Towards 2030: Reimagining the Future of Nutrition and Dietetics in Australia and New Zealand
Summary
Food and nutrition are integral to the health of people, populations and the planet. The nutrition and dietetic workforce is currently the best qualified to meet the current and future demands of changing food and health ecosystems. Changes within health, education, agriculture, social and economic sectors will however, have a profound impact on the practice of N&D and therefore have implications for Australasian nutrition and dietetic professionals. The university sector has already responded with an increased focus on generic graduate capabilities (enhancing lateral multi-disciplinarity) that encompass systems thinking, critical thinking, reflexivity, entrepreneurship, transformational ethics and cultural competency. However, given the disruptions to each of the sectors described above, consideration needs to be given to where nutrition and dietetics professionals will be working and what sort of work will they be doing. Research is therefore needed to explore and outline important future issues and directions more specifically for the knowledge and practice of nutrition and dietetics in Australia and New Zealand. This research is crucial to inform educators and the nutrition and dietetics professions in planning for the future.
Aim and Research Questions
The aim of the study was to explore, identify and imagine potential future circumstances which will drive the development of the workforce, research and education needs of the Australian and New Zealand nutrition and dietetics profession. More specifically the research aimed to answer the following research questions:
What will be the role of nutrition and dietetics professionals in the future?
What capabilities will nutrition and dietetics professionals need across systems and continuums of
care?
Where may nutrition and dietetics professionals work into the future?
How can we generate a resilient and adaptable nutrition and dietetics workforce?
How will education meet future needs of nutrition and dietetics professionals?