The House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources has released its report for its inquiry into food and beverage manufacturing in Australia.
The report, titled ‘Food for Thought: The opportunities and challenges for Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing industry’, has made 23 recommendations.
The Chair of the committee, Mr Rob Mitchell MP, said: “By 2040, the global population is expected to reach nine billion. This will shape the global economic and consumer landscape, and Australia is well-positioned to capitalise on its ‘clean and green’ reputation and ability to innovate and expand product range to further increase its market share, both domestically and internationally.
“This inquiry found many opportunities for expanding the Australian food and beverage manufacturing sector. These include export opportunities, integrating new technologies, building on Australia’s reputational and competitive advantages, and adding value to raw products to produce high-value goods.
“The Committee has made several recommendations to take advantage of these opportunities, including developing a National Food Plan, increasing AusTrade assistance for small and medium enterprises looking to export Australian food and beverage products to Asia, identifying skills shortages in the industry, and supporting automation technologies.”
The report was welcomed by Australia’s spirits industry with Australian Distillers Association Chief Executive Paul McLeay thanking the committee for the interest it had shown in the spirits sector and understanding its opportunities and challenges.
“These recommendations demonstrate the committee recognises our potential to follow in the footsteps of Australian wine, which has become a $2.5bn export industry by working in partnership with the Federal Government,” he said.
“We call on the Government to adopt our Spirits Export Accelerator Strategy as the first step towards fulfilling the objectives of the Spirits Australia body.”
Spirits & Cocktails Australia Chief Executive Greg Holland said the industry looks forward to working with the Government to implement the report’s recommendations.
“But we must remind the Government that Spirits Australia cannot be industry funded while we are paying the world’s third highest spirits tax. There simply isn’t the headroom for an additional levy,” he said.
“Wine Australia was fully Government funded in the beginning, and it remains partly Government funded today, as the committee itself acknowledges in its report.
“Spirits Australia must be funded initially by allocating a modest amount of the $6bn in excise our industry pays to the Government every year.”
The Shout will bring more reaction to the report from across the industry next week.
The full list of recommendations from the report are:
Recommendation One
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government develop a National Food Plan for Australia, which includes:
- clear objectives
- defined outcomes
- measurable targets
The National Food Plan should be developed in consultation with state/territory and local governments, along with relevant sectors, stakeholders, and the community.
Recommendation Two
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, through a cross-governmental approach, acknowledge and address the linkages between agri-food production and nutrition and health to minimise the impact of non-communicable diseases.
Recommendation Three
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government provide increased Austrade assistance for small and medium enterprises looking to export Australian food and beverage products to Asia.
Recommendation Four
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government support the uptake of AI-driven and automation technologies to drive innovation and productivity in the Australian food and beverage manufacturing industry.
Recommendation Five
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in consultation with industry stakeholders, identify specific opportunities for value-adding to food and beverage products which would increase the proportion of onshore value-added products.
Recommendation Six
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in consultation with industry stakeholders, identify opportunities to provide targeted support for the growing novel food and beverage industry.
Recommendation Seven
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government review Australia’s current environmental protection laws to ensure that Australia’s native flora are protected from being propagated overseas for commercial use.
Recommendation Eight
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government provide support and funding to activate the North Melbourne food innovation precinct.
Recommendation Nine
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in consultation with industry stakeholders, identify areas of skills shortages and support solutions that will help provide immediate relief, while investing in the longer-term development of the workforce.
Recommendation 10
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government investigate ways to update educational pedagogy and practice in food science and nutrition classes across primary school, high school, tertiary and TAFE education, to align with the rapid technological advancements occurring in the industry.
This should be done in collaboration with state/territory governments, with a view to increase hands-on and on-site experiences to attract and nurture talent for the future of Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing industry.
Recommendation 11
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in collaboration with industry stakeholders, identify and map out key logistic infrastructure bottlenecks. This process should include a close analysis of the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES), with a view to lowering the freight rates.
Recommendation 12
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government provide support and funding to establish strategically positioned food and beverage manufacturing facilities to enable increased regional food resilience, including:
- a manufacturing facility in northern Australia, to reduce the ecological footprint of food transport and increase regional employment, and
- a food innovation hub in northern Australia that is designed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.
Recommendation 13
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in consultation with industry stakeholders, implement a program of certification for the domestic organic food market, and amend the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s definition of the term ‘organic’ to mean ‘certified organic’.
Recommendation 14
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government coordinate with state/territory and local governments on changeover dates and timelines when introducing new labelling requirements.
Recommendation 15
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government support digitisation and innovation opportunities for labelling, such as the implementation of QR codes, to provide additional information to consumers.
Recommendation 16
The Committee recommends the formation of a new House Select Committee to inquire and report into all aspects of Australia’s alcohol industry.
Recommendation 17
The Committee recommends the Australian Government work with industry to establish a new body, ‘Spirits Australia’, similar to the existing statutory body, Wine Australia. The new body should be developed in consultation with industry stakeholders and be industry-funded.
Recommendation 18
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government continue to fund End Food Waste Australia. Further collaboration opportunities should be sought to accelerate progress to meet the National Food Waste Strategy target to halve food waste by 2030.
Recommendation 19
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government consider how it can incentivise, support, and coordinate food and beverage manufacturers to engage in upcycling, recycling, and other circular economy solutions to food waste.
Recommendation 20
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government investigate sectoral needs for advanced manufacturing hubs and machinery, along with their location requirements, and use that information to create an Upcycled Food Infrastructure Investment Plan.
Recommendation 21
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government continue to develop policies to support reduced and recyclable food packaging, including the consideration of:
- support for Australian businesses in the transition towards more sustainable practices
- national-level leadership in addressing packaging waste
- incentivisation of material collection
- packaging design standards that encourage circular economy principles.
Recommendation 22
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with state/territory and local governments and industry to harmonise Australia’s container deposit schemes.
Recommendation 23
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government ensure that its Net Zero Plan provides support and incentives for Australian food and beverage manufacturers to decarbonise.
The full report is available through the Government’s Parliamentary Business website.