Starting a food business

Who registers food businesses?

Most businesses should register with Council where their business is located or their food vehicle is garaged. This includes businesses such as supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, convenience stores, bakeries and fish and chip shops.

Butchers and fish mongers

If your business is predominately involved in meat or seafood processing (such as butchers, boning rooms, and fish mongers), you must be registered with PrimeSafe.

PrimeSafe
PO Box 2057
South Melbourne VIC 3205
P: 9685 7333
F: 9696 5284 
Visit the PrimeSafe website 

Dairy businesses

If your business is involved in dairy processing or manufacturing (such as cheese, yogurt and milk manufacturers), you must register with Dairy Food Safety Victoria.

Dairy Food Safety Victoria
PO Box 8221 Camberwell North VIC 3124
P: 9810 5900
F: 9882 6860 
Visit the Dairy Food Safety Victoria website

Preparing for your New Food Act registration

Follow these steps to prepare for food business registration:

1. Contact our Business Concierge to check if any Planning or Building permits are required before preparing for your food registration at business.concierge@whittlesea.vic.gov.au. You must obtain these permits before registering with Environmental Health Services. 
2. Find out who your food business should be registered with. If we are the suitable registration authority, continue to next step. 
3. Contact our Environmental Health team for approval before beginning any construction works. We highly recommend that you submit plans of the proposed works to ensure compliance with the Food Standards Code. For more information, see Plans approval service. 
4. If required, complete a Food Safety Program (FSP) and nominate a qualified Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) for your business.  After assessing your plans, our Environmental Health Officer will tell you your food premises classification and whether or not you need a FSP and a FSS.

Before opening the food business, one of Council's Environmental Health Officers will complete a final inspection. If the premises meets food safety standards you will be given an application to complete. The relevant fees are in the table below.

Registration fees for new food Businesses 

Please note: Council registers Food Act businesses for the calendar year that the business commenced operation.  Fees will vary depending on the date the business opens.

A full fee is charged in the first six months of the year (from January to June), a pro-rata half fee is charged during the three months from July to September, and in the last three months of the year (October to December) a full fee is charged that will register the business till 31 December of the following year (a maximum of 15 months).

New Registration - Class 1 Food Business:

• $994 (between 1 Jan - 30 Jun)
• $497 (between 1 Jul - 30 Sep)
• $994 (between 1 Oct - 31 Dec of the following year)

New Registration - Class 2 Food Business:

• $712 (between 1 Jan - 30 Jun)
• $356 (between 1 Jul - 30 Sep)
• $712 (between 1 Oct - 31 Dec of the following year)

New Registration - Class 3 Food Business:

• $497 (between 1 Jan - 30 Jun)
• $248.50 (between 1 Jul - 30 Sep)
• $497 (between 1 Oct - 31 Dec of the following year)

Plans approval service

You need to do the following when providing us with plans for a new food business:

• Complete the online plans approval application form via the link below
• Attach one copy of the floor plan of the business or kitchen (drawn to a scale of 1:100), and separate plans for any mechanical exhaust systems. All plans must include specifications and details of surfaces, fittings and equipment, according to our Food Premises Development Guide.
• If you are setting up a food vehicle, download the guide Food Vehicle Structural Specifications.
• For commercial home kitchen plans, attach a letter outlining your proposed food activity including:
• Quantity of food prepared
• Type of food prepared
• How food will be transported, if applicable
• Pay the plans approval fee (for Food Premises Class 1, 2, 3) of $201 with the online application. Note: this fee does not cover the Food Act registration.

We will process your application within 14 days of receiving complete plans and specifications. We will then send you back:

• 1 copy of the approved plan
• A letter with conditions
• Contact details of the responsible Environmental Health Officer (EHO)

We advise you not to begin any major work on setting up the new food business or premises until you receive the approved plan.

Setting up a food business at home

If you want to operate a food business from your home, you must register with us and meet certain requirements to ensure your business does not negatively affect your neighbourhood.

Before undertaking any works, you must:

• Contact our Business Concierge to check if any Planning or Building permits are required at business.concierge@whittlesea.vic.gov.au
• The Business Concierge will email you a business proposal form which needs to be submitted to Council’s Environmental Health team.
• An Environmental Health Officer will contact you to discuss your proposal which may require a food safety and risk assessment to determine if an existing kitchen can be modified or if a separate kitchen area is required to comply with the Food Standards Code
• If you live in a rental property, check that your rental agreement allows you to operate a business from the premises

Once all of the above requirements are addressed and satisfied, then approval may be granted to commence the suitable works to obtain registration under the Food Act 1984.

Alternatively, you can choose to lease a registered commercial kitchen that already meets the Food Act 1984 requirements.

To find out about kitchen availability at Council venues for hire, contact the relevant centre manager.

Food business or premises inspections and registration

One of our Environmental Health Officers (EHO) will conduct progress inspections during the construction of your food business or premises to ensure it complies with the Food Standards Code.

Before opening the food premises, our EHO will complete a final inspection. If the business or premises meets food safety standards, you can then apply for Food Act registration with us.

Food Act registration exemption

A classification system exists to ensure the regulatory requirements match the level of food safety risk at different types of premises. For more information, visit the Food Safety Victoria website.

Class 4 premises exempt from registration

Premises under classes 1, 2 and 3 must register with us.

Class 4 premises are exempt from Food Act registration and simply need to notify us that they exist by completing a Notification of a food premises form.

Renew your Food Act registration

All registered food businesses must renew their Food Act registration each year. We email business in mid-November with information on how to renew the registration using the Health Manager online portal system.

The business owner must inform us if details have changed in the last 12 months. You can do this by logging into your private and secure online portal account and reviewing your details. Once you have confirmed your details, the renewal form and payment may be submitted to us using the online portal system. The business will be issued with a certificate for the next year's registration once finalised.

Visit the Renew your food or public health business registration page for more information.

Further information

For more information about Food Act registration, see the Department of Health website.