Up until winning her seat as a teal independent, Dr Scamps was working as a general practitioner (GP) in Sydney’s northern beaches. 

Dr Scamps has set her sights on reducing obesity in the nation and has begun by focusing on fast food advertisements and sponsorships of sports teams. 

“Advertising that targets children, during the times when children are watching TV, at their sporting events, all those things need to be looked at. They can be changed,” Dr Scamps told the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Dr Scamps is pushing for the federal government to ban junk food advertising to children in order to address Australia’s obesity epidemic, warning the impacts were heaping pressure on the nation’s already overloaded health system.

The private members’ bill will seek to prevent fast food sponsorships of children’s sport teams and cease prime-time junk food advertising on television.

The federal government does have the power to impose a blanket ban, such as Dr Scamps is suggesting on advertising, but typically prefer to leave the advertising industry to police itself through its official Ad Standards set of codes. 

The current codes state sporting sponsorship is legal - so long as it is only the company logo appearing and pictures of the food or drink in question are never shown.

Dr Scamps stated her own children’s sport is sponsored by fast food companies. 

“Advertising that targets children — during the times when children are watching TV, at their sporting events. All those things need to be looked at,”  she said. 

Dr Scamps has compared the rife fast food advertisements from companies such as Hungry Jacks and McDonalds to how the tobacco industry advertised in the 80s. 

The previous government's National Obesity Strategy - a plan to tackle the issue that appears to have been shelved ahead of the federal election - said children were exposed to on average more than 820 junk food advertisements every year. 

Dr Scamps said a reduction in ads children see would have a positive effect on their health and directly translate to a reduction of 'pester power'.