Dirty eateries still a secret
The NSW Government has quietly passed new restaurant hygiene laws but they do not include its promise to ensure the public can find out which businesses have been fined for food safety breaches. Under the Food Amendment Bill, passed last week, restaurants and other food businesses will be charged a new “administration fee” to help meet the cost of council officers inspecting their premises. The charge is intended to reduce the number of businesses that are never inspected because councils don’t have the money to pay inspectors. But the law makes no reference to the Primary Industry Minister, Ian Macdonald’s, key promise earlier this year that NSW would follow the US, Canada and Britain in making the results of restaurant inspections publicly available. In May, the Herald revealed that a sushi factory in Larkin Street, Camperdown had been fined 11 times and closed twice for food safety breaches including rat infestations, but this information had been kept from the public. Mr Macdonald said at the time he would amend the Food Act to ensure details of the fines routinely imposed by the NSW Food Authority and council officers were available to the public. Most councils refuse to reveal the names of businesses they have fined for food safety breaches on the grounds this is information that relates to their business affairs or could damage their businesses. These arguments have been rejected by governments overseas. Two local governments in Sydney, Woollahra and Bankstown, have released details of fines sought by journalists using freedom of information laws. Sydney Morning Herald, October 29.
