Guideline development

NHMRC public health guidelines and advice follow a rigorous evidence-based approach and are informed by the judgement of multidisciplinary committees that incorporate the views of stakeholders and consumers.

Infographics outline NHMRC’s processes for reviewing evidence, quality checks and developing guidelines. 

Revision of the 2013 Guidelines

Diet is a huge topic, with a large volume of evidence underpinning the guidelines. Given this, a prioritised approach is being taken to review the evidence.

The Dietary Guidelines Evidence Review Strategy outlines the approach to scoping, reviewing the evidence and recommendations informing the revision of the 2013 Guidelines. It provides a consistent approach for applying judgement to the evidence and transparently reporting any factors that influence the process. A PDF version of the Evidence Review Strategy is available for download at the bottom of this page.

The various stages of the process and anticipated timelines are summarised below. A printable flow diagram of the summary is available for download at the bottom of this page.

Scoping and prioritisation (2020–2023)

• Scoping
  • Horizon scan for new evidence (completed)
  • Stakeholder scoping survey (completed).
• Research topic/question prioritisation
  • More detail is in the Prioritisation Process Report (completed) and Prioritisation Process Report for Older Australians (completed).
• Refine scope
  • Prioritised questions will be addressed as part of the evidence update (in progress)
  • Questions not prioritised for a full evidence update will be considered using existing evidence (in progress).

Evidence review (2024–2025)

• Update evidence (within limit of review resources) for topics where the evidence is likely to have changed since the 2013 Guidelines, using:
  • existing high quality systematic reviews where available (in progress, see Reviewing the evidence)
  • a limited number of commissioned evidence reviews where existing systematic reviews are not suitable and resources are available (in progress).
• Update evidence for topics not requiring a full evidence update because the evidence base is unlikely to have changed significantly since the 2013 Guidelines (in progress), using:
  • existing evidence from the 2013 Guidelines where the evidence is not likely to have changed enough to change the recommendations since their release
  • systematic reviews published by recognised international groups.

Evidence-to-decision process (2025–2026)

• The evidence-to-decision process helps people use evidence in a structured and transparent way to inform decisions for developing recommendations (for example, GRADE or WHO-INTEGRATE).

Guideline development (2025–2026)

• Draft revised Australian Dietary Guidelines
• Public consultation and expert review
• Guidelines revised to address feedback
• Revised Australian Dietary Guidelines published.

Transparency and the Australian Dietary Guidelines review

To enhance transparency throughout the revision process, NHMRC has incorporated additional steps to share information with stakeholders and minimise the risk of bias throughout the process:

• NHMRC will conduct public information sessions to update stakeholders as the revision moves through its various stages.
• All stakeholders will be invited to participate in the formal consultation processes outlined on the Communication and consultation page.
• NHMRC will publish a communication log summarising all external contact and correspondence relating to the revision. The log will record the contact person/organisation, topic and NHMRC response. Learn more about the communication log.
• A Governance Committee of independent experts will consider and advise on possible conflicts of interest and potential bias throughout the revision process. Learn more about the Dietary Guidelines Governance Committee.
• A communiqué will be released following each meeting of NHMRC’s Dietary Guidelines Expert Committee to provide a summary of meeting outcomes.