Food handler certificate — all Australian locations

One national food safety code, eight regulators

Food safety rules in Australia start with the national Food Standards Code. Standard 3.2.2 requires every food business to make sure the people handling its food have skills and knowledge in food safety and hygiene that match their work. Each state and territory gives the Code legal force through its own Food Act and enforces it through its own regulator, usually together with local councils.

Since 8 December 2023, Standard 3.2.2A has added specific tools for cafés, restaurants, caterers and many food retailers: a certified Food Safety Supervisor, and food handler training for the staff who handle unpackaged, ready-to-eat food. The supervisor needs a formal, recognised certificate. The food handler training element does not name an accredited provider: it asks that staff complete training in safe food handling, contamination, cleaning and sanitising, and personal hygiene, or otherwise have the skills and knowledge for their duties. Our free course covers those topics, and our private certificate of completion records that you passed.

What changes from place to place is who enforces the rules, how supervisor requirements apply, and where the food jobs are. Each state page below covers its regulator and local rules; each city page covers the local hospitality scene.

Compare food handler requirements by state