Section Menu

What does Rutherford offer?

Rutherford offers a cost effective and comprehensive range of food safety and training SOLUTIONS to effectively reduce food safety risks in the daily operation of a food business.

Important legislation information for Aged Care

» Home » Industry Sectors » Aged Care & Hospitals

Last year you probably received information regarding new Food Safety Legislation. Please contact us if you would like a ‘plain English’ translation of this regulatory information and further description of how it applies to your facility.

For your information, please find below:

Summary of the requirements for aged care facilities

Point 1

All aged care facilities in NSW must have a Food Safety Plan, as stated by the national body Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Food Standards Code – Standard 3.3.1 – Food Safety Programs for Food Service to Vulnerable Persons.

This Food Safety Plan should be based on HACCP principles, as is the unique Rutherford Food Safety Plan Template (FSPT).

This Standard (3.3.1) became part of the Food Standards Code and law under the NSW Food Act 2003, gazetted 5 October 2006. All businesses dealing with vulnerable persons (aged care facilities, hospitals, etc.) needed to comply with this law after lead in time of 2 years, meaning compliance by 5 October 2008.

Point 2

All aged care facilities in NSW must comply with a new law (gazetted) that came into effect on 18 August 2008. This regulation 'Vulneralbe Persons Food Safety Scheme' basically has two requirements:

  1. All businesses dealing with vulnerable persons (aged care facilities, hospitals, etc.) must develop and implement a Food Safety Plan and have it audited from 1 March 2009.
  2. All businesses dealing with vulnerable persons (aged care facilities, hospitals, etc.) must have a license (issued by the NSW Food Authority) and the application for this license should have been submitted by 18 October 2008.

    The license fee is calculated on the number of food handlers (FTE) in the facility and businesses who own multiple facilities can make a single application and maintain a single license (but the total number of food handlers across all the facilities is used to make the calculation).

    The frequency of auditing depends on the results of your first audit and rating, but should be an annual event (every 12 months) if your facility is meeting the audit requirements.

More information can be found on the NSW Food Authority (Vulnerable Persons) industry website pages.

Specific information regarding the licence requirements and associated forms can be found here.

What you need to do…

  • For those facilities already using the Rutherford HACCP based Food Safety Plan Template (FSPT), the person(s) responsible will need to start reviewing every Section in detail and ensure all the information is current and correct.

  • Ensure your license application has been submitted. If not, contact the NSW Food Authority immediately.
    For those facilities without a Food Safety Plan or unsure if their current Plan uses HACCP, please contact us for further assistance.