Upcoming changes to food safety for long daycare services

Now beginning Sunday, 8 December 2024 (not 2023), all early childhood education and care services that process unpackaged food (eg cooks) or serve packaged food must ensure their service's cook or director/nominated supervisor have her/his certificate showing s/he has completed:

• the Food Handler Basics training; and
• the Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) training from one of the approved Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).

The NSW Food Authority offers ​free online training (covering basic food safety and hygiene) for cooks and any employee that does any food handling.

The legal requirement for eligible early childhood education and care services will also be to keep a copy of the FSS certificates on premises. Such certificates last 5 years after which recertification will be required. Please note that the RTO can provide a Recognition of Prior Learning for the purposes of issuing the FSS certificate where appropriate.

ACA NSW has been advised that the above does not apply to early childhood education and care services whose children bring food prepared by their families/carers.

ACA NSW have asked the following questions to the NSW Food Authority: 

1. Does my ECEC Service's qualified chef still need to do the Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) training?
2. What qualifications of chefs are automatically accepted as being already compliant with the Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) training?
3. If the person fails the Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) training, how quickly can that person take the training and test again? 
4. What are the differences of existing qualifications and the Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) and Food Handler Basics Training? Can an RTO facilitate recognised prior learning and enable our staff to complete the differences?
5. Does the designated Food Safety Supervisor need to be present at all time?
6. What if the designated Food Safety Supervisor is on leave, does the ECEC service need to replace that person with another qualified Food Safety Supervisor?
7. Is a Food Safety Supervisor required by the service to bake birthday cakes?
8. If the ECEC service has a vegetable gardens on-side and/or cooking with the children in their learning kitchens (see Reg 107(3)(b)), is a Food Safety Supervisor still required?
9. Do casual educators need to have completed the Food Handlers Basics training?
10. If the ECEC service conducts non-children events where the food is served, eg parent's nights or sausage sizzles for fundraising, is the Food Safety Supervisor and Food Handler Basics training requirements still apply?
11. If the ECEC service outsources their catering, is a Food Safety Supervisor still required?
12. If children were to bring food into their ECEC service, is the Food Safety Supervisor still required?
13. If children bring their own food into the ECEC service, however the service provides milk to prepare bottles, it the Food Safety Supervisor still required?
14. If children bring their own food into the ECEC service, and the parents provide the service with express milk, is the Food Safety Supervisor still required?
15. What happens if a service does not comply? 

Please note:  ACA NSW Members will need to log in with their Username & Password
in order to view the responses to the above questions

ACA NSW did seek clarification from the NSW Minister for Agriculture (the Hon Tara Moriarty MLC) in regards to concerns and unintended consequences of the impending new food safety requirements. Minister Moriarty's Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has written back to ACA NSW with assurances that during the (undefined) transitional period, NSW's local councils' officers (as the local regulators who will visit early childhood education and care services) will focus on education and awareness instead of compliance to the new food safety requirements. Hence, ACA NSW members are welcome to share the letterl with their local councils should they question about compliance during the (undefined) transitional period beginning 8 December 2023.

That said, the NSW Food Authority has now advised that this new requirement will now not be needed until Sunday, 8 December 2024 next year.

For further information:

• Training - https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/training
• Food Safety Supervisors (FSS) - https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/retail/fss-food-safety-supervisors

For any other information/clarification or assistance, members can also contact the ACA NSW team via 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au.

LAST UPDATED: 1 DECEMBER 2023

FIRST PUBLISHED: 19 JUNE 2023