This 3 year community development project was completed in June 2008. The project built on a previous nutrition-related Menzies research project and aimed to support community capacity within Galiwin’ku community to help create a supportive environment for healthy eating and physical activity. The project supported two community-based project officers. These two project officers worked inter-sectorally within the community to influence food-related policy, promote healthy eating and physical activity, and encourage community engagement in activities for better health.

Healthy living choices are often not easy choices for people living in remote communities, resulting in a high burden of preventable chronic disease. The high cost of food, the variable supply of fresh food, lack of community town infrastructure and inadequate health promotion support, are just a few of the barriers to people being able to make healthy living choices. This project engaged and strengthened local expertise to mobilise the community and community services to take action for better eating and fitness. The goal of the project was to influence relevant community level policy and build local capacity to initiate and embed health promotion activities into community services.