Agriculture and Food Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024

The sale of unpasteurised milk (raw milk) for human consumption is already prohibited in Australia due to the food safety risks it poses.

The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) requires milk to be pasteurised and treated according to specific requirements. Dairy Food Safety Victoria (DFSV) currently regulates and enforces these requirements and adherence to the Code by imposing  licence conditions.

The Bill will move these existing licence conditions into the Dairy Act, but their intent will remain the same.  This means that dairy licensees who are compliant with their current dairy licence conditions will not be impacted by this change. No change in their activities will be required.

Dairy licensees who are non-compliant with their licence conditions, or unlicensed dairies or persons who are found to be illegally selling raw milk, will now be in breach of a stand-alone offence for the sale of raw milk. DFSV may take enforcement action if an offence has been committed.

The sale of raw milk for human consumption is prohibited in Australia due to the food safety risks it poses.

Raw milk may be contaminated by disease-causing organisms which can give rise to severe gastroenteritis. This poses a risk of severe illness or death, which is higher in vulnerable populations, such as children and the elderly. In 2014, a child died in Victoria from consuming raw milk.

Further information can be found on the Department of Health’s Better Health website.

The sale of raw milk not for human consumption (i.e. ‘bath milk’ or ‘pet milk’) is legal in Victoria, provided:

• it comes from a dairy that holds a current dairy industry licence AND
• the milk has been treated in a manner approved by Dairy Food Safety Victoria so as to deter human consumption (e.g. a bittering agent added, clear labelling).

There will be no impact to the sale of raw milk products that already meet these requirements.

It is illegal to sell bath milk, pet milk (or any other kind of raw milk not for human consumption) that doesn’t meet these above requirements, and this Bill will enable DFSV to take necessary enforcement action on both dairy producers and retailers that illegally sell such products.

Yes, dairy producers that hold a dairy industry licence will still be able to provide raw milk as stockfeed to pig producers. Any dairy producer wishing to do so should contact Dairy Food Safety Victoria to confirm suitable arrangements.

The Meat Industry Act currently restricts PrimeSafe staff or inspectors from sharing information they have legally gathered as part of their regulatory activities – such as during a scheduled audit or a more targeted investigation into alleged unlawful activity – with other regulators, government agencies or law enforcement bodies, unless the Minister intervenes.

The Bill will address this legislative barrier by replacing the existing confidentiality requirements with a provision that will enable PrimeSafe to share information with specified persons in specified circumstances.

Meat industry licensees will benefit from the ability for PrimeSafe to more openly communicate and work collaboratively with businesses and other regulatory bodies to address potential issues and alleged non-compliances as they arise. It will also help to safeguard the public’s trust in PrimeSafe’s ability to meet their expectations of a modern food safety regulator.

PrimeSafe will continue to be unable to share information – this includes confidential and proprietary information about their licensees - unless it is to a specified person and in a specified circumstance as outlined in the Act. Circumstances in which information may be disclosed will include but is not limited to:

• with a public sector body if the disclosure is made in connection with the administration of any relevant Act;

• to a court or tribunal;

• with the consent of the person to whom the information relates;

• to prevent or minimise a serious risk to public health.

All PrimeSafe staff will also still be required to comply with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and other government codes of practice around the use of information.

PrimeSafe will only be able to share information with specified persons in specified circumstances as listed in the Act. Some examples are provided below.

PrimeSafe will not be able to:

• Share information about the compliance history of a specific business following an inquiry from a member of the public, another business or an interest group.
• Provide information in response to a request from the media or animal welfare organisations (such as CCTV footage from a business or audit reports).
• Create an online ‘name and shame’ list of a non-compliant businesses on their website.

PrimeSafe will be able to:

• Share information on potential illegal activity as witnessed while exercising their duties (e.g. during an audit of a business) with the police.

Pass on information to another regulator if breaches of other relevant laws or regulations are identified (e.g. share CCTV footage collected during an investigation with WorkSafe if the footage shows potentially unsafe workplace behaviour, or Agriculture Victoria if an animal welfare matter is identified).

The introduction of a ‘fit and proper person’ provision into the Seafood Safety Act will enable PrimeSafe to ensure seafood licences are issued to applicants of good repute, having regard to their character, honesty and integrity and that of their associates.

Ensuring the suitability of seafood safety licensees protects public health, industry reputation and the sustainability of other seafood businesses.

The same test is currently used to assess licences under the Meat Industry Act, allowing PrimeSafe to make a ‘fit and proper person’ assessment of meat industry licensees.

PrimeSafe will now be able to make the same assessment of seafood licensees, creating consistency between the Acts that PrimeSafe administers, and providing increased clarity for businesses regarding PrimeSafe application requirements.

Examples of potentially unsuitable applicants that the Meat Industry Act limits, but the Seafood Safety Act currently does not, includes businesses that are ‘phoenixing’ (a form of illegal activity involving the closing of an existing business and transferring it to a new business under the auspices of a new business, despite being controlled by the same directors or licensees).

The assessment will be made by PrimeSafe, using information already collected in the application process for a seafood safety licence. The assessment is modelled on a similar provision found in the Meat Industry Act, and the application will be similar:

• An applicant is asked whether they have been found guilty or convicted under any food safety legislation; as well as a question as to whether they have been convicted under any other Victorian or Commonwealth act.
• Saying ‘yes’ to either of these does not rule someone out, but rather forms part of the picture as to whether the applicant is a suitable person.
• As a food safety regulator, the primary focus of PrimeSafe is on convictions relating to food safety. Other convictions help form a view of suitability, but do not disqualify. Neither factor is an automatic disqualification.
• If PrimeSafe forms a view that the applicant may not be suitable, they will follow up with the applicant for further information. In rare cases, PrimeSafe may then reject an application.
• A rejected application can be challenged in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

In the case of the Seafood Safety Act, the legislation identifies the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008, the Food Act, the Meat Industry Act and the Seafood Safety Act as relevant food safety legislation to consider in the context of licence applications.  Laws corresponding to these Acts in other jurisdictions are also relevant.

Convictions under other legislation (e.g. the Fisheries Act 1995) will not be by themselves a basis for refusing a licence to someone.

The definition of an ‘associate’ is limited to relevant persons who are responsible for, or have significant influence over, the operation and management of the business and the licensee’s immediate relatives. A more detailed definition will be included in new clause 14(4) of the Seafood Safety Act.

It does not include the friends of an applicant or licensee if they have no involvement in the business, the relatives of an applicant beyond their immediate family (their spouse, parent, child or sibling), or the general staff of a business (such as the skipper and the crew of a boat).

As an example of how the test is currently used; abattoirs as large businesses can employ up to 300-400 staff. Any convictions these employees may hold, or whether they are of good repute, cannot be taken into consideration when assessing if a licensee is a fit and proper person under the Meat Industry Act 1993.

Yes. The Seafood Safety Act (section 60) will continue to provide licensees the ability to appeal any decision by PrimeSafe by applying to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a review of the decision.

PrimeSafe will always provide a decision to reject or cancel a licence in writing. The letter will also include details of how the decision can be appealed in VCAT.

No. Existing licensees will see no change to their current seafood safety licence as a direct result of the introduction of a fit and proper person test into the Seafood Safety Act.

However, the information you provide next time you renew your seafood safety licence may now be used by PrimeSafe to undertake a fit and proper person assessment.