House of Representatives Inquiry into Remote Community Stores Recommends Support for community gardens

Report Summary

Full Version

The remote community store has the potential to play a pivotal role in improving the social, economic and health outcomes of remote Indigenous communities.

The Committee made 33 recommendations overall in key areas such as health and nutrition, food access and supply, cost of living, regulating governance,licensing of stores, and the future role of Outback Stores.

Recommendations include:

• developing a healthy store policy for every remote Indigenous community store,
• establishing a national remote Indigenous food supply chain coordination office,
• establishing a remote community store infrastructure fund,
• supporting community garden, traditional foods and farming projects,
• commissioning a regional cost of living study for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in remote communities,
• the registration of stores under the Corporations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2006,
• revising the purpose of the Outback Stores model to recognise the two distinct roles—
  -as a commercially viable store operator and ensuring food deliveries (where the store is not viable or the regular supply of healthy food is not secured), and
• working with individual communities to develop and support a diversity of good store operations or delivery models that recognise the unique needs and situations of those communities.