Learn how to register your food premises or lodge a notification with us.
Under the Victorian Food Act, you must register your food premises or lodge a notification with us. What you need to do depends on the classification of your food premises.
A business concierge enquiry helps us understand what your business needs are, including what permits you may require.
You will be advised of all the permit requirements across Council to set up your business. You should lodge an enquiry early in the planning process to ensure that there is adequate time to gather information and apply for relevant permits before launching your business.
An Economic Development Officer will be your main point of contact with us. They're here to guide you from the start and continue supporting you once your business is up and running.
After we have reviewed your business concierge enquiry, we will inform you about any additional permits you will need to obtain alongside registering or notifying us of your food premises.
This may include:
- Building permits and/or
- Planning permits
- Footpath trading permits (outdoor dining)
- Other public Health permits (FoodTrader)
Making alterations to your premises
If you're considering doing structural work or significant alterations to a premises, please review our food premises and equipment guidelines [ DOC, 11.18 MB] to ensure your premises complies with food safety standards relating to design and construction of food businesses.
We recommend that you have some plans drawn up to show the extent and type of work to be undertaken and submit those to us for assessment to ensure your proposal meets the standards before commencing any structural work. There may be a fee associated with this plans assessment.
Once your business concierge enquiry is complete, we will send you a confirmation email with the link to the application form to register your food business.
You must log into your account to complete the application.
The form confirm the services you plan to offer, which helps us determine the applicable fees.
You will need to provide the following information:
- your food handling activities and food processes
- your general business information, including the property address
- contact numbers and an email address a that is accessed regularly (all relevant correspondence will be sent to this email)
- proprietor name (company, individual or partnership)
- Australian Business Number ABN
- your trading name (registered business name)
- Food Safety Supervisor name and copy of qualifications for Class 1 and 2 businesses.
| Â | Standard | Not-for-profit |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | $338 | $169 |
| Registration or renewal fee | $676 | $338 |
| Fee per additional employee (more than 10) | $33.80 | $16.90Â |
| Â | Standard | Not-for-profit |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | $169 | $84.50 |
| Registration or renewal fee | $338 | $169 |
| Fee per additional employee (more than 10) | $16.90 | $8.45 |
Once your premises is registered you will need to renew it before the end of each year. To help you, Council will send reminder notices before the registration expires.
Council cannot register your permanent business for less than 3 months, so businesses that register between 1 October and 31 December will be charged a registration fee to cover up to 15 months. This will ensure your initial registration is valid through to the end of the following December.
To run a temporary or mobile food premises such as:
- a food truck,
- market stall,
- fundraiser or
- sausage sizzle
you must either register or submit a notification depending on your classification.
In addition, Statements of Trade (SOT) are required to be lodged for each event.
Visit FoodTrader to:
- register or submit a notification
- lodge a Statement of Trade for your event
The requirements are the same as for other food premises, but temporary and mobile food premises may comply with requirements in a different way.
Food premises are classified according to their highest risk food handling activities.
If your business is class 1, 2, 3 or 3A, you must renew your registration every year. You will receive a renewal notice in November to renew the registration before it expires on 31 December. Council cannot extend the date that renewal invoices need to be paid beyond the end of the calendar year, and all outstanding amounts must be paid in full by 31 December for your registration to be renewed.
Class 4 businesses do not require payment of any fees and do not require annual renewals. Your business may still be checked randomly to ensure you continue to only provide Class 4 activities and remain exempt from registration requirements.
You must let us know if you change any of your food handling activities. Some changes may put your premises in a higher class with additional requirements, that may include fees, food safety programs or a food safety supervisor. Other changes may result in a lowering of your risk classification meaning less requirements to satisfy.
Food premises registrations are not transferable.
If you're taking over an existing food business, you must apply for a new food registration. Please submit a business concierge enquiry.
If you need help complying, download our food premises and equipment guidelines [ DOC, 11.18 MB] .
You can submit a copy of your design plans for assessment by Council for a fee. Â You will receive a formal report on the plans outlining any areas of non-compliance with the food safety standards to enable changes to design before construction commences, saving potentially costly rework before final approval is granted.
If you do not comply with FSS requirements, your registration may be suspended or revoked.
Please let us know if any of the following changes:
- contact details (phone, email or postal address)
- business details (trading name, ABN, type of premises)
- food handling practices
- food safety supervisor(s)
- food safety programs
- trading hours.
If you recently closed or transferred ownership of your business, please advise us.
| Activity | Authority |
| Meat, game, poultry, fish and seafood handling or processing | PrimeSafe |
| Dairy handling or processing | Dairy Food Safety Victoria |
| Sale or production of herbal medicines | Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria |
| Sale or production of medicines or consumable medical treatments | Therapeutic Goods Administration |