The Department of Health and local government authorities have specific duties and responsibilities in the administration of the:
- Food Act 2008 and
- Public Health Act 2016
WA local governments and the Department of Health are the enforcement agencies for various food businesses and other business activities across WA.
Development of a compliance and enforcement strategy
Enforcement agencies are advised to adopt a strategic approach to the application of legislative enforcement provisions by developing a written compliance and enforcement strategy or policy. This will ensure consistency in enforcement action taken by a local government, its Environmental Health Officers and authorised officers.
Compliance and enforcement action should be a graduated approach of enforcement options, generally commencing with milder options such as issuing an improvement notice and then progressively moving to more severe enforcement options such as prosecution.
The enforcement option will depend on inherent risks and the overall performance of a business or individual.
The Compliance and Enforcement Guideline for Local Government Enforcement Agencies (PDF 511 KB) is designed to assist a local government to develop a strategy based on the compliance and enforcement requirements of the Food Act 2008.
Food Act 2008
The compliance and enforcement tools available to enforcement agencies under the food legislation include:
Public Health 2016
The compliance and enforcement tools available to enforcement agencies under the Public Health Act include:
Guidelines to support the development of a compliance and enforcement policy
To guide the development of compliance and enforcement policies, local governments may use:
Last reviewed: 06-07-2021
Produced by
Environmental Health Directorate