“A powerful example of collaboration in action”: Eating disorder organisations unite in Canberra to call for reform and investment

InsideOut Institute today joined Australia's leading eating disorder organisations at Parliament House to call for reform and investment in prevention, early intervention, and treatment.

Jade Gooding, CEO of the Australia New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders (ANZAED) told the gathering of MPs, government officials, people with lived experience, carers and supporters that the united call for action for eating disorder care was historic.

“This is an unprecedented coming together of national and state-based organisations. This has never happened before in the eating disorder space.”

Ms. Gooding stressed the urgency of coordinated reform to address one of the “country’s most underfunded and misunderstood mental health issues.”

“Presentations are becoming increasingly acute… and those living with an eating disorder are telling us that disconnected services add unnecessary stress and negatively impact recovery. We are experiencing an eating disorder crisis. But there is real hope.”

Ms. Gooding pointed out several evidenced based services, like the InsideOut eClinic or Fill the Gap Counselling Service from Eating Disorders Families Australia already exist.

“These programs have undergone rigorous evaluation, have delivered critical services and are continuing to deliver these critical services, but their future remains uncertain.”

“The One Voice solution prioritises essential programs and services to address unmet need across the system of care,” said Ms. Gooding.

Government Response

Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride, welcomed the united call to action, calling it a “powerful example of collaboration in action.” 

“By coming together, you are amplifying the voices of those with lived experience and their carers, advocating for reform and driving service excellence across the country." 

“This united front, I know it’s not just symbolic, it’s essential because behind every statistic is a person, a family, a story, and every story deserves to be met with understanding, with dignity and with hope.”

Assistant Minister McBride also pointed to specific government investments already underway, including school-based prevention programs such as Butterfly Foundation’s Body Bright and training for GPs and headspace providers through InsideOut.\
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“Together, we can transform the way eating disorders are understood and treated in Australia,” said Assistant Minister McBride 

Political Leadership

The meeting, hosted by Speaker Milton Dick, was also the first time the Parliamentary Friends of Eating Disorder Awareness group reunited in this 54th Parliament, demonstrating strong cross-party commitment to tackling one of the nation’s most pressing mental health challenges.

Co-Chair Susan Templeman MP, Special Envoy for the Arts, highlighted the importance of bipartisan dialogue:

“I think it speaks volumes that we cover the whole parliament, that our aim is to have this issue talked about and on the agenda continually, and we do that in a non-partisan way in this forum.”

Co-Chair Andrew Wallace MP reminded colleagues of the scale of the crisis:

“Every year, more Australians die from eating disorders than people are killed on our roads. Just let that sink in for just a moment.”

Independent MP Zali Steggall, who was welcomed as the new crossbench co-chair, added urgency to the call for sustained funding:

“1.1 million Australians are impacted. It is a huge issue, and it has been under-serviced and underfunded for too long… The announcement of the Eating Disorders Alliance - what a fantastic coming together so that you are so much more powerful together in that advocacy to government,” she said.

A Call to Action

The event was also marked by a powerful lived experience testimony, reminding attendees of the human cost of inaction.

Kelley Robertson, a teacher and carer, powerfully shared her journey supporting her daughter through severe anorexia, describing years of “falling through disjointed systemic gaps” before finding stabilisation. 

Ms. Robertson’s story underlines why continued investment and reform are urgently needed.

“We are not the only family who have a heartbreaking story, but in telling you ours, I am able to clearly show how imperative it is that funding continues for the organisations here today, for the programs they already have in place, and for those that require new funding,” she said.

As Susan Templeman MP noted, “this will be the most important issue of this whole term of government, because it so fundamentally impacts individuals, their families and their friends.”