Wodonga Council — Temporary food premises

All mobile and temporary food premises (including community groups that operate food stalls) must register or notify council of their activities.

FoodTrader

Victoria has a state-wide registration and notification system called FoodTrader for temporary and mobile food premises.

FoodTrader can be accessed from: www.foodtrader.vic.gov.au. Through the website you can login to your account to apply to register and/or notify of a premises. A how-to-use guide with video explanations on many of the functions within the FoodTrader portal.

If you are from outside Victoria, then the first council that you trade in is the council that you register with to help manage your activities.

Statement of Trade

All mobile food businesses, temporary food businesses and community groups that sell food in Victoria must submit a Statement of Trade to the council where they intend to trade. The Statement of Trade must be submitted at least 1 full business day prior to trading via your registered FoodTrader account.

For more information, refer to the Statements of Trade webpage.

Other Premises requirements

All food premises are required to comply with the requirements of the Food Act 1984 (Vic) and the Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Code. The Environmental Health team have developed several fact sheets which can be provided upon contact with council.
Registration of your home kitchen as a fixed food premises may be required if you prepare or store food at home for your mobile or temporary food business.

Other Laws and Permits

You may also need additional permits or permission to operate your mobile or temporary food premises. These could include the following:

Permission from council’s Civic Services to operate on or advertise on council owned or managed land;
Permission from the landowner if you intend to operate on private land (you must also ensure the land is appropriately zoned for the activity by contacting Planning)
Permission from the event organiser, if operating at events or markets
Approval from the relevant road authority to trade on land within a road reserve (e.g. VicRoads)
Other trading licences, such as a liquor licence (where applicable)

Cost

Council’s fees and charges are updated on July 1 each year. You can view our current fees and charges here.

Processing time

Please allow two weeks (10 business days) from the time we receive your completed application to the time that a pre-opening inspection is organised.

To register your food business, you will need to complete the following:

Submit a new business approval application form on our website and discuss your requirements with the Business Engagement Officer to ensure you have covered all council requirements (Planning, Building and Environmental Health).

Once the Business Engagement Officer has referred you to the Environmental Health team, you will be contacted to discuss your proposal and determine your food premises class.

In Victoria, food businesses are classified based on risk and the whole food premises is classified based on the highest risk food activity. The Class types are Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, Class 3A and Class 4.

Note: Class 4 food businesses are only required to notify council of their food activities – not register.

Complete a registration or notification application through the FoodTrader portal

To ensure faster processing times, please ensure that you submit any required supporting documentation (such as a floor plan and a Food Safety Supervisor Certificate (if applicable) with your application form). These can be emailed through to [email protected] once your application has been submitted on FoodTrader.

FoodTrader application is received and processed by the Environmental Health team. You may be asked to provide some additional information before an invoice is generated.

The invoice will be issued via the FoodTrader portal.

Note: Payment can only be accepted through the FoodTrader portal.

For mobile food premises only:

Once payment is received, an Environmental Health Officer (EHO) will contact you to arrange a preopening inspection of the mobile food premises.

Note: You cannot open and begin trading until an EHO has assessed, inspected and approved your mobile premises for registration.

Once payment has been received and any required inspections have been completed, you will be issued with a Certificate of Registration through the FoodTrader portal.

You can now begin to submit your Statements of Trade and commence trading.

Note: Registration is annual (based on the calendar year) - the renewal process begins in late November each year.

Descriptions of different types of mobile/temporary food premises are listed below:

Temporary food premises

Temporary food premises are temporary stalls or tents from which food is sold, such as at a market or festival.

It can be any structure that is not permanently fixed to a site.

More information is available from the Department of Health's fact sheet.

Community groups

A community group must meet ALL of the below requirements:

Does not operate for the profit or gain (either direct or indirect) of individual members. Any profit made goes back into the organisation and is not distributed to any of its members;
Raises funds for charitable purposes or provides a service to the community;
Only operates for two consecutive days or less at any one event; and
The majority of persons involved in the handling of the food are volunteers.

To learn more about food safety, complete the Department of Health's food safety course by clicking here.

Mobile food premises

Mobile food premises are vehicles such as vans, trailers or carts from which food is sold.

More information is available from the Department of Health's fact sheet.

Water transport vehicle

A water transport vehicle is operated by a private business and involves the delivery of water for sale to the public which is intended for:

Human consumption; or
Purposes connected with human consumption (such as preparation of food, making ice for consumption or preserving unpackaged food).

More information is available from the Department of Health's fact sheet.

Food vending machine

A food vending machine is a machine from which there is an automated sale of food without any attention or intervention by the seller at the time of sale.

More information is available from the Department of Health's fact sheet.

Statement of trade

Once registered – or notified – under the statewide system, statement of trade (SOTs) forms are to be lodged with your principal council and relevant council in which you are operating, at least five days before the event.

PLEASE NOTE: It is a legal requirement that all SOT forms MUST be submitted to your principal council (or relevant council) at least five working days prior to the event. You must display your current valid registration certificate at the event.