1 February 2023: 

The National Allergy Council is hosting another Allergy 250K camp and this time it’s being held on the Sunshine Coast, QLD. The overnight camp is for young people aged 10-18 years, still at school, with severe allergy and at risk of anaphylaxis.

The weekend of adventure will take place just over an hour north of the Brisbane CBD and run from Saturday 11 March to Sunday 12 March 2023. If you only want to attend on the Saturday, that’s also an option. Camp is a fantastic opportunity to meet other teens living with severe allergy while experiencing the excitement and fun of camp in a safe and supportive environment.

What do we do on Allergy 250K camps you might ask? We play games, eat some very tasty food, get involved in a bunch of fun activities. The format of the camp will be a mixture of team outdoor activities and allergy information sessions run by health professionals. The rest of the fun is up to you and the new friends you will meet.
 
All food allergies will be catered for and at least one allergy dietitian with experience in food allergy will be overseeing meal preparation and meal service during the camp. The accommodation will be dormitories (not tents).
 
There is no participation cost as we have received Government funding for this camp. If you live outside of Queensland and would like to participate, please let us know, as while we cannot fund airfares, you can still participate if you can get to the camp venue.

18 October 2022: 

Read about the development and implementation of the National Allergy Strategy, and the partnership and advocacy that have made it a success.

Welcome back Kotter - Developing a National Allergy Strategy for Australia is an open-access article recently published in the World Allergy Organization Journal.  

Check out the new information on our website which explains Our Strategy here.

14 October 2022: 

We are excited to announce the details of our upcoming camp for school aged teens being held in Perth, Western Australia, from Saturday 3 December to Sunday 4 December 2022. The overnight camp is open to children aged between 10-18 years who are still at school and at risk of anaphylaxis. 

The camp program will include a mixture of team outdoor activities (such as crate climb, archery and giant swing) and interactive allergy information sessions run by health professionals. Accommodation will be dormitory style (not in tents). To see highlights from previous camps, visit the Allergy 250K school aged teens website [https://allergy250kteens.org.au/youth-camps].

All food allergies will be catered for and at least one allergy dietitian with extensive experience in food allergy will oversee meal preparation and meal service during the camp. National Allergy Council staff will be attending the camp along with clinical immunology/allergy specialists, allergy nurses and allergy dietitians experienced in complex food allergy.

8 August 2022: 

Released today is a new food allergy training course for staff working with vulnerable people in a variety of care settings. These settings include aged care and other residential care, transitional care, respite care, rehabilitation care (including mental health, disability, drug and alcohol), quarantine facilities and services, correctional and detention facilities, hospices and overnight, short and long stay facilities.

Through our engagement with stakeholders working in this sector we understand that there are unique challenges in providing food to residents with food allergy. Residents who may be incapable of, or have difficulty with communicating about their food allergy, have less control in preparing their own food. However, some residents are transient, having greater autonomy and mobility, which may put others who are less able, at greater risk.

Staff preparing food and supervising mealtimes in these settings need practical training and best-practice safety processes that are versatile to this environment. All about Allergens for Residential Care has been designed for cooks and chefs and other kitchen staff, nurses and care staff, and allied health professionals who run food-related activities with residents. We have seen high demand for food allergy training from food service staff working in the aged care sector particularly, and we now have a specific course relevant to this group.

Do you have a child who attends before and after school care? Join us to learn how you can work with the before and after school service to have reasonable strategies in place to help keep your child safe and included.

Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA) is partnering with the National Allergy Strategy to host this webinar about managing food allergies and anaphylaxis in before and after school care services.

The webinar will include a short presentation from Dr Preeti Joshi, Paediatric Clinical Immunology/Allergy Specialist, and Sally Voukelatos, Health Management Educator, from Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia. The presentations will be followed by a live question and answer session.

Event details:
When: Wednesday 17 August 2022
Time:  7:30pm AEST | 5:30pm AWST
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free

The National Allergy Strategy is partnering with Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA) to host this webinar about managing food allergies and anaphylaxis in before and after school care services.

13 June 2022: 

Congratulations to Maria Said AM, Co-chair of the National Allergy Strategy and CEO of Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia, for being awarded an Order of Australia.

Maria has been a Co-chair of the National Allergy Strategy since it was launched in August 2015. In addition to her Co-chair role, she has also been a project lead for the Allergy 250K youth project, anaphylaxis register project and drug allergy project.

Maria is passionate about improving the health and well-being of people living with allergic diseases. As a strong advocate, the National Allergy Strategy is very fortunate to have her as a Co-chair.

We are delighted that Maria’s contribution to the anaphylaxis treatment, education and prevention has been acknowledged.

We are proud to announce our upcoming camp for young adults (aged 18 to 25 years) with severe allergy who are at risk of anaphylaxis. The camp will be held from Friday 1 July to Sunday 3 July 2022 at Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney.

Over three days, participants will have the opportunity to engage in fun team activities and informative allergy discussions. National Allergy Strategy and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia staff, alongside an allergy specialist, allergy nurse, and a dietitian with expertise in food allergy, will be attending.

Upon arrival, everyone will receive a full program outlining the weekend. We have chosen Sydney Olympic Park for its excellent facilities (accommodation will be dormitory style), the activities on offer and the accessibility by train.

There is no cost to participate as we have received government funding for the camp.

If attendees are new to the Allergy 250K project or live outside NSW, they are welcome to participate in the camp, however, we cannot fund airfares or other travel needs. Camp participants will make their way to Sydney Olympic Park on Friday afternoon and home again Sunday afternoon.  

All food allergies will be catered for and at least one allergy dietitian will be involved in meal preparation and service during the camp.

To register for this event please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before Friday 3rd June 2022. 

We look forward to seeing everyone there! 

6 May 2022: 

NAC and NACE statement 6 May 2022

On behalf of Australians living with allergic diseases, the National Allergy Strategy, a partnership between the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA), and the Centre for Food & Allergy Research (CFAR), we would like to thank the Federal Government for the $26.9 million investment into allergy prevention and management announced as part of the Federal Government’s 2022 budget, that was announced on 29 March 2022. This funding is in response to the 2019 bipartisan Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergies and Anaphylaxis, and the 24 recommendations in the Walking the allergy tightrope report, which highlighted the critical need for further investment to address this continuing public health challenge.

This investment will provide support to:

• Enable the National Allergy Strategy to transition into the National Allergy Council (NAC), to develop and implement programs to increase access to care and provide education and support for health professionals, consumers and the community.
• Fund evidence-based education and support programs that are developed and implemented by the ASCIA and A&AA, working as a partnership in the National Allergy Council.
• Expand the CFAR at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute into the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, to increase and coordinate research throughout Australia on food allergies, as well as drug, vaccine, insect, and pollen allergies.

Establishing a National Allergy Council is a natural progression of the highly valued and successful National Allergy Strategy.  The National Allergy Council will continue to be a partnership between the ASCIA and A&AA, the leading medical and patient support organisations for allergy in Australia.

 The CFAR will expand to become the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE). NACE will generate and synthesise the evidence base that underpins the activities of the proposed National Allergy Council, to ensure that Australia remains at the forefront of evidence-based management of allergic disease.

Working together, these organisations will deliver:

• A shared care program to significantly cut wait times to see a specialist by at least 50 per cent and improve access to quality allergy care for all Australians, especially in rural and remote areas
• The digital infrastructure for a National Allergy Registry and Biobank to facilitate precision medicine, allowing individualised allergy healthcare for children and adults. This would include a live anaphylaxis reporting system
• A world-first National Allergy Clinical Trials Network to provide Australians with accelerated access to safe and effective allergy treatments.
• Continued public health guidelines and prevention programs such as the successful ‘Nip allergies in the Bub’ program, which includes practical resources for parents and educational resources to support healthcare providers.
• New clinical and research capabilities to enable Australia to maintain its world-leading status in allergy research and to answer the most important questions in allergy that will guide the way forward.

We greatly appreciate the support that the Australian Government has given for these critical initiatives. The National Allergy Strategy, ASCIA, A&AA and CFAR would like to thank:

• The Australian Government, and Minister Hunt in particular, for investing in the health and wellbeing of the many Australians living with allergic diseases.
• The Hon Trent Zimmerman MP (chair) and Dr Mike Freelander MP, (deputy chair) of the bipartisan Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergies and Anaphylaxis committee.
• Dr Katie Allen MP, member of the of the bipartisan Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergies and Anaphylaxis committee for her tireless work in advocating for those living with allergic disease

The other Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergy and Anaphylaxis committee members Mr Tony Zappia MP, Mr Milton Dick MP, Ms Angie Bell MP, Mrs Lucy Wicks MP, Dr Fiona Martin MP and Ms Bridget Archer MP.