ABA Election Priorities 2025: ask your local MP

The 2025 federal election has been called! Right now is a great time to make contact with your local MP.

MP’s are first and last accountable to their local constituents. That’s you!

The date of the federal election has been announced as 3 May 2025. ABA's election priorities for 2025 are described in this document for MPs and policy makers. These include four key “asks” on behalf of mums, parents and families across Australia.

Full, 4-year funding for ABA's Breastfeeding Helpline and LiveChat services.
Legislation of new controls of the marketing of breastmilk substitutes in Australia ...

The 2025 federal election has been called! Right now is a great time to make contact with your local MP.

MP’s are first and last accountable to their local constituents. That’s you!

The date of the federal election has been announced as 3 May 2025. ABA's election priorities for 2025 are described in this document for MPs and policy makers. These include four key “asks” on behalf of mums, parents and families across Australia.

Full, 4-year funding for ABA's Breastfeeding Helpline and LiveChat services.
Legislation of new controls of the marketing of breastmilk substitutes in Australia that encompass the full scope of the WHO International Code and subsequent WHA resolutions.
A 2025 repeat of the National Infant Feeding Survey
Improved access to continuity of maternity care.

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Email your local MP to find out about their commitment to supporting breastfeeding

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You can use this DoGooder platform to email your local MP and ask them a few questions about what they (if they are independent) or their party’s position is on ABA's election priorities.

Asking these questions achieves two important things:

It helps ABA to understand what the position of major parties and independents are on these important issues for Australian families.
It is an advocacy activity as it lets your MP know that these issues are important to their constituents.

We also encourage you to make a time to meet with your local MP to ask them these questions.

You can also feel confident telling your MP about the great work that you (if you are a volunteer) / ABA are doing in the community including your local ABA group and the National Breastfeeding Helpline to name but two.

If you receive a reply to your email from your MP, please forward it to [email protected] and help us build of picture of the political support for breastfeeding in Australia in 2025.

Find your local rep

Subject:

The Australian Breastfeeding Association is Australia’s peak body for breastfeeding information, education and support.

Through the provision of practical mother-to-mother peer support, up-to-date and evidence-based information and continuing education for health care workers, ABA helps hundreds of thousands of families each year on their breastfeeding journeys.

As detailed in the Australian Government's 2019 National Breastfeeding Strategy, breastfeeding is recognised as highly valuable from economic and social perspectives, in addition to the lifelong health and preventative health benefits for mothers and children.

At the time of Australia’s last national infant feeding survey in 2010, 96% of new mums in Australia planned to breastfeed their baby. 
 
ABA has 4 priorities for this election, please download our document at: https://aba.asn.au/electionpriorities2025

As a member of your electorate, I am interested in your or your party’s commitments in relation to these priorities. I would appreciate your answers to the following four questions.

Full funding for ABA's National Breastfeeding Helpline: 
ABA’s National Breastfeeding Helpline counsels more than 52,000 families each year and is staffed by trained volunteers who listen, reassure and offer options to the women and families that call. LiveChat offers a web-based chat service that receives more than 5000 chats from women and families each year. Both Helpline and LiveChat rely on federal government funding to operate, and ABA can plan its services and support better if longer term funding is assured.

Q. Will your party or you as an Independent, prioritise full, 4-year funding for ABA's Breastfeeding Helpline and LiveChat services?

Legislation of controls of marketing of infant formula in Australia:
With the expiry of the previous voluntary industry code – the Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula: Manufacturers and Importers (MAIF) Agreement, the new government must design and pass into legislation a comprehensive and mandatory national code that reflects the full scope of the International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent WHA resolutions (the WHO Code). Families in Australia should be able to make informed decisions about infant feeding without being influenced by commercial interests.

Q. Will your party or you as an Independent, commit to enacting legislation of new controls of the marketing of breastmilk substitutes in Australia that encompass the full scope of the WHO Code?

Repeat of the National Infant Feeding Survey:
The Australian National Infant Feeding Survey was undertaken for the first time in 2010 and has not been repeated since. We value what we can measure. Measuring population-wide rates of initiation and duration of breastfeeding at 5-year intervals will guide and measure the impact of policy and interventions over time. The methodology of the Australian National Infant Feeding Survey remains the gold standard and would not require modification to be repeated.

Q. Will your party or you as an Independent, commit to ensuring that there is a 2025 repeat of the National Infant Feeding Survey?

Improved access to continuity of maternity care:
There is strong evidence that continuity of care models of maternity care (particularly midwifery-led) provide more positive birth experiences and better breastfeeding outcomes for mothers and babies. The Woman Centred-Care Strategy 2019 and the Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy 2019, both identify the need for improved access to these models of care as a priority.

Q. Will your party or you as an Independent, prioritise improving access to continuity of care for women?

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, I look forward to your responses. I would also like the opportunity to discuss these priorities for the upcoming federal election with you in-person, please advise when this would be possible.

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