An audit of the Department of Health’s regulation of food businesses has found a number of problems.
The report, Regulation of Consumer Food Safety by the Department of Health, states that the Department needs to improve in all audited areas to give the public more confidence that it is consuming safe food.
Auditor General, Caroline Spencer said the business sector also needed confidence the Government was regulating all businesses fairly and focusing on the risks that mattered.
“Our audit found that the Department was conducting inspections at food businesses, but many were overdue and identified issues were not followed up in a timely matter.” Ms Spencer said.
“The Department has also not reviewed the legislation as required, and its guidance for internal and Local Government entity staff conducting inspections is out of date.”
She said this created a risk that regulation would be inconsistent or inefficient.
“The Department also has a responsibility to report on food safety regulation, but lacks timely and appropriate data,” she said.
Ms Spencer said the Department did not know the frequency and types of issues found, whether inspections were completed according to an appropriate schedule or if enforcement action was consistent.
“The findings and recommendations in the report are intended to assist the Department improve the efficiency and effectiveness of consumer food safety regulation,” The Auditor General said.
The Auditor General’s 13-page report can be accessed at this PS News link and the audit team was Jordan Langford-Smith, Matthew Monkhouse and Lyndsay Fairclough.
