About the collaboration
Launched in 2022, the NACE and National Allergy Council are collaborating to keep Australia as a leader in evidence-based management of allergic disease. They work together to:
- accelerate allergy research
- increase access to quality allergy care, education resources and support.
Hosted at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), the NACE is Australia’s peak allergy research body. It is designed to:
- build the tools and resources needed to accelerate allergy research
- unite hundreds of food, drug, insect and respiratory allergy experts, including both researchers and consumers, to help reduce the impact of allergies and save lives
- give Australians faster access to the latest evidence for preventing and treating allergies.
The National Allergy Council is a partnership between:
- Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) – the peak medical body for allergy in Australia
- Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA) – the peak patient support organisation for allergy in Australia.
The council works on a range of projects to:
- carry out the National Allergy Strategy
- advocate for and improve the quality of allergy care
- improve managing allergies in the community
- provide quality resources for health professionals through ASCIA
- provide patient support and education through A&AA.
Why it is important
The rate of allergies in Australia is on the rise:
- More than 5 million people in Australia live with allergic disease.
- Up to 1 in 10 babies and 1 in 25 adults have a food allergy.
- Around 1 in 10 Australians report having a penicillin allergy.
- 12 Australians die of bee and wasp stings each year.
- 1 in 4 Australians are affected by allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever.
- There was a 9-fold increase in anaphylaxis hospital admissions between 1998–99 and 2018–19.
Currently there is no cure for allergies and managing them relies on strictly avoiding allergens.
In 2019, the government held a bipartisan Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergies and Anaphylaxis. As a result, the Walking the allergy tightrope report made 24 recommendations, including to:
- reduce the increasing trend of anaphylaxis rates
- prevent avoidable deaths due to allergies.
Goals
The NACE national plan of action is delivered under 4 broad pillars along with collaboration and consumer involvement:
- Allergy research – overseeing the Clinical Trials Network, Allergy Studies Directory, Acute Allergy Registry and large-scale studies in routine clinical care. This includes drug, insect, respiratory and food allergy studies, such as the world-first ADAPT OIT Program.
- Repository and discovery – developing a National Allergy BioRepository researchers can use to analyse large-scale data on patient diagnosis, management and outcomes. The database will help to shape personalised health care.
- Evidence and translation – creating a living systematic review platform that connects evidence with clinical practice.
- Training and innovation – supporting and mentoring the next generation of allergy experts through postgraduate scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships.
- Collaboration and consumer involvement – connecting researchers with the allergy community through a Consumer Advisory Group and Consumer Engagement Register. This ensures studies will address the issues that matter most.
The National Allergy Council is carrying out the National Allergy Strategy through a range of projects:
- Nip allergies in the Bub – encourages preventing food allergies by introducing babies to foods that can commonly cause them, and improving managing eczema.
- Food Allergy Aware – provides training and online resources to improve allergen management in food services. This includes best practice for cafes, restaurants, hospitals, residential care, schools, camps and children’s education and care.
- Allergy 250K – provides information and support to the 250,000 Australian teens and young adults living with severe allergies, including annual education camps.
- Allergy Aware – provides best practice guidelines and resources to improve anaphylaxis prevention and management in schools and early childhood services.
- Shared Care for Allergy – ensures people can access appropriate allergy care from healthcare professionals at the right time. It focuses on supporting people in rural, regional and remote areas.
- Drug (medication) allergy – aims to improve managing drug allergies and documentation in electronic health records, including My Health Record.
- Anaphylaxis reporting system – aims to scope and build a reporting system that collects national anaphylaxis data. This includes real-time reporting of allergic reactions to packaged food and food prepared by service providers.
Who we work with
The NACE and National Allergy Council work closely with:
- other national allergy organisations
- universities
- research institutes
- clinical practices
- health professional societies
- state and federal government organisations.
Some core partners include the Centre for Food Allergy Research, ASCIA, A&AA and MCRI.