Changes to the Victorian Dairy Act – including raw milk offences

Changes to the Victorian Dairy Act 2000, made under the Agriculture and Food Safety Legislative Amendment Act 2024, took effect on 17 April 2025.

The Dairy Act amendments:

  1. Introduce new offences via a new section 36A, relating to the sale, delivery or provision of raw milk for both human consumption and for purposes other than for human consumption.
    • Previous dairy license conditions relating to raw milk are being removed from dairy licences as part of the 2026 dairy licence renewal process.
    • The new section will include a penalty for non-compliance more commensurate to the public health risk of raw milk, and make it easier for Dairy Food Safety Victoria (DFSV) to enforce compliance with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. 
    • There will be no impact on dairy licensees who are compliant with the current dairy license conditions.
  1. Enable the DFSV board selection committee to make recommendations when there is a vacancy or absence of a committee member.
    • This will enable recommendations regarding appointments to the DFSV board to be made when there is a quorum of selection committee members.
    • This will ensure board appointments can still be made in a timely manner when there is a vacancy or absence of a selection committee member for any reason.
  2. Remove the requirement for DFSV to hold an annual meeting with industry representatives following the release of the DFSV annual report.
    • This will enable DFSV to focus resources on more effective and inclusive mechanisms to engage with industry.          

Further details on the Victorian Dairy Act 2000 can be found on the Victorian Legislation website.