In Australia there is growing interest in school meal programs, with a successful trial in Tasmania(1) and several election campaign promises(2,3) to deliver school meal programs. However, due to the diversity of schools, range of facilities available and locations, including cost and availability of foods, there will be differences in how such programs will need to be delivered. In order to deliver a program that meets the needs of families, we first need to understand what these needs are. A brief, anonymous, online survey was distributed (Qualtrics) to parents of ~1200 secondary schoolchildren in Years 7-12 at a single school in Geelong, Victoria between November 2024 and April 2025, asking about preferences regarding a school meal program using open and closed ended questions. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for all quantitative variables. Written responses were analysed using thematic analysis (Nvivo). Of the 84 parents (61 females) who completed the survey, 51% said their child(ren) currently purchases lunch at the school canteen ‘some days’ and 30% responded ‘rarely’. When asked about their preference in a newly designed, free, school lunch program, most parents (66%) wanted a mix of ‘grab n go’ and ‘sit down’ lunches to offer variety and cater to preferences that change daily. Most parents (94%) also wanted a mix of both hot and cold meals for their child(ren). Parents mentioned that having a mix provides students with more options and greater choice. They indicated that this approach adds variety and makes mealtimes more interesting. Parents noted that having both options helps cater to the needs and interests of a wider group of children. They also suggested varying the meal offering depending on the weather e.g cold meals on hot days and hot meals on cold days. When asked which meals parents would like their child(ren) to be offered, ‘healthy’ was mentioned 29 times by 25 individual parents. Furthermore, 44 parents provided one or more specific meal ideas, with ‘Wraps/sandwiches/rolls’ being most suggested followed by ‘Pasta/spaghetti/noodles’. When asked about where children should eat lunch, ‘outside at picnic tables’ was the most popular choice for parents (48%). When asked if teachers should eat lunch with students, most parents were undecided (61%). Parents suggested providing 20.6 (SD8.2) minutes for lunch (range 10-60 minutes) and had a strong preference for lunch to be eaten at the start of the lunch break (96%) compared to middle (3%) or end (1%).These findings highlight parents’ perspectives regarding future school meal programs and the important of adolescent autonomy. Future school lunch programs must consider parents expectations and suggestions, as well as the wants/needs of students and other interest holders. A co-design process could facilitate this and enable the design of a program most likely to succeed.