Human rights will be bought into sharper focus as the  Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 comes into effect from today. Under this new law, all new Federal laws  are to be checked to see they do not infringe human rights obligations. The new Federal legislation could have broad implications for the food and beverages industry and other industries, despite the fact that many of Australia’s food compliance laws are operative at State level rather than at the Federal level. Nonetheless,... ...Read more »

The Australian Capital Territory today introduced a Bill into the Legislative Assembly that will allow the names of food businesses in the Territory convicted of an offence against the Food Act to be placed on a publicly available register. The Food Amendment Bill 2011 proposes an amendment also requires businesses in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to display their current registration certificates to have suitably trained food safety supervisors at premises. Additionally, closure notices... ...Read more »

A Canberra food business has been linked to an outbreak of Salmonella, which has so far resulted in five people being hospitalised. The ACT Government’s Health Directorate is currently investigating the outbreak. So far 13 people have been diagnosed with Salmonella, all of whom reported purchasing ready-to-eat food from the implicated business on 25 of 26 November 2011. ACT Chief Health Officer, Dr Paul Kelly said today, “Salmonella has been identified in mayonnaise containing raw egg, with further... ...Read more »

Fair Work inspectors will audit up to 100 Canberra restaurants between now and February, 2012, as part of a new Australian Government education and compliance campaign. Inspectors will check that employers are paying staff their full entitlements, including minimum pay rates and penalty rates, and are complying with record-keeping obligations. In the ACT, restaurants and cafes are among the main sources of underpayment complaints to the Fair Work Ombudsman and calls to the Fair Work Infoline. The... ...Read more »

The ACT Government has today outlined its new supermarket policy, which they argue will offer Canberra’s grocery shoppers “more choices, more suburban supermarkets and potentially cheaper prices”.Chief Minister and Minister for Business and Economic Development Jon Stanhope said the plan would guide future supermarket development and, in particular, address a shortage of larger, full-line independent supermarket stores in central Canberra and Gungahlin. “This Implementation... ...Read more »

New legislation likely to be introduced in the ACT, that will render Coles, Woolworths and IGA ineligible to apply for certain sites, has been questioned by the competition watchdog. The changes to planning laws are designed to improve competition but Graeme Samuel, Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, believes they are incongruous with the principles of open markets. “They are recommendations that would not appear to be consistent with the findings of the ACCC in... ...Read more »

A policy review in the ACT is set to see Coles, Woolworths and IGA ineligible to bid for certain sites. Chief Minister and Minister for Business and Economic Development Jon Stanhope released the outcomes of the review into ACT supermarket competition policy yesterday. The review, carried out by former ACCC Commissioner John Martin, is designed to improve market access for the independents. It was prompted by the July 2008 ACCC Inquiry into retail grocery prices that recommended that governments... ...Read more »

ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Business and Economic Development, Jon Stanhope, has announced the appointment of Mr John Martin as expert advisor to the ACT Government’s review of supermarket competition policy.Mr Martin is former Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and was Deputy Chair of the ACCC’s 2008 Retail Grocery Inquiry. He will advise the ACT Government on a range of issues that surround the review, in particular the local implications... ...Read more »

The ACT community should achieve a reduction of 80 per cent in plastic bag use, ACT Environment Minister Simon Corbell said on Friday. Mr Corbell said the ACT would move to instigate a 12-month trial in the first half of next year of a range of measures, including a charge on plastic bags, to reduce plastic bag use. “The 80 per cent target would be consistent with the results achieved in the recent Victorian trial of a plastic bag charge of 10 cents per bag,” he claimed. “One of... ...Read more »