Safe Food outlines proposed Future Operating Model to strengthen food safety

Safe Food Production Queensland (Safe Food) is proposing a new way to manage food safety regulation in Queensland. The Future Operating Model is designed to better protect public health, support industry, and improve how regulatory decisions are made using data and risk information.

The proposal explains what is changing, why it is needed, and how it would work in practice. It also outlines the expected benefits for businesses, consumers, and government.

Why change is needed

Food production and supply chains are becoming more complex. Risks can change quickly due to factors such as climate events, new diseases, large distribution networks, and growing customer expectations.

Safe Food currently uses audits and assessments to check compliance. While these are important, they:

• Show compliance at a point in time only
• Can be resource intensive
• May not identify emerging risks early enough.

At present, businesses doing similar work are often regulated in the same way, even when their risk level or compliance history is different.

Safe Food collects a range of useful information, such as audit results, complaints, and production data; however, this information is not always used together in a consistent way to guide decisions.

The proposed model aims to fix this by improving how data is used to manage risk and target regulatory effort.

What the Future Operating Model is

The Future Operating Model is a move to a modern, risk-based system for food safety regulation. It brings existing schemes together into one unified Food Safety Scheme aligned with national standards.

The model focuses on:

• Risk-based decision making
• Use of data and evidence
• Early identification of emerging risks
• More targeted regulatory action.

This means regulation will depend more on a business’s risk and performance over time, not just its industry type.

How the model would work

The new approach brings several key changes:

1. Risk-based regulation

Businesses will be assessed based on:

• The type of food they produce (inherent risk)
• How many people could be affected if something goes wrong (exposure risk).

This will help determine the level of oversight.

2. Performance-based oversight

Ongoing regulation will consider:

• Audit and assessment results
• Compliance history
• Data and reporting
• Complaints or notifications.

Businesses with strong food safety performance may have less frequent intervention. Higher-risk or non-compliant businesses will receive closer oversight.

3. System-wide monitoring

Safe Food will use information from across the whole supply chain to identify risks early. This includes production, processing, distribution, and external factors such as weather or disease outbreaks.

This helps:

• Identify trends and emerging risks early
• Target regulatory action where it is needed most
• Improve overall system oversight.

4. Early warning and response

The model will use predictive tools to detect changes in risk. If risk levels change, businesses may receive alerts and be asked to respond quickly.

Safe Food will step in only when needed, supporting a more shared approach to managing food safety risks.

5. Risk Prioritisation Model

A key part of the system is the Risk Prioritisation Model. It combines different information sources to create a clear risk and performance score for each business.

This score helps determine:

• The level of regulatory oversight
• Compliance pathways
• Priority for action.

The score can change over time based on business performance and new information.

Benefits of the new model

The Future Operating Model is expected to:

• Improve food safety through earlier risk detection
• Reduce unnecessary regulatory burden for compliant businesses
• Make decisions more consistent and transparent
• Better target resources where risk is highest
• Strengthen confidence in the food system.

For businesses, it also creates a clearer link between good food safety practices and reduced regulatory intervention.

Next steps

Safe Food will introduce the model in stages, starting with a pilot in one industry sector. This will allow testing and refinement before wider rollout.

A new digital system is also being developed to support the model. It will improve data sharing, reporting, and access to compliance information.

While the model can be introduced without legislative change, amendments are preferred to provide long-term certainty for industry.

Preparing for change

Accredited businesses are encouraged to start preparing by:

• Reviewing food safety practices
• Improving record keeping and data quality
• Preparing to share information digitally
• Engaging with Safe Food updates and pilots.

Support and guidance will be provided as changes are introduced.

Learn more

Read the Proposed Future Operating Model document online.