Annual Report 2005-06 - NSW Food Authority - NSW Government

Service Group 5Public Information& EducationHighlights• The award of the National Golden Target Award for theAuthority’s Mercury in Fish campaign.• Successfully delivering targeted consumer educationwork on severe food allergies and barbecues.• Continuing recognition for the Authority’s riskcommunication expertise via participation ininternational workshops and the award of a tender toprovide risk communication training to public officialsin Hong Kong.Public information and education is an important meansto achieve the Authority’s objective to ensure the safety ofthe food supply for NSW consumers. The Authority worksto educate consumers about a range of food safety issues.Activities & AchievementsCommunicating with the publicCommunicating the right information to the general publicis of paramount importance. For example, incommunicating about dioxins in seafood from SydneyHarbour it was important to ensure that accurateinformation was provided to the public. All informationwas developed in consultation with the NSW Departmentof Primary Industries and NSW Health, ensuring the rightmessage on food safety and human health was provided.This included answers to frequently asked questions,media releases, a dioxins fact sheet, test results fromSydney Harbour seafood samples, and release of theExpert Panel report.To help strengthen its ability to educate and inform, theAuthority has been developing a business case, includingconsultation with key consumer stakeholder groups, thatwill help it deliver ongoing consumer education programs.Following a lengthy internal discussion, the Authority hasalso taken early steps to reposition its external profile tofocus more on consumers.As in the previous year, the Authority continued to makeuse of editorial opportunities to raise awareness of foodsafety issues while considerable planning took place inthe 2005/06 period on education campaigns to furtherdrive community education and awareness.The Authority’s website is a key resource in supportingpublic information and education, by publishinginformation on specific campaigns.Targeted approach for effectivecommunicationThe Authority has maximised existing resources by takinga targeted approach to identifying high-priority risk areasamong vulnerable persons. The delivery of targeted foodsafety messages has been enhanced by the Authority’srange of partnerships with key stakeholders.“Public information and educationis an important means to achieve theAuthority’s objective to ensure thesafety of the food supply for NSWconsumers. ”NSW Food Authority Annual Report 2005/2006 I Service Group 533