Dietitians

This webpage includes links to:

Meetings for Dietitians | Resources for Dietitians | ASCIA Dietitians Committee

Meetings for Dietitians 

ASCIA Annual Conference 

The ASCIA 2025 Conference will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Queensland and registration opens at https://ascia2025.com/ in May 2025.

The program includes;

*There will be pre-requisite, free online training to be eligible to attend this course.

The ASCIA 2026 Conference Allergy Update for Dietitians will be held on Thursday 3 September at the Christchurch Convention Centre, New Zealand and registration will open in May 2026.

ASCIA Food Allergy and Adverse Food Reactions Course

This course has trained over 200 dietitians since the course commenced in 2018.  The course has been held in Adelaide (May 2024), Sydney (November 2023), Melbourne* (March 2023), Perth** (September 2019), Brisbane* (March 2019) and Canberra* (September 2018).  The format is changing in 2025, to be included in the ASCIA Annual Conference.

*Held in conjunction with Dietitians Australia (DA) Centre for Advanced Learning (CAL) 
**Held in conjunctuion with the ASCIA Annual Conference and Dietitians Australia (DA) Centre for Advanced Learning (CAL) 

This course has an interactive in-person program that is focused on medical nutrition therapy in food allergy and intolerance and is therefore held in person (see above).

Course Prerequisites

This course is presented in an interactive case study format and has been designed for dietitians with an allergy caseload or wanting to upskill in food allergy and intolerance, who work in private practice, community and hospital-based dietitians. The course can also be used as a refresher if you are returning to practice within this area. The course is worth 24 CPD hours.  

Pre-learning requirements include successful completion of the following free online ASCIA courses, which are available at https://traininghp.ascia.org.au/ and also contribute to CPD points:

Learning Outcomes
Presenters 

Kathy Beck is a paediatric dietitian working in private practice in Brisbane since 2015. Kathy has 30 years experience working as a dietitian in varied settings in the UK and Australia. Kathy has expertise in paediatric food allergy and a passion to support families living with food allergy. Kathy is an active member of the ASCIA Dietitians committee. In this role, Kathy works with ASCIA members to produce clinical and consumer resources, in addition to supporting other dietitians working in food allergy. Kathy enjoys scuba diving, ocean swimming and being on the beach when not working.

Amanda Jackson is a clinical dietitian with 15 years experience, including over 10 years supporting adults with complex food allergies, intolerances, gastrointestinal conditions, and immune disorders. Amanda works at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and runs a private clinic at Melbourne Allergy Asthma and Immunology Consultants. Her current roles include teaching and training fellow dietitians and more recently project management for a multi-centre immunodeficiency research trial. Amanda is an active member of the ASCIA dietitians committee and sits on the healthcare advisory panel for the Immune Deficiency Foundation of Australia.

Laura Ryan is an independent consulting paediatric allergy dietitian based in Adelaide, South Australia. She is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD), member of Dietitians Australia (DA) and Associate member of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA). Laura has over 17 years experience working with children and families across Adelaide. In addition to consulting in private practice at Adelaide Paediatrics Morphett Vale and Wayville locations, Laura works as specialist Paediatric Allergy Dietitian with the Allergy/Immunology Team at Flinders Medical Centre. Laura is also an active member of the ASCIA Dietitian’s committee, presenting at national conferences and developing/reviewing ASCIA resources. Laura has extensive experience in working with children and young families to decrease their stress at mealtimes and assist with ensuring optimal nutrition for growth and development. 

Caroline South is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) who works at the Royal Children's Hospital and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne as well as private practice. She has over 10 years' experience working in the area of paediatric food allergy and is passionate about providing practical and evidence-based advice to children and their families, as well as working with the hospital food service department to optimise food allergy management. Caroline is the Chair of the ASCIA Dietitians committee and is involved in resource development, education and training.

Gail Whitelock is a Senior Dietitian based in Adelaide, South Australia. Gail has more than 30 years experience working as a clinical dietitian in public hospitals in both the United Kingdom and Australia. She has a number of roles within her current position including providing the dietetic service for food hypersensitivity at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, which includes a weekly co-located clinic with the team of Immunologists and working with food service to ensure the safe provision of meals for inpatients with food allergy and intolerance. Gail’s other interests include the management of malnutrition in the acute care setting and clinical documentation improvement.

Other opportunities for upskilling dietitians include:

The previous course was held onThursday 9th and Friday 10th May 2024 at the Adelaide Oval Functions centre, South Australia.  2024 Registration Fees (AuD inc GST) included catering for lunch, morning and afternoon breaks. 

To review services and benefits of ASCIA Associate membership go to https://www.allergy.org.au/about-ascia/ascia-initiatives#p1

Resources for Dietitians

ASCIA

Information for patients, consumers and carers:
https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/food-allergy
https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/food-other-adverse-reactions
 
Information for health professionals:
https://www.allergy.org.au/hp/papers#p3

National Allergy Council (implementing the National Allergy Strategy)

Bookmarks for the National Allergy Council programs listed above can be ordered free of charge from the Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia shop https://allergyfacts.org.au/resources/free-resources/

Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia allergyfacts.org.au 

Allergy New Zealand www.allergy.org.nz 

ASCIA Dietitians' Committee

The purpose of the ASCIA Dietitians committee is to:

Content updated April 2025