Accommodation and food services industry
Last Updated: 16 October 2019
Gain an understanding of the legal, operational and business issues relevant to the accommodation and food services industry.
The accommodation and food services industry includes:
- hotels, motels, serviced apartments, and other short-term accommodation for visitors
- cafes, restaurants, takeaways, pubs, bars and other businesses that sell meals, snacks and beverages
Legislation, standards and initiatives
It’s important that you are aware of the laws that apply to the accommodation and food services industry. Key legislation includes:
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010
- Australian Consumer Law (ACL)
- National Trade Measurement legislation
- State liquor licensing
- State restricted trading days
- Food Standards Codes
- Country of Origin food labelling
- Franchising code of conduct
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's (ACCC) guides
- Travel & accommodation - an industry guide to the Australian Consumer Law
- Food and beverage industry - food descriptors guideline to the Trade Practices Act.
Licences and permits
State or territory governments manage the licences and permits for the accommodation and food services industry. The licences and permits you may need include:
- preparing and/or selling food
- selling and/or consumption of alcohol
- erecting/displaying signage
- restricted trading days
- outdoor dining
- playing video/sound recordings
- disposal of waste
Search the Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS)
Find the licences and permits you need for your accommodation and food services business.
Taxation requirements
Employing people
If you employ staff, you need to comply with Australia’s national workplace laws specific to the accommodation and food services industry.
Visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website for awards specific to your industry.
Workplace Health & Safety (WHS)
There are general occupational health and safety regulations for all businesses. The accommodation and food services industry also have state-specific WHS requirements, including:
- occupational noise management
- standards for protective clothing and equipment
- standards for occupational safety signage
- national standard for manual handling
- prevention of burns from hot liquids, surfaces or steam
- prevention and response to workplace bullying
- prevention of workplace violence (e.g. robbery)
- electrical safety
State and territory government agencies
The state and territory government agencies relevant to the accommodation and food services industry include:
- State fair trading or consumer affairs agencies
- ACT Access Canberra
- NSW Department of Industry
- NT Department Trade, Business and Innovation
- NT Department of Attorney-General and Justice
- QLD Business Queensland
- SA Department of Consumer and Business Services
- TAS Department of State Growth
- VIC Business Victoria
- WA Small Business Development Corporation
Government industry research
Industry research is an important part of planning for your business, it may help you identify:
- economic and industry trends
- establish or improve your business
- help you keep pace with your industry
The government source for statistics for the accommodation and food services industry is the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Read the hospitality industries section of the ABS website to find out the statistics for the accommodation sector, the cafes and restaurants sector, and the clubs, pubs, taverns and bars sector.
