Food Pathways to Healthy Communities: Driving Wellbeing Through Remote Retail
| Thursday, July 24, 2025 |
| 1:35 PM - 1:50 PM |
| Trinity Terrace |
Overview
Joann Schmider, Board of Management Chairperson and Dr Mark Wenitong, Board of Management Member, Community Enterprise Queensland
Speaker
Ms Joann Schmider
Board of Management Chairperson
Community Enterprise Queensland
Food Pathways to Healthy Communities: Driving Wellbeing Through Remote Retail
Presentation Overview
Joann's and Mark's presentation explores how remote retail can be a powerful catalyst for health and wellbeing in Northern Australia. Drawing on the experience of Community Enterprise Queensland (CEQ), it highlights how food systems, when designed with community at the centre, can support healthier futures in some of the country’s most geographically and culturally diverse regions.
The presentation begins with a snapshot of the remote retail landscape—its challenges, such as high freight costs and limited fresh food access, and its potential to influence long-term health outcomes. It then turns to CEQ’s work across the Torres Strait, Cape York, and Gulf communities, where retail is more than a service—it’s a platform for equity, resilience, and local empowerment.
Key initiatives include:
• CEQ’s Nutrition and Wellbeing Strategy, which embeds health into retail operations.
• The Gather + Grow Healthy Stores Project, promoting healthy food choices through store design and community engagement.
• Workforce development through local nutrition cadetships and employment pathways.
The session also reflects on the broader policy environment, including the importance of aligning retail strategies with national health equity goals and human rights obligations.
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, this presentation champions collaborative, place-based governance models and solutions that are grounded in local knowledge, responsive to community priorities, and sustainable over time.
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how remote retail can be reimagined as a driver of wellbeing, and why investing in this space is essential for empowering local leadership and building stronger, healthier communities across Northern Australia.
The presentation begins with a snapshot of the remote retail landscape—its challenges, such as high freight costs and limited fresh food access, and its potential to influence long-term health outcomes. It then turns to CEQ’s work across the Torres Strait, Cape York, and Gulf communities, where retail is more than a service—it’s a platform for equity, resilience, and local empowerment.
Key initiatives include:
• CEQ’s Nutrition and Wellbeing Strategy, which embeds health into retail operations.
• The Gather + Grow Healthy Stores Project, promoting healthy food choices through store design and community engagement.
• Workforce development through local nutrition cadetships and employment pathways.
The session also reflects on the broader policy environment, including the importance of aligning retail strategies with national health equity goals and human rights obligations.
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, this presentation champions collaborative, place-based governance models and solutions that are grounded in local knowledge, responsive to community priorities, and sustainable over time.
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how remote retail can be reimagined as a driver of wellbeing, and why investing in this space is essential for empowering local leadership and building stronger, healthier communities across Northern Australia.
Biography
Joann is a Mamu, Dyirbal nation woman from Queensland’s Wet Tropics Rainforest Country, with a multicultural heritage. She chairs the Board of Management, of Community Enterprise Queensland (CEQ) which operates 31 remote stores and employs a 500-strong workforce to deliver essential goods and services across northern Australia. Joann brings experience in Indigenous governance, cultural knowledge systems, and community-led development to CEQ’s commitment to building healthier, stronger futures for people and places in the North.
Dr Mark Wenitong
Board Of Management Member
Community Enterprise Queensland
Food Pathways to Healthy Communities: Driving Wellbeing Through Remote Retail
Presentation Overview
Joann's and Mark's presentation explores how remote retail can be a powerful catalyst for health and wellbeing in Northern Australia. Drawing on the experience of Community Enterprise Queensland (CEQ), it highlights how food systems, when designed with community at the centre, can support healthier futures in some of the country’s most geographically and culturally diverse regions.
The presentation begins with a snapshot of the remote retail landscape—its challenges, such as high freight costs and limited fresh food access, and its potential to influence long-term health outcomes. It then turns to CEQ’s work across the Torres Strait, Cape York, and Gulf communities, where retail is more than a service—it’s a platform for equity, resilience, and local empowerment.
Key initiatives include:
• CEQ’s Nutrition and Wellbeing Strategy, which embeds health into retail operations.
• The Gather + Grow Healthy Stores Project, promoting healthy food choices through store design and community engagement.
• Workforce development through local nutrition cadetships and employment pathways.
The session also reflects on the broader policy environment, including the importance of aligning retail strategies with national health equity goals and human rights obligations.
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, this presentation champions collaborative, place-based governance models and solutions that are grounded in local knowledge, responsive to community priorities, and sustainable over time.
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how remote retail can be reimagined as a driver of wellbeing, and why investing in this space is essential for empowering local leadership and building stronger, healthier communities across Northern Australia.
The presentation begins with a snapshot of the remote retail landscape—its challenges, such as high freight costs and limited fresh food access, and its potential to influence long-term health outcomes. It then turns to CEQ’s work across the Torres Strait, Cape York, and Gulf communities, where retail is more than a service—it’s a platform for equity, resilience, and local empowerment.
Key initiatives include:
• CEQ’s Nutrition and Wellbeing Strategy, which embeds health into retail operations.
• The Gather + Grow Healthy Stores Project, promoting healthy food choices through store design and community engagement.
• Workforce development through local nutrition cadetships and employment pathways.
The session also reflects on the broader policy environment, including the importance of aligning retail strategies with national health equity goals and human rights obligations.
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, this presentation champions collaborative, place-based governance models and solutions that are grounded in local knowledge, responsive to community priorities, and sustainable over time.
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how remote retail can be reimagined as a driver of wellbeing, and why investing in this space is essential for empowering local leadership and building stronger, healthier communities across Northern Australia.
Biography
Dr Mark, a Kabi Kabi man and leading Aboriginal public health physician, chairs CEQ’s Nutrition and Health Pillar subcommittee. He also serves as Public Health Medical Advisor at Apunipima Cape York Health Council and Strategic Advisor at the Lowitja Institute. Through decades of work in clinical practice, health systems reform, and Indigenous health leadership, Dr Wenitong helps shape CEQ’s “Food pathways to healthy communities” strategy, driving nutrition-focused, culturally grounded measures across the region.
