Standard 3.2.2A is easy to confuse with Standard 3.2.1, which covers food safety programs. They are different standards. Standard 3.2.2A is called Food Safety Management Tools and applies to specified Australian food service, catering and retail businesses that handle unpackaged, potentially hazardous food that is ready to eat.
The requirements became enforceable in December 2023. They sit alongside the existing requirements in Standards 3.2.2 and 3.2.3; they do not replace them. The FSANZ overview of Standard 3.2.2A is the best national starting point.
The three food safety management tools
Standard 3.2.2A contains three tools. Which tools apply depends on whether the business is category one or category two under this standard.
1. Food handler training
Before handling unpackaged, potentially hazardous, ready-to-eat food, food handlers in category one and category two businesses must have completed a food safety training course or have appropriate skills and knowledge. The required topics include safe food handling, contamination, cleaning and sanitising, and personal hygiene. FSANZ explains the options in its food handler training guidance.
2. A certified Food Safety Supervisor
Category one and category two businesses must appoint a Food Safety Supervisor with recognised certification obtained within the previous five years. The supervisor must be reasonably available to advise and supervise food handlers. That may mean working onsite or being easily contactable; it does not mean the supervisor must be onsite every minute. Read the current FSANZ Food Safety Supervisor guidance.
3. Evidence of critical food safety controls
This tool applies to category one businesses only. The business must make records, or demonstrate in another acceptable way, that prescribed controls for receiving, storing, processing, displaying and transporting potentially hazardous food, and for cleaning and sanitising, are being managed. Records made for this purpose must generally be kept for at least three months. See FSANZ's evidence tool guidance for the detailed scope.
Standard 3.2.2A has three tools: food handler training, a certified Food Safety Supervisor, and — for category one businesses — evidence of critical controls.
Category one and category two
- Category one covers a caterer or food service business that processes unpackaged, potentially hazardous food into food that is both ready to eat and potentially hazardous, then serves it to a consumer. Depending on their activities, restaurants, cafés, takeaway shops, caterers and bakeries may fall here.
- Category two covers a retailer of potentially hazardous, ready-to-eat food that was handled unpackaged but was not made or processed onsite, apart from limited activities such as slicing, weighing, repacking, reheating or hot holding.
A business name or menu label is not enough to decide the category. The actual food-handling activities matter, so two bakeries or cafés can have different obligations.
How the national categories fit with Victoria's system
Category one and category two under Standard 3.2.2A are separate from Victoria's food-premises classification system. A Victorian business must meet the national Food Standards Code and any Victorian registration, classification, food safety program or auditing requirements that apply to its activities.
Local councils register and regulate most Victorian cafés, restaurants, caterers, retailers and manufacturers. Safe Food Victoria licenses specified sectors including meat, poultry, seafood and dairy. Use the Safe Food Victoria regulator guide and confirm your classification and requirements with the responsible regulator.
Key takeaways
- The correct standard is Standard 3.2.2A — Food Safety Management Tools.
- The requirements became enforceable in December 2023.
- Category one businesses need all three tools; category two businesses need food handler training and a certified Food Safety Supervisor.
- The Food Safety Supervisor must be reasonably available and hold recognised certification issued within the previous five years.
- National category one/category two classifications are different from Victorian premises classes.
A practical preparation checklist
- Map what food you handle, including whether it is unpackaged, potentially hazardous and ready to eat.
- Confirm your category and Victorian classification with your local council or other responsible regulator.
- Check food handler training before staff undertake prescribed activities, and keep evidence of how the requirement is met.
- Check your Food Safety Supervisor is appropriately certified, within the five-year period, and reasonably available.
- For category one, review your evidence for prescribed controls and retain applicable records for the required period.
- Review the system when activities change, such as adding a new menu, process, site or sales channel.
Primary sources and review note
This article was reviewed on 12 August 2026 against current FSANZ guidance and Safe Food Victoria's regulator information. It is general information, not a determination of your business category or legal advice. Your local council or responsible regulator can confirm the requirements for your activities.
