7 October 2021: 

Today Professor Katie Allen MP, launched the National Allergy Strategy released Best practice guidelines for anaphylaxis prevention and management in schools and children’s education and care (CEC) services (Guidelines) on behalf of the Hon Greg Hunt, Minister for Health. See the NAS Best Practice Guidelines Zoom Launch here

The Guidelines have been developed through extensive consultation with key stakeholder organisations, staff working in schools and CEC services, and parents/guardians of children attending schools and CEC services. They have been developed to provide consistent, evidence-based, best practice guidance for staff in school and CEC services, and parents. The Guidelines and associated supporting resources will reduce the risk of anaphylaxis in schools and CEC services while supporting children to participate in the full range of activities.

NAS Best Practice Guidelines Zoom Launch 7 October 2021

Guidelines supporting resources

To help schools and CEC services to meet the recommendations of the Guidelines, several supporting resources have been created. The supporting resources are designed to help schools and CEC services consider site specific issues relating to anaphylaxis prevention and management and put into place appropriate strategies to allow children at risk of anaphylaxis to safely participate fully in school and CEC service activities.

7 June 2021: 

The National Allergy Strategy, a partnership between the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia, has released free online food allergy training for staff working in schools and children’s education and care services. The All about Allergens courses provide essential information about managing food allergy including communication tools, reading labels and avoiding cross contamination of food allergens when preparing and serving food.

Every day, children with a food allergy attend a children’s education and care service or school. These children rely on the people caring for them to make sure their snacks and meals are safe to eat. It is essential that staff who prepare food and are involved in feeding and supervising mealtimes are feel supported with training about how to manage food allergy.

All about Allergens for Children’s education and care (CEC) is designed for kitchen staff (cooks and chefs), educators and teachers working in long day care, preschool/kindergarten, family day care, outside school hours care, vacation and occasional care and other education and care services.

All about Allergens for Schools is designed for school canteen and tuckshop staff, cooks and chefs working in boarding school kitchens, food technology teachers and senior students undertaking food technology classes.

Staff working in these roles are encouraged to visit the National Allergy Strategy’s Food Allergy Training website (foodallergytraining.org.au) to complete the All about Allergens course relevant to them. On completion of the 1-1.5 hour training courses, a certificate of completion can be printed for employers.

The All about Allergens training is funded by the Australian Government Department Health. The National Allergy Strategy would like to thank members of the Food Service Training in Schools and CEC Working Group and the many stakeholders who contributed to the development of these courses.

The Australian Digital Health Agency in collaboration with the National Allergy Strategy is hosting a Webinar and Q&A on My Health Record for people with allergic conditions.

‘How can My Health Record help me if I have allergies?’

Wednesday 28 April 2021

7.30pm AEST (1 hour)

FREE: Online

Register here

Download flyer:  MHR Webinar Flyer1007.44 KB

The webinar will begin with a presentation from Marwa Osman (Australian Digital Health Agency) on My Health Record followed by a Question and Answer (Q&A) session with Maria Said (CEO of Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia), Dr William Smith (clinical immunology/allergy specialist) and Dr Aaron Chambers (community GP).

To submit a question, click the registration link and enter your question in the field provided.

There will also be the opportunity to ask questions live, throughout the Q&A session.

This webinar will be recorded and available on the National Allergy Strategy My Health Record project website.

25 March 2021: 

The National Allergy Strategy has developed new resources to help educate about managing food allergies and anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis positioning animation

A new animation explaining how to position a person having anaphylaxis, including when giving the adrenaline injector, has been developed. This short animation explains why it is important that a person does not stand or walk when they are experiencing anaphylaxis.

Click here to view the animation

New 250K webpages and animations

The 250K school aged teens and 250K young adults websites now have new webpages and animations to help teens and young adults manage their food allergies at parties. The animations will be promoted via social media to help educate and engage teens and young adults.

New webpages and animations have also been created to help teens and young adults manage their food allergies at festivals. New webpages have been created so that teens and young adults are well informed. The animations will be promoted via social media.

Click here to view the animations

Click here to go to the 250K website

4 February 2021: 

Unfortunately, the National Allergy Strategy has made the decision to postpone the Western Australian 250K Youth Camp until 2022 due to COVID-19 and border closures. Instead, the National Allergy Strategy team will be hosting a one day ‘250K Fun Day’ and are encouraging all those who were excited to come on camp to attend.  

With the borders closed we are unable to bring across a couple of key staff and also the majority of our peer mentors who are based in Sydney and Melbourne. Engaging with peer mentors is an important part of the camp and we want our Perth campers to experience the full benefits of our camp program. Therefore, the 250K camp has now been changed to a one day 250K fun day at Ern Halliday Camp in Hillarys on Saturday 27th February 2021. 

We will still offer a camp in WA, but it will be postponed until 2022 (most likely March or April). While we are disappointed at having to postpone the camp, we are really excited about running the 250K fun day. We will still be engaging in adventure activities, providing education and connecting the children with each other and with our two peer mentors based in Perth. We also still have clinical immunology/allergy specialists, allergy nurses and allergy dietitians attending the 250K fun day. 

There is no charge to attend the fun day and those who attend the fun day can also attend the camp next year. The 250K fun day is open for children in high school aged 10-18 years. 

Register your interest ASAP, by emailing Sandra Vale, National Allergy Strategy Manager – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

24 September 2020: 

Today, the Minister for Health, the Honourable Greg Hunt MP, launched the National Allergy Strategy’s “All about Allergens for Hospitals” online training courses. The courses will support Australian hospitals to put effective food allergen management policies and practices into place to provide appropriate food to patients with food allergies. 

A hospital, like any other food service, needs to ensure they meet the needs of patients with food allergies. However, food allergen management in hospitals is unique as many different staff are involved in providing food to patients.

The All about Allergens for Hospitals online training has been funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and is available free of charge, along with other National Allergy Strategy food service training courses, from the Food Allergy Training website.

The “All about Allergens for Hospitals” training provides practical information about managing food allergens in the kitchen and ensuring the right meal goes to the right patient on the ward. There are four specific versions available depending on staff roles and responsibilities:

• Kitchen managers and supervisors
• Kitchen staff
• Ward managers and nurses
• Ward support staff

See the courses online in the "All about Allergens for Hospitals" category.

These resources have been developed with the support of the National Allergy Strategy food allergy management in healthcare project working group as well as the many key stakeholders who contributed through the consultation process. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all involved in the development of these important resources. 

Visit the National Allergy Strategy website to read the full media release.

Launch Meeting

Minister for Health, the Honourable Greg Hunt MP

Dr Katie Allen MP

Megan Cooper, parent of child with severe allergy - speaker at the launch

Launch Attendees

Today is World Eczema Day which is dedicated to improving awareness and understanding of eczema (also known as atopic dermatitis).

Eczema can impact significantly on the quality of life for both the person with eczema and their carer.

The National Allergy Strategy recently developed new information about managing eczema for our 250K youth project. To support this information, a new video animation has been created, firstly for our 250K young adult website, and a teen version will be available soon.

The National Allergy Strategy has also developed information sheets to help people with eczema understand how to use bleach baths and wet dressings.

Surveys for parents and staff working in schools and ECEC

The National Allergy Strategy is developing minimum standards for the prevention and management of anaphylaxis (severe allergic reactions) in schools and childcare.

To help us to develop these standards, we would like parents/guardians who have a child with severe allergies enrolled in a school and/or childcare service and staff who work in school or childcare, to complete a national online survey about how severe allergies should be managed in these settings.

The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and all information collected will be anonymous – we will not be able to identify you or the name of the school and/or childcare service where your child attends.

Please take the time to complete the survey and help guide the development of the minimum standards. Please also share this information with friends and colleagues.

The surveys can be accessed from the National Allergy Strategy website

The surveys close at midnight on Friday 25 September 2020.