Selling food from home in Queensland

At a glance

Who regulates you

In Queensland, the path depends on food risk.

Primary agency: Local council. Fallback or related agency: Safe Food Production Queensland (accredited primary produce).

Licence required only if the business is a 'licensable food business' under s 48 (manufacture; or retail sale of unpackaged food by a non-non-profit; or non-profit meals on ≥12 days/year). Apply to the local government for the premises. Display the licence. Some low-risk activities are exempt from licensing but must still comply with food laws.

Home-based preparation can be allowed, but being home-based does not exempt you from the Food Standards Code. The regulator can still assess whether the premises and activity are suitable.

What counts as a food business

The definition under the Food Act 2006 (Qld) is broader than a café, bakery or commercial kitchen.

One-off sales still count

The rules can apply whether you sell regularly or on only one occasion. Running a stall once rather than every weekend does not, by itself, take the activity outside the definition.

Growing the food yourself does not necessarily exempt the sale

Primary food production is generally excluded from the food-business definition. Growing, raising, cultivating, picking, harvesting and collecting food can sit in that carve-out.

Direct sale or service of food to the public is often carved out of that primary-production definition. Growing tomatoes on your property can be primary production; selling those tomatoes directly to the public from your gate can be a different activity.

Licence exemptions (where published)

Activities that consist only of the following are not licensable under the published Queensland rules:

• production of primary produce under Food Production (Safety) Act 2000 accreditation
• sale of unpackaged snack food (biscuits/cakes, confectionery, chips, nuts, dried/glazed fruit, if not potentially hazardous)
• sale of whole fruit or vegetables
• sale of seeds, spices, dried herbs, tea leaves, coffee beans or ground coffee
• grinding of coffee beans
• sale of drinks other than fruit/vegetable juice processed at the place of sale
• sale of ice including flavoured ice
• certain non-profit meal sales (simple breakfast; consumer helps prepare; pre-prepared heated per directions; educational/training activity)
• other food prescribed under a regulation

Eggs have additional rules

If you sell eggs, council food-business notification or registration may be only part of the picture. Egg production can be separately regulated by Safe Food Production Queensland. Check commodity-scheme obligations separately rather than assuming the main food-business gate covers everything.

What probably does not apply to a simple farm stand

The food laws cover businesses ranging from a table of home-grown produce to restaurants handling high-risk ready-to-eat food. That means some of the more demanding requirements you will encounter when researching the rules do not apply to every small seller.

Food Safety Supervisor

All licensed food businesses must have a food safety supervisor (per Queensland Health fundraising guidance and annual report framing). Unlicensed businesses still need skills and knowledge appropriate to activities.

A stand selling whole fruit and vegetables, sealed jars of jam, honey or other low-risk products is not doing the same activity as Category 1 or 2 food service. The dividing line is the food and how you handle it, not whether you call it a farm stand.

Where the line changes

Whole raw fruit and vegetables are generally not treated as ready-to-eat food under the Food Standards Code because the consumer is expected to wash, peel or otherwise prepare them. Cut fruit, prepared salads, sandwiches, cooked meats and other unpackaged foods requiring temperature control can change your obligations significantly.

Basic food-handler obligations still apply

Even where Standard 3.2.2A does not apply, food businesses must ensure people undertaking food-handling activities have appropriate skills and knowledge for the work they perform.

How to apply

1. Contact Local council before setting up

   Tell them what you intend to make, where it will be prepared, how it will be stored, and where and how you intend to sell it. Home-based businesses can still be subject to inspection, so establish expectations before you commit to the setup.

2. Complete the Licence required only if the business is a 'licensable food business' under s 48 (manufacture; or retail sale of unpackaged food by a non-non-profit; or non-profit meals on ≥12 days/year)

   Your council or regulator can provide the current form. Fee: Fees are set by each local government. Do not publish a statewide fee..

3. Respect the timing rule

   Before carrying on a licensable food business. Do not wait until after your first market or first weekend of sales.

4. Notify or register each premises

   If the business operates from multiple food premises, separate information is required for each site.

What happens if you do not comply?

Queensland publishes penalties for operating without the required gate.

• Maximum under the Act: 1000 penalty units (confirm the current unit value in Queensland)

Labelling food you sell from home

Food labelling is primarily governed nationally through the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code rather than by a separate state labelling system. The exact information you need depends on whether the food is packaged, unpackaged, or made and packaged at the point of sale.

Where you can sell

Queensland food law can clearly capture direct sales to the public, including direct sales of food that would otherwise sit with primary production. Selling from your own property is not automatically exempt just because you grew or produced the food yourself.

Manufacture of food is licensable even if packaged. Selling only whole produce or packaged food may be exempt from a licence, confirm with council. Qld.gov.au consumer guidance also lists packaged food and non-profit fundraising examples as not needing a licence.

A farmers market may have its own application and insurance conditions. Interstate or out-of-state sales can introduce requirements beyond Queensland's local rules. Confirm each channel before you rely on it.

Unattended stalls and honesty boxes

There is no special published “honesty box exemption” in the Tier 1 material used for this page. An unattended stand selling food is still a method of selling food. Making the stand unattended does not change the product or remove food-safety obligations.

If payment is requested through an honesty box, QR code or electronic checkout, you are still conducting a sale where the food-law definition of sale is met.

Planning approval is separate

Food-business notification or registration and permission to operate a roadside or front-gate stall are different issues. Your council's planning rules may regulate whether and how you can operate a business or roadside stall from your property. Food notification does not automatically give you planning approval, and planning approval does not replace your food-business obligations.

GST, ABNs and getting paid

Food-business notification or registration does not register you for tax.

The Australian Taxation Office says a business generally reaches the GST registration threshold when its current or projected GST turnover is A$75,000 or more. For non-profit bodies, a higher threshold can apply. GST turnover is based on turnover, not profit. Whether GST actually applies to an individual sale is a separate question: many basic foods are GST-free, while other prepared foods and beverages can be taxable.

Is your stand a business or a hobby?

There is no single dollar figure that turns a hobby into a business. Australian Government guidance looks at profit intention, repetition, scale, whether you operate in a planned and businesslike way, and whether you keep business records. An ABN is not compulsory for every business, although having one can matter for GST registration and dealing with other businesses.

Do not confuse the tax test with the Food Act. An activity can attract food-safety obligations even where it is small, occasional or community-based.

Taking payments at an unattended stand

Once the compliance side is sorted, an unattended farm stand still has a practical problem: taking payment without requiring somebody to stand beside it all day. Cash and bank transfers can work, but they make it harder to tie a payment to an order, manage stock or offer customers pre-orders.

If you want customers to scan a QR code, select what they are buying, pay and update your stall inventory without someone being there, see how Vendl handles farm-stand checkout and pre-orders.

Nearby jurisdictions

Food-business rules change when you cross a state or territory border. If you are comparing requirements or selling across borders, see the equivalent guides for New South Wales and Northern Territory.