In short
- What the rule is
- A written food safety program is required by Standard 3.3.1, which covers listed facilities serving potentially hazardous food to six or more vulnerable persons.
- Who it applies to
- Hospitals, hospices, aged care and childcare centres on the Standard's Schedule, and delivered meals organisations that prepare the meals.
- What you need to do
- If you are an ordinary venue, work to Standard 3.2.2A. If you run a listed facility that serves potentially hazardous food to six or more vulnerable persons at any given time, you need a written program and an external audit.
- What this does not require
- An ordinary WA café, restaurant, pub or caterer needs no written food safety program and no third party audit.
What the rule says
Standard 3.2.1 is enabling only. It lets a state require a food safety program; it does not require one by itself.
Standard 3.3.1 does require one, where three conditions all hold: a facility listed in its Schedule, potentially hazardous food, and six or more vulnerable persons at any given time. The Schedule covers hospitals, hospices, aged care and childcare centres. A delivered meals organisation that is a food business and prepares the meals is also caught (clause 1(2)).
Where it applies, the business has a written program kept at the premises, reviews it every year, is audited by an approved auditor, and keeps audit reports for four years.
The Food Regulations 2009 (WA) contain no food safety program provisions. Every other WA food business is outside this duty, and Standard 3.2.2A is its working regime.
Who it applies to
Listed facilities only. Schools, pubs and restaurants are not on the Schedule, however many people they serve. A childcare centre with five children at a time is below the threshold.
In WA a Standard 3.3.1 business is audited every six months at first. The interval can move between three and twelve months, and audits become less frequent only after two audits in a row with no non compliance.
By sector: Aged Care and Hospitals, Education and Childcare
What it looks like in practice
For an ordinary venue, the operative rules are Standard 3.2.2, Standard 3.2.3 and Standard 3.2.2A: a supervisor, trained handlers, and for category one, records or another way to show the officer.
A venue may choose to adopt a program voluntarily. Under the WA Food Business Risk Classification System, a voluntary Standard 3.2.1 program lowers a business's risk score, which can lengthen the time between council assessments. That system is guidance, not law.
Other states differ. Victoria and Queensland have their own program rules for some businesses. This guide covers WA.
What you are not required to do
- A written food safety program for an ordinary WA café, restaurant, pub or caterer.
- A third party audit for those venues.
- Different temperature limits for vulnerable persons. The Code adds none, though a facility that writes stricter limits into its own program must follow what it wrote.
Doing it in Hospitality Shield
Hospitality Shield is not a food safety program and is not an audit. A Standard 3.3.1 facility can use it for the daily records its program asks for; the program itself and the audit sit outside it.
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Asked about this rule
Does my restaurant need a written food safety program?
No. In WA, a restaurant is not a listed facility under Standard 3.3.1, and the Food Regulations 2009 (WA) contain no program provisions.
Does a school canteen need one?
Not under Standard 3.3.1. Schools are not on its Schedule.
What about a childcare centre with five children?
Standard 3.3.1 applies from six vulnerable persons at any given time, so a centre that never has more than five is below the threshold.
Is a food safety program the same as the evidence tool?
No. The evidence tool in Standard 3.2.2A clause 12 is records or demonstration for nine activities. A program under Standard 3.3.1 is a written, audited document covering all food handling.
Sources
- Food safety standards, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Food Regulations 2009 (WA), Western Australian Legislation
- Food business risk classification, WA Department of Health
General information about the rules in Western Australia. It is not legal advice. Your local government's environmental health officer decides how the rules apply to your premises.