Dr Aimee Brownbill
Honorary Fellow
School of Communication and Arts
Researcher biography
Dr Aimee Brownbill is an ARC Early Career Industry Fellow with the Centre for Digital Cultures and Societies and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.
Aimee has a PhD in Medicine (Public Health) and has contributed to collaborative applied research informing public health policy for several years. A key focus of her work to-date has been on the commercial determinants of health, particularly the influence of marketing practices on health and wellbeing.
Aimee is currently leading a program of work on digital marketing by harmful industries such as alcohol, gambling and highly processed unhealthy foods, exploring potential avenues for regulation in this space. She has been awarded an ARC Early Career Industry Fellowship to further explore this topic. The project will offer researchers, civil society and government with new methods to examine and monitor digital marketing practices and inform the development of consumer protection measures in the digital era.
Journal Articles
Davies, Tazman, O'Brien, Paula, Bowden, Jacqueline, Sträuli, Bella, Yusoff, Asad, Jongenelis, Michelle, Jones, Alexandra, Brownbill, Aimee, Chikritzhs, Tanya, Stafford, Julia and Pettigrew, Simone (2025). Suboptimal uptake and placement of a mandatory alcohol pregnancy warning label in Australia. International Journal of Drug Policy, 135 104661, 104661. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104661
Pettigrew, Simone, Sträuli, Bella, Yusoff, Asad, O’Brien, Paula, Bowden, Jacqueline, Jongenelis, Michelle, Brownbill, Aimee, Chikritzhs, Tanya, Petticrew, Mark, Matheson, Angela, Taylor, Fraser and Jones, Alexandra (2024). “There's just a lot of numbers and I just want to have a drink”: The challenge of communicating the energy content of alcohol products. Appetite, 205 107700, 107700. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107700
Carah, Nicholas, Hayden, Lauren, Brown, Maria-Gemma, Angus, Daniel, Brownbill, Aimee, Hawker, Kiah, Tan, Xue Ying, Dobson, Amy and Robards, Brady (2024). Observing “tuned” advertising on digital platforms. Internet Policy Review, 13 (2) 1779. doi: 10.14763/2024.2.1779
Miller, Caroline, Ettridge, Kerry, Pettigrew, Simone, Wittert, Gary, Wakefield, Melanie, Coveney, John, Roder, David, Martin, Jane, Brownbill, Aimee and Dono, Joanne (2022). Warning labels and interpretive nutrition labels: Impact on substitution between sugar and artificially sweetened beverages, juice and water in a real-world selection task. Appetite, 169 105818, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105818
Simmonds, Lucy, Brownbill, Aimee L., Zee, Anthea and Netting, Merryn J (2021). Health-related marketing messages on product labels of commercial infant and toddler food packaging in Australia: a cross-sectional audit. BMJ Paediatrics Open, 5 (1) 001241, 1-10. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2021-001241
Parry, Amy Elizabeth, Colquhoun, Samantha, Brownbill, Aimee, Lynch, Brigid M. and Housen, Tambri (2021). Navigating uncertainty: evaluation of a COVID-19 surge workforce support program, Australia 2020-2021. Global Biosecurity, 3, 1-14. doi: 10.31646/gbio.124
Brownbill, Aimee L., Miller, Caroline L., Smithers, Lisa G. and Braunack-Mayer, Annette J. (2021). Selling function: the advertising of sugar-containing beverages on Australian television. Health Promotion International, 36 (1), 143-154. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daaa052
Brownbill, Aimee L., Braunack-Mayer, Annette J. and Miller, Caroline L. (2020). What makes a beverage healthy? A qualitative study of young adults’ conceptualisation of sugar-containing beverage healthfulness. Appetite, 150 104675, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104675
Wright, Kathleen M., Dono, Joanne, Brownbill, Aimee L., Nee Gibson, Odette, Bowden, Jacqueline, Wycherley, Thomas P., Keech, Wendy, O'Dea, Kerin, Roder, David, Avery, Jodie C. and Miller, Caroline L. (2019). Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption, correlates and interventions among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: A scoping review. BMJ Open, 9 (2) e023630, e023630. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023630
Brownbill, Aimee L., Braunack-Mayer, Annette and Miller, Caroline (2019). Health Star Ratings: What's on the labels of Australian beverages?. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 30 (1), 114-118. doi: 10.1002/hpja.197
Brownbill, Aimee L., Miller, Caroline L. and Braunack-Mayer, Annette J. (2018). Industry use of 'better-for-you' features on labels of sugar-containing beverages. Public Health Nutrition, 21 (18), 3335-3343. doi: 10.1017/S1368980018002392
Moore, Michael J., McKee, Martin and Brownbill, Aimee L. (2018). Protecting our children from obesity: Challenges and opportunities. Medical Journal of Australia, 209 (6), 253-254. doi: 10.5694/MJA18.00695
Brownbill, Aimee L., Miller, Caroline L. and Braunack-Mayer, Annette J. (2018). The marketing of sugar-sweetened beverages to young people on Facebook. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 42 (4), 354-360. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12801
Wolfaardt, Bronwyn M., Brownbill, Aimee L., Mahmood, Mohammad Afzal and Bowden, Jacqueline A. (2018). The Australian NHMRC guidelines for alcohol consumption and their portrayal in the print media: a content analysis of Australian newspapers. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 42 (1), 43-45. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12758
Miller, Caroline Louise, Brownbill, Aimee Lee, Dono, Joanne and Ettridge, Kerry (2018). Presenting a strong and united front to tobacco industry interference: A content analysis of Australian newspaper coverage of tobacco plain packaging 2008–2014. BMJ Open, 8 (9) e023485, e023485. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023485
Avery, Jodie C., Bowden, Jacqueline A, Dono, Joanne, Gibson, Odette R, Brownbill, Aimee, Keech, Wendy, Roder, David and Miller, Caroline L (2017). Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, correlates and interventions among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: A scoping review protocol. BMJ Open, 7 (7) 016431, e016431. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016431
Research Reports
Hayden, Lauren, Newton, Giselle, Carah, Nicholas, Tran, Dang Khuong, Brownbill, Aimee, Obeid, Abdul and Irving, Rohann (2024). How alcohol and gambling companies target people most at risk with marketing for addictive products on Facebook. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.
Hayden, Lauren, Brownbill, Aimee, Angus, Daniel, Carah, Nicholas, Tan, Xue Ying, Hawker, Kiah, Dobson, Amy and Robards, Brady (2023). Alcohol advertising on social media platforms – A 1-year snapshot. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.
Hawker, Kiah, Carah, Nicholas, Angus, Daniel, Brownbill, Aimee, Tan, Xue Ying (Jane), Dobson, Amy and Robards, Brady (2022). Advertisements on digital platforms: how transparent and observable are they?. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.