2018 Health Star Rating (HSR) monitoring and evaluation

The Health Star Rating (HSR) system was developed through a collaborative process between the Australian state and territory governments, the New Zealand Government, the food manufacturing and retail industry, and public health experts. New Zealand joined Australia to implement the system in June 2014. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is leading the development, implementation and governance of the HSR system. The Ministry of Health funded the Health Promotion Agency (HPA) to develop, implement, and monitor the consumer marketing and education campaign that aimed to help consumers understand what Health Stars mean, and how to use them when making purchasing decisions about packaged foods.

HPA commissioned Colmar Brunton to conduct a baseline survey on the HSR in 2015, with two follow-up waves in 2016 and 2018. All three waves monitored awareness, recognition, understanding and correct use of the HSR. The 2016 and 2018 survey waves also measured awareness, perceptions and possible impacts of the HSR campaign. This report presents findings from all three survey waves. Comparisons are made between the 2018 survey and the earlier ones, to help evaluate the impact of the HSR system and the campaign over time.