple indigenous communities, geographical, culturally and linguistically different groups, the program will be co-designed with communities to take into account all of those variables.
Will all students have access?
The free lunch program will be opt-in and will be available when kids need it – that could be every day or when parent preferences and schedules require it.
What about allergies?
Nutrition professionals will be involved in the implementation.
Kids with allergies, and neurodivergent children that have foods they can and can’t eat, will be catered for.
How will this impact on existing tuckshops and P&C resources?
The Labor Government have committed to consulting on implementation with us (QAST), P&Cs Queensland, school Principals, Health and Wellbeing Queensland and non-government food providers.
They will fund existing tuckshops and work with P&Cs, including providing funding to cover existing revenues coming in from school lunches and to provide additional lunches.
Where there are no existing facilities, they will consult with schools and parents about their preference, including options for free school lunches through food providers.
Extra resourcing will be made available to support the delivery of school lunches.
For example, currently 135 Queensland state schools are set to benefit from a School Food Program Coordinator.
The food coordinators will be game changers for these schools as they will be there to not just help deliver the food program but take the pressure off our hard working and dedicated principals, teachers and school staff, allowing them to focus on their core business of teaching.
What is the value of this investment?
This is an economic investment in our children’s future not just a cost of living measure.
Overseas evaluations have shown that universal school meal programs deliver a return of 2.5 to 7 times in human health and economic benefits.
Universal school food programs improve not just the educational outcomes for kids but their future income and productivity in the economy.
By encouraging more fresh food consumption universal school programs also support local agricultural producers and lower childhood obesity with further long-term benefits to the health system and economy.
