Page 4188 - Week 13 - Thursday, 27 November 2014
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It is important that our public health policy settings appropriately balance the protection of food safety with the work addressing the overweight and obesity epidemic. Community sports clubs in particular have an important role in promoting healthy weight. Not only do such organisations provide opportunities for physical activity but they are particularly well placed to model and promote healthy eating. It is very important that our regulatory approach does not seek to exclude the ability to offer more nutritious foods easily.
In deregulating not-for-profit community organisations, the exemption from registration requirements will apply to food-related activities conducted by volunteer staff for the primary purpose of fundraising. Food-related activities conducted with paid staff or primarily to provide a food service rather than raise funds will continue to be captured under the Food Act. For example, school canteens will still be required to register and have a food safety supervisor.
Community organisations that sell food at regulated events will be subject to all relevant food safety requirements, as will businesses that sell foods at such events. The power to declare an event to be regulated will be used to ensure that the protections of the Food Act apply to all food vendors at large public events that pose heightened food safety risks. The government will take a risk-based approach to deciding which events to declare and will make any declarations well in advance of the event in order to allow the organisers time to respond.
The bill also takes the opportunity to attend to some housekeeping and makes several technical amendments. I will just touch on them briefly.
The bill re-frames the existing offence of interfering with a closure notice to ensure that the proprietor of the affected business maintains the correct display of any closure notice served on them. Closure notices are an important transparency measure and are primarily served in situations where closing the food business is required to prevent or mitigate a serious danger to health. It is important that closure notices remain visible to the public until the food safety issues are addressed by the business.
The second of the technical amendments also relates to a transparency measure and proposes to remove the 21-day time limit that applies to the publication of details of convictions on the register of food offences. This will mean that such publications must now be made as soon as possible. The register of offences provides the public with information about food businesses that have been convicted of serious breaches of the Food Act. It is important that the administration of this measure is not unfairly impeded by a time limit.
The bill reflects the government’s commitment to good practice regulation, which safeguards public health without imposing restrictive burdens. We are confident the bill strikes the right balance between minimising regulatory burden and protecting the high standard of food safety enjoyed by the community.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge the staff from the Health Protection Service who join us here today. They have been working with me on the Food Amendment
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