Colonisation is an ongoing process in Australia, the effects of which continue to impact life outcomes for Indigenous Australians. These impacts include poorer physical and mental health, higher levels of incarceration, lower levels of education and employment, higher rates of infant mortality, and shorter life expectancy in comparison with non-Indigenous Australians. Due to government sponsored programs, many Indigenous Australians have also been forcibly removed from their lands and separated from their families resulting in significant intergenerational trauma.

Limited access to adequate quantities of nutritious foods is a major contributor to the ill-health of Indigenous Australians, particularly those living in remote areas. Barriers to food security include insufficient funds with which to purchase nutritious foods, limited public transportation to reach stores that sell nutritious foods, and limited stocks of nutritious foods at those stores. Government initiatives to date have had limited input from Indigenous peoples and have therefore had limited success in improving food security.