The Australian Capital Territory’s Chief Minister and Minister for Health Katy Gallagher has released the regulatory impact statement on a proposal requiring Canberra’s food establishments’ inspection results to be displayed at their entrance.

The ACT Government Health Directorate commissioned a regulatory impact statement from KPMG in August 2011, which found that ‘Scores on Doors’ had successfully increased food hygiene standards in the United States, Canada and Denmark.

“We have now received the final copy of a comprehensive regulatory impact statement. The statement explores four options for ‘Scores on Doors’, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each option,” the ACT Chief Minister said.

‘Scores on doors’ in NSW and QLD

‘Scores on Doors’ schemes operate in cities around the world and are a relatively new approach to improving food safety in Australia.

A ‘scores on doors’ system commenced as a pilot scheme in a number of New South Wales municipalities that ran from July to December 2010. On 28 July 2011, the NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, announced that a voluntary 12-month trial of the program would be rolled out across the entire state from August 2011. The scheme is still operating in New South Wales.

Also, as Australian Food News previously reported, the Queensland Parliament passed new legislation in November 2011 to allow a government-led food business rating scheme to be introduced across Queensland.

A national voluntary scheme for ‘scores on doors’

The Australian Legislation and Governance Forum on Food Regulation (formerly, before 13 February 2011, known as the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council) is still considering adopting a similar voluntary scheme nationally, where the results of food safety inspections by municipal council officers are publicly displayed.

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