MEMBER for Brindabella Johnathan Davis says 31 public school don’t have a canteen, of which 42 per cent of them are in his electorate.

The Greens MLA is calling on the ACT Government to ensure every public school has a canteen that serves healthy food.

“Every Canberra parent and carer should be able to send their child to school with a few gold coins, confident that they will be able to buy a healthy lunch,” Mr Davis said

“Sadly, this is not the case for the thousands of students spread across the 31 ACT public schools that do not have a canteen. With 42 per cent of those schools being located in Tuggeranong, this is an issue that disproportionately burdens my constituents in Brindabella.

“I commend Canberra’s volunteer-led parents and carers associations that do a great job running many school canteens. However, P&Cs and school communities deserve more support from government to help them to run sustainable canteen models without compromising on food nutrition, particularly in schools where volunteer time and skills are less available.

“I’ve called on the ACT Government to investigate a policy that would provide every public school with an operational canteen, conduct and audit of kitchen and canteen facilities across all ACT public schools, and enshrine an agreed standard for canteen facilities in the Education Directorate Infrastructure Specifications (EDIS) to inform future ACT government investment.”