Public Health

Food Premises

If you operate or intend on operating a food business, you need to be aware of the relevant health, planning and environmental issues associated with the business. As well as applying to Council to establish a new business, alter or relocate an existing one, operators need to comply with the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) Food Standards Code.

From Friday 8 December 2023, businesses that process unpackaged, potentially hazardous food, and serve it ready to-eat, are required to:
• have a qualified onsite Food Safety Supervisor
• ensure all food handlers are trained in food safety and hygiene
• be able to show their food is safe.

Businesses that only slice, weigh, repack, reheat or hot-hold potentially hazardous food they have not made themselves, for example for example slicing fruit or reheating meals provided by a caterer, are required to:
• have a qualified onsite Food Safety Supervisor, and
• ensure all food handlers are trained in food safety and hygiene.

The changes affect most retail and hospitality food businesses, as well as school canteens, childcare and OOSH services, charities and not-for-profits that regularly sell food, delis, supermarkets, coffee vendors and correctional centres.

See the NSW Food Authority website for more information:
• Standard 3.2.2A Food Safety Management Tools quiz | NSW Food Authority
• Standard 3.2.2A - Frequently asked questions | NSW Food Authority
• Food Safety Supervisors (FSS) | NSW Food Authority
• Food Handler Basics training | NSW Food Authority
• Showing food is safe | NSW Food Authority

Please refer to our fact sheet (PDF 198.6KB)  in relation to food premises and Council’s role in food safety enforcement.

Scores on Doors

Scores on Doors is a NSW Food Business hygiene rating program in partnership with the NSW Food Authority. Tamworth Regional Council has been taking part in the Scores on Doors initiative since August 2016, helping our local community making informed choices about where to purchase food.

Scores on Doors gives consumers a quick, visual and transparent means of assessing the hygiene of a food business.

Here is the latest top-rated food businesses in the Tamworth Region based on their high standard of health and food safety. The star rating indicates how they meet their legal food safety requirements – 4 stars is very good and 5 stars is excellent.

The rating is not for either the taste of the food or the standard of service the business provides.

View the latest Scores on Doors ratings in our region here (PDF 113.8KB)

Council Environmental Health Officers inspect all food businesses in the Tamworth Region once each year to ensure they are meeting their legal food safety requirements. 

If you’re a resident who would like to learn more about the Scores on Doors program, please visit the NSW Food Authority’s Scores on Doors Consumer Information page.

For local food business operators:

• Council has developed a self-assessment checklist (PDF 200.1KB) based on the Food Premises Assessment Report, that food businesses can download, print off and complete regularly to help you assess how well you are doing and identify areas that might need improvement.
• Find out more about what you need to do to achieve the highest rating by reading the fact sheet How to Achieve a Higher Rating (PDF 505.2KB).
• If you wish to have a re-inspection to review your star rating, download the application form (PDF 218.3KB) and return it to Council for the Environmental Health Officers to assess.

Food Complaints

How can Council help me with food complaints?

Our Council Environmental Health Officers investigate a range of food complaints within the Tamworth Council area including:

• single case food poisoning
• food handling
• food contamination or foreign substance in foods
• the hygiene of a food premises

To make a food complaint, please contact the Council Customer Service Centre on 02 6767 5555.

Food Poisoning

If you suspect you have food poisoning, please seek medical help immediately. All complaints should then be made to the NSW Food Authority Contact Centre:

• phone 1300 552 406, Monday to Friday - 8:30am to 5:30pm
• voice mail service is available after hours on 1300 552 406
• email contact@foodauthority.nsw.gov.au
• fax (02) 9647 0026

If you file a complaint about food poisoning, please have the following information:

• the nature, time and location of the incident
• details of the restaurant, function or event where you believe you consumed the contaminated food including full street address details
• if anyone has become ill, their symptoms and when they started to become ill
• what they ate at the suspected meal and what others ate as well, including dips and sauces
• if there is any left-over food that could be tested if an officer determines this is warranted

Food Recalls

A food recall is an action to remove from distribution, sale and consumption, food which may pose a health and safety risk to consumers. Food recalls are coordinated and monitored by Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

Tamworth Regional Council does not coordinate or enforce food recalls. All complaints should be made to the NSW Food Authority Contact Centre.

• phone 1300 552 406, Monday to Friday - 8:30am to 5:30pm
• voice mail service is available after hours on 1300 552 406
• email contact@foodauthority.nsw.gov.au
• fax (02) 9647 0026

Name and Shame Register (Food Safety Offences)

Tamworth Regional Council Environmental Health Officers inspect most premises that sell food in the region. Other premises are inspected by the NSW Food Authority.

On occasion, Council offices will issue penalty notices but only after considerable efforts have been made to rectify a situation with the operators of the food business. Serious food safety offences may result in penalty notices being issued by Council without warning. The NSW Food Authority also issues penalty notices, usually in relation to premises ordinarily inspected by the food authority.

Individuals and businesses may receive either a penalty notice for their alleged offence or be prosecuted before a court.

If Council issues a penalty notice, details are provided to the NSW Food Authority who publishes lists of business that have been issued with penalty notices or found guilty before a court for breaching food safety laws. This is known as the Name and Shame Register. Visit the NSW Food Authority Offences page to find out more.

For more information please contact the following:

• NSW Food Authority
• Food Standards Australia New Zealand
• Council’s Customer Service Centre

Food Safety and handling

Food safety awareness is important for the health and wellbeing of everyone in the community. Both in the home and in food businesses. For more information about general food safety, please view our Food Safety and Handling Fact Sheet (PDF 409KB).

Most food retailers in the Tamworth Region need to train and appoint one Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) per premises. The proprietor (business owner) of a food business must notify the relevant enforcement agency of their FSS within 7 days using the form below:

•  Food Safety Supervisor Notification Form (PDF 878.4KB)

For more information on the FSS, how to get the correct training and how to notify, visit the Food Safety Supervisor website.

Tattooing Body Piercing and Beauty Treatments

Any premises where tattooing, body piercing and hair & beauty services are undertaken in the Tamworth Region are subject to an annual inspection by Council’s Environmental Health Officers.

This ensures these businesses comply with the Local Government Act 1993 and the Public Health Regulation 2012 , that they are maintained in a clean and sanitary condition, and suitably constructed to ensure hygienic conditions.

It is a legislative requirement for any premises where skin penetration (tattooing and body piercing) and hair & beauty treatments are carried out, is registered and approved with Council before opening for trade. This includes any premises that carries out one or more of the following services in a fixed location or mobile businesses:

• Acupuncture
• Beauty treatments
• Body, nose and ear piercing
• Cosmetic enhancements
• Colonic lavage
• Tattooing; and
• Blood cholesterol and glucose measurement

For further information regarding regulations and standards regarding skin penetration services, visit the NSW Department of Health information page or contact Council’s Environmental Health Officers on 02 6767 5555.

Water Cooling Towers

Council regulates water cooling systems, also known as cooling towers, under the Public Health Regulation 2012 and Public Health (Microbial Control) Regulation 2000 .This is to minimise the risk posed by Legionella and other bacteria, which favour the warm, moist environments of cooling systems.

All water cooling systems must comply with AS /NZS 3666.2: 1995 and AS /NZS 3666.3: 2000, which can be obtained from the Australian Standards.

All water-cooling systems located within the Tamworth Regional Council area must be registered with Council and be equipped with an operating and maintenance manual. Council will inspect water-cooling systems annually, including operating manuals and records.

If a water-cooling system is located on a premise that you own, it is your responsibility to ensure that council is provided with the necessary information.

What should I do if I own premises with a water-cooling tower on the roof?

The owners of premises are required to notify Council:

• within one month of the purchase of premises which has one of these systems
• within one month of the installation of one of these systems

The owner or occupier of the premises must also ensure:

• that regular maintenance is carried out and that records of such maintenance are kept on the premises
• certification is provided stating that the cooling tower complies with the disinfection requirements of the Australian Standards

How do I know if I have a water-cooling tower on my premises?

Ask the landlord or company that services the air conditioning system. Do not attempt to access the roof to identify your cooling system unless you are equipped to do so, as this may be dangerous. Identifying a system is not easy unless you are a specialist in this field.

For further information please refer to the regulations and standards at NSW Department of Health or Standards Australia. General information regarding Legionella can be found at NSW Department of Health or by contacting Council’s Environmental Health Officers on (02) 6767 5555.

Public Swimming and Public Spa Pools

Tamworth Regional Council has embarked on a program of inspecting public swimming and public spa pools in the Tamworth Regional Council area in accordance with the requirements of the Public Health Act 2010 and Public Health Regulation 2012 which regulates the public health risk associated with these facilities.

Public swimming pools and public spa pools can become contaminated with disease causing organisms, which may be introduced into the water from bathers (from their skin, saliva, urine, or faeces) or environmental conditions such as dust, bird droppings etc. These disease-causing organisms can be effectively killed off when appropriate disinfection measures of pool water are taking place.

If swimming pools and spa pools are not adequately disinfected and cleaned they can allow medical conditions to be transmitted, such as:

• bacteria associated with eye, ear and skin infections;
• carbuncles and wound infections
• fungi that lead to athletes foot and tinea;
• urino-genital, skin and nail infections
• viruses which can cause gastroenteritis and pharyngo-conjunctival fever
• protozoa which cause Cryptosporidiosis and Giardiasis.

A public swimming pool means a swimming pool or spa pool to which the public is admitted, whether free of charge, on payment of a fee or otherwise, including those swimming pools and spa pools:

• to which the public is admitted as membership of a club
• provided at a workplace for the use of employees
• provided at a hotel, motel or guest house or at holiday units, or a similar facility, for the use of guests, and
• provided at a school or hospital

A public swimming pool does not include a pool situated on private residential premises, unless it is operated for commercial gain (eg. swim schools).

Under the new Act and Regulation, an occupier of premises at which a public swimming pool and/or public spa pool is located is required to:

• notify Council of their existence
• ensure that the primary disinfectant is either chlorine or bromine
• ensure that the public pool is fitted with either an automated or a continuous metered disinfectant dosing system
• ensure that the public pool complies with the specified levels of bromine and chlorine, pH and alkalinity, and meets testing and record keeping requirements. These requirements are set out in detail in Schedule 1 of the Regulation
• ensure that all aspects of the Act and Regulation that relate to public swimming pools and spa pools are complied with.

The following public health legislation and resources have been prepared to assist public swimming and spa pool owners:

• Public Health Act 2010 - Extract
• Public Health Regulation 2012 - Extract
• Schedule 1 - Public Health Regulation 2012- Extract
• NSW Health: Healthy Swimming Pools factsheet
• NSW Health Public Swimming Pools and Spa Pools