Food Business Information

The types of food you handle and where the food will be sold from determine what requirements you must meet under the Food Act 2003.  

All food business operators must do one of the following: 

Either Register or Notify their food handling activities to the Council. 

Registration

The Food Act 2003 requires that all businesses intending to handle or sell any type of food to be Registered. This includes activities such as: 

• Restaurants 
• Cafes 
• Coffee vans  
• B and B accommodation 
• Home baking business (cakes, slices, etc.) 
• Charitable organisations who sell food, even for fundraising. 

Food Business Registration (and subsequent Renewal) is valid for a maximum of 12 months. The fee required for registration varies depends on the level of risk of the food handling activities. Click Here to view the Council’s current fee structure.  

It is a requirement under the Food Act that most food businesses are registered on an annual basis (July to June) with a food business registration certificate issued by Council. The types of food businesses licensed includes, but is not limited to: hotels; restaurants; take away shops; bakeries; butcher shops; school canteens; sporting kiosks; and food vans.

TEMPORARY FOOD OUTLETS

Sale of food from temporary outlets, such as at fairs, sporting sausage sizzles, etc. needs to comply with the relevant requirements so as to promote good food handling and the sale of safe food. Thus for such events Certificate of Registration of a Temporary Food Business needs to be issued by Council’s

Registration forms for Food Businesses and for Temporary Food Businesses can be downloaded by selecting the links below.

These can normally be issued within a few days and there is generally no charge for community/charity events.

For further information please contact Council’s Environmental Health Officer, at Council’s Development & Environmental Services office, located at Kempton.

      Fee Schedule
Registration of Food Business Form
Registration of Food Business Form
Guidelines for Mobile Food Businesses

Please contact our Environmental Health Department if you wish to lodge a complaint to council against a business in the Southern Midlands Municipality if you have:

• Suffered an illness as a result of consuming food purchased from their premises
• Found a foreign object (for example, glass, insect, etc) in food purchased from their premises
• Concerns about poor food preparation, handling or display practices at their premises
• Concerns about the cleanliness of their premises

Contact us to Lodge a Complaint

If you operate or work in a food business it is a requirement to demonstrate safe food handling skills and knowledge. One way to do this is to complete a Food Safety course. There are a number of providers of food safety training available.  

The I’m Alert Food Safety program is another free course available to food handlers. This interactive program covers basic food safety principles as outlined in the Food Safety Standards.  Visit www.southernmidlands.imalert.com.au to start your training now.
The DoFoodSafely training program gives participants knowledge about how to safely handle food in a commercial setting. The course is available in four languages (English, Arabic, Chinese and Vietnamese).    

All enquiries relating to Food Business applications should be directed to our Environmental Health Department on 03 6254 5050

Southern Midlands Council have adopted a Mobile Food Vendor Policy allowing mobile food vendors to operate from nominated locations in our municipality.

Please refer to the Policy below for further details and the current Fee schedule for the associated fees.

      Fee Schedule
      Mobile Food Vendor Policy
Mobile food vendor application Form
Mobile food vendor application Form

All enquiries relating to applications under the Mobile Food Vendor Policy should be directed to our Planning Department – email planningenquiries@southernmidlands.tas.gov.au or call 03 6254 5050.