Published on Tuesday, 7 January 2025 at 2:52:07 PM
A Court conviction has been recorded against a local food business after the Shire of Esperance pursued charges in relation to non-compliance under the State Government Food Act 2008 and associated Regulations. The legal action came after significant work by Shire Environmental Health officers, educating the business owners on their responsibilities under State Government regulations and helping them with advice and resources to achieve compliance.
Council and the Shire take local health and safety very seriously, and are committed to working with business owners to help them meet the State Government legislation and regulations every Local Government must enforce. Court action is a last resort after a graduated response has been applied by qualified Shire officers.
Significant resources are invested in meeting the objectives of the Shire’s Public Health Plan 2021-2026, including giving Environmental Health officers the time and means to build positive relationships of trust with food businesses and create environments supporting our community’s health and wellbeing. These officers prioritise support for food businesses and community organisations that handle food, and have received much complimentary feedback on their approachability, willingness to help, and extensive information sheets, templates and advice forums.
For the convenience of our business community, comprehensive information on food hygiene, starting a food business, buying an existing food business, food safety training, food safety management tools, free allergy awareness resources and further vital information is also available 24 hours a day on the Shire’s Food Businesses webpage.
Shire Environmental Health officers aim to establish a positive food safety culture in our region. A strong food safety culture within a business reflects the attitudes, behaviours and priority given to food safety by everyone within the food business. Shire Environmental Health officers will always provide the food business in question with helpful advice, information and resources. A graduated response to compliance is applied if necessary, depending on each food business’s willingness to implement food safety change.
If public safety is deemed to be at risk after every supporting action has been provided, court proceedings to protect the community from serious food safety concerns and health consequences will be commenced.
Environmental Health officers held a TOAST (Thriving Organisations and Other Shire Talks) Breakfast Workshop in October last year to update community groups and sporting clubs on new food safety requirements. This information session demonstrated how easy it can be to keep the required records in one location, offered assistance and advice, and provided a file with all the resources and templates needed to comply with the new State Government requirements. These resources and more are relevant to all food handling businesses and organisations, and are available by contacting the Environmental Health team on health@esperance.wa.gov.au.
Further information sessions to assist local food businesses and food handling community organisations are planned. These are informal workshops attended by all our Environmental Health officers, who present information critical to the running of food businesses in a friendly atmosphere and go over and above to make sure the advice they provide is accurate and easy to understand. Attendance at these events is highly recommended for all interested parties, keep an eye on Shire communications for details of the next information forum.
Back to All News