Health blueprint eyes cigarettes, junk food ads

The National Preventative Health Taskforce delivered its blueprint to make Australia the healthiest country in the world by 2020 to federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The taskforce wants the government to boost tobacco tax to ensure the average price of a packet of 30 cigarettes would rise from $13.50 to $20 within three years.

Junk food advertising on TV would be banned before 9pm and the use of toys, cartoon characters and celebrities to appeal to children would also be phased out under the recommendations.

Gym memberships could earn people a tax break, and families would pay less tax if they enrolled their children in sports clubs.

Ms Roxon said the government would consider the report and put its reform plans, which will also flow from reviews of primary care and hospitals, to the states and territories at a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in December.

Prevention 'not just a trendy idea'

"We hope they will sign on to our reforms but if they don't... the government is reserving its right to then go back to the community to seek, through a referendum, at the next election if necessary, the power to take over responsibility for the health system in terms of funding and policy settings," she told reporters.

"Prevention is not just a trendy idea of the moment.

"It's about saving people's lives."

More than 60 per cent of adults and one in four children are overweight or obese in Australia. If current trends continue, three quarters of the adult population and one third of children will be overweight or obese by 2025.

The taskforce views the tax system as a powerful weapon in battling the bulge.

It proposes tax breaks for families who register their children to play sport, as is the case in Canada, and making gym memberships and sporting equipment tax deductible.

It wants front-of-pack food labelling introduced and junk food marketing techniques aimed at children, such as the use of celebrities and cartoon characters, to be stamped out.

Tobacco price hike planned

"The weight of evidence of the negative effects of inappropriate food advertising on children's knowledge, attitudes, food preferences and consumption is now sufficiently compelling to recommend ameliorative action," the taskforce said in its report.

The taskforce wants liquor control laws to be tightened across the nation, including restrictions on the number of alcohol outlets and opening hours.

The federal government spends $10 million a year on alcohol health-related campaigns, while the industry's advertising expenditure in Australia is reported to be $119 million, not including sponsorships.

The taskforce also wants an enforceable code of conduct requiring sporting codes to take more responsibility for players' alcohol-related behaviour and health warning labels on alcohol packaging.

Tobacco is also targeted, with smokers having to pay more for cigarettes if the taskforce gets its way.

Taxes currently comprise 68 per cent of the cost of cigarettes and the taskforce wants this level raised in several stages to ensure a packet of 30 cigarettes costs an average of $20 within three years.

The taskforce has called on the government to introduce laws banning smoking in cars carrying children.