Greens look to ban fast food restaurants near schools
The SA Greens have introduced legislation in the Upper House that would prevent future construction of fast food restaurants within 400m of South Australian schools.
The bill seeks to amend existing planning legislation to preclude planning approval for at least 17 specified fast food outlets – including Hungry Jack’s, McDonald’s and OTR – within a 400 metre radius of a school. It also includes provisions restricting the extension of leases and licences for existing fast food restaurants.
Greens MLC Robert Simms told InDaily the bill was introduced in response to concerns heard from school leaders, parents and local councils, about the negative impacts of the close proximity of fast food restaurants to schools, on the health and learning outcomes of students.
“There’s a lot of research that demonstrates that exposure to fast food on the way to school means that kids are more likely to drop in and get it and it encourages unhealthy and practices and then of course those habits can stick with you throughout life,” he said.
“This is a big issue in Strathalbyn, where there’s a school in close proximity to a proposed Hungry Jack’s.
“It’s also an issue in the Adelaide Hills, where you’ve got Heathfield School, and there’s a proposal for a 7/11 right next to the school, which could potentially be selling junk food to kids, and so the community there are very concerned about it.”
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There are at least eight fast food outlets in South Australia that currently fall within a 400m radius of a school.
While Simms believes this bill presents an opportunity for the government to “show some national leadership” in advocating for positive health outcomes for young people, Planning Minister Nick Champion said in an interview with 9 News last year when the bill was originally proposed that to tackle the scourge of obesity in South Australia “the planning system is not the way to do it”.
“The planning system is there to facilitate orderly development,” Champion said.
“If we try and go out there and just ban things, we will have a lot of unintended consequences, including the location of schools.
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“Whatever the motivations for this legislation, it’s just simply not practicable.”
The minister also expressed concern that the bill cast a wide and undefined net on the scope of food places that could be impacted under the proposed legislation.
“Does it include bakeries? Does it include mum and dad restaurants? Does it include charcoal chicken, you know, fish and chip shops? And inevitably, you will start to bump into the fact that schools are quite close to suburban shopping centres, you start to shut down food courts and the like, or devalue them, devalue property, which will also have a big effect,” he said.
When InDaily raised these concerns to Simms, he argued that the bill made clear what was captured within the definition of a fast food restaurant.
“I’m not sure if the Minister has had an opportunity to look at the bill, but what we did was we actually identified particular restaurants, and you’ll see in the bill there’s a list that has been nominated,” he said.
“We’ve also made it clear that the dominant purpose of the new development that’s being captured must be for it to be a fast food restaurant.
“The dominant purpose of a supermarket for instance, isn’t fast food, so you could potentially have a fast food outlet in the context of a Westfield or something like that. That’s very different to a restaurant being a standalone, you know, right next to a school.”
This move comes after the state government introduced a policy in January to ban junk food advertising on public transport, which will take effect from 1 July 2025.
