Welcome to the Australian Local Food System Policy Database. This is a collection of policies from New South Wales (NSW) and Victorian local governments that relate to healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems.
For further information about using the database and how it was created see How to use the database. You can search the database by using the fields below. Domain refers to eight broad categories under which various topics are situated. The domains and topics are based on a framework of recommendations for local government action on creating a healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system (also located on the ‘How to use the database’ page linked above).
To cite the database: Reeve B, Carrad A, Rose N, Charlton K & Aguirre-Bielschowsky I (2021) Australian Local Food System Policy Database. Available at: https://law-food-systems.sydney.edu.au/policy-database (access date).
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| Document title | Relevant text in the policy | Domain | Topic | State | Local Government name | Council type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating Strategy | 4. THE CURRENT RATING STRUCTURE Council’s existing strategy is to apply a municipal charge and differential rates to try to realise a fair contribution from each type of property. The differentials are as follows: General Land (100% of the general rate in the dollar); Farm Land (90% of the general rate in the dollar); | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Campaspe | Regional |
| Rating Strategy | Recognise the benefit and importance of the farming sector to Moorabool Shire Council. Further, it also recognises historical rating issues which has resulted in some properties receiving the benefit of the farm rate who may not presently be entitled to receive the farm rate as per the Valuation of Land Act definition. Through recognising this anomaly, Council will continue to explore and accelerate the review of farm rate properties moving into the future to ensure that only eligible properties received the benefit of the reduced differential rate. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Moorabool | Regional |
| Rating Strategy | 6.7.3 Rural 1 To be classified as a Rural 1 property, an assessment must be classified as rural and be not less than 40 hectares in size. This shall include non-contiguous assessments within the Shire operating as a single-farm enterprise. Objectives: 1. Encourage uses compatible with the physical capability of the land; 2. Minimise the need for urban works and services to the non-urban area; 3. Conserve the resources of soil, flora and fauna and the significant natural features in the areas identified as having ecological and landscape interest value; Rating Strategy – March 2015 Page 20 of 32 Murrindindi Shire Council 4. Conserve as far as possible the existing patterns of vegetation to maintain landscape quality; 5. Assist in the maintenance of farming activities within areas eminently suited for that purpose; and 6. Discourage the proliferation of non-agricultural activities on soil of high agricultural value by protecting the social characteristics of the rural community from the encroachment of urban-type development. Types and Classes: Rateable properties having the relevant characteristics described above. Rural 1 properties are not: General Residential Land; Commercial and Industrial Land; Vacant Land New differential rate: Properties that satisfy the above criteria will pay 75% of the general residential rate. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Murrindindi | Regional |
| Rating Strategy | Council continue with the 75 per cent differential for rural farming properties | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Wodonga | Regional |
| Rating Strategy | That South Gippsland Shire Council continues to apply a differential of 70% of the general rate for properties that meet the Farm definition. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | South Gippsland | Regional |
| RATING STRATEGY | Council will apply a differential rate titled Residential Vacant, with the differential set at 200% of the General rate. Rural Differentials Rural 1 property is any property which is: – greater than 40 hectares in area; and – used for Farm Land as defined in Section 2 of the Valuation of Land Act (1960). Rural 2 property is any property which is: – greater than 8 hectares and less than 40hectares in area; and – Used for Residential or Farm Land as defined in Section 2 of the Valuation of Land Act (1960). | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Indigo | Regional |
| Rating Strategy | Council has determined that it is appropriate to continue to use a differential rating system and continue to apply the following differential rating categories: Differential Category General Land Vacant Residential Land Vacant Commercial or Industrial Land (increase by 0.1 annually until cap of 2.5) Agricultural Land (40ha-100ha) Agricultural Land (greater than 100ha) Subdivisional Land Ratio 1.00 2.00 2.40 (2019/20) 0.90 0.80 2.00 | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Mitchell | Regional |
| RATing STRATEGY | • General rate – typically land used primarily for residential purposes • General Vacant – unimproved land which is zoned to be used primarily for residential purposes • Rural Residential – primarily residential land that is less than 8ha in size and is located in a rural or semi-rural setting with a dwelling • Rural Residential Vacant – unimproved land that is less than 8ha in size and is located in a rural or semi-rural setting Rates Strategy 2018 – 2022 • Rural 1 – farming and rural land that is between 2ha and 40ha in size • Rural 2 – farming and rural land that is above 40ha in size | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Wangaratta | Regional |
| RATING STRATEGY | Farm Rate — applies to land with an area greater than 2 hectares that undertakes a farming activity. Properties on the farm rate are able to apply for a single farm enterprise concession where only one municipal charge is paid though there is more than one assessment. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Mount Alexander | Regional |
| Rating Strategy 2016 | 8.3.6 Farm Rate Options 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 all applied (amongst other variables) a farm rate to the properties classified as farms. The farm rate discount was not agreed to on equity grounds: Option 8 provides for a 5% reduction for the farm rate resulting in a 5% increase for over 700 residential properties with 220 farms reducing by 7%; Option 10 provides for a 10 per cent decrease for the farm rate and establishes differentials for commercial and industrial properties resulting in a 7% decrease for 2300 farmers and an increase of 8% for 90 properties and an 9% increase for nearly 1200 rural lifestyle properties; and Option 12 provides for a 20 per cent discount for the farms and the removal of the municipal charge and sees approximately 2300 farm assessments receive a 6 per cent increase in rates. Page 18 of 65 www.ctman.com.au Moyne Shire Council Rating Strategy – Final Report 11042016 Accordingly on the grounds of equity and fairness, a reduction in the farm rate was not able to be substantiated, particularly when farm assessments were paying the lowest rates in the district when comparisons | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Moyne | Regional |
| Rating Strategy 2016 | Council is able to levy a municipal charge on each rateable property within the municipality with the exception of farms where a single municipal charge is payable on multiple assessments operated as part of a single farm enterprise. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Moyne | Regional |
| RATING STRATEGY 2017-2021 | 10.2 Rural rate The main objectives of having a rural rate are to: • encourage and support the use of sound agricultural practices • conserve and protect areas which are suited to certain agricultural pursuits • encourage proper land use consistent with genuine farming activities. Historically a lower rate has been applied to rural properties in the Shire. The basis for this decision is that, in the absence of some rate relief, the higher land component inherent in farming properties contributes to their relatively higher values and would result in farmers having to pay disproportionately high rates in relation to the income or surplus able to be generated from their properties. There is also a level of support within Council that, by virtue of their distance from urban centres, farming households’ access and consumption of a range of services is lower and should be taken into account when setting rates. Council’s position from 2002/03 was targeted at a rate distribution of 70:30 for Rural (70) and Urban (30) properties. From 2014/15 Council had defined a differential rate split of 11%, with rural having a rate in the dollar of 89% of the general rate. Council considered this as a fair allocation of rates across property types at that time. For the 2019/20 Budget, Council agreed to change the differential from 11% to 12%, being a modest adjustment to take account of the valuations changes that have shown a higher increase in rural valuations compared to residential valuations. For future budgets, where the valuation increases are much higher for one property class over the other, it may be necessary to review the differential split during the budget process to ensure the fair allocation of rates remains. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Loddon | Regional |
| RATING STRATEGY 2017-2021 | In levying rates and the municipal charges, Council also considers: • the rationale and practical application of the municipal charge and the level at which it is set • the characteristics of farming, particularly given the varying climate conditions which can impact the income earning ability of the agricultural sector • objectives concerning vacant land • objectives concerning commercial/industrial land. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Loddon | Regional |
| Rating Strategy 2019-20 | Types and classes of land categories that must be carefully considered as to whether they are appropriate for the application of differential rates include (but are not limited to) the following: holiday rental extractive landfill dry land farming irrigation farm land | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Hobsons Bay | Metropolitan |
| Rating Strategy 2019-2021 | Council is required to periodically prepare a Rating Strategy. The purpose of the Rating Strategy is to set the rating structure and how the rates responsibility will be apportioned across the community. The current rating strategy expired on 30 June 2017. While not having adopted a new strategy to date, Council did resolve to reduce the Rural Farm rate from 77% to 75% for the 2018-19 rating year. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Colac Otway | Regional |
| Rating Strategy 2019-2021 | Businesses that occupy commercial, industrial or farm properties are able to claim property rates as an income tax expense. This allows businesses to pay property rates in after-tax dollars, as opposed to private non-business people who have to pay property rates in pre-tax dollars. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Central Goldfiedls | Regional |
| Rating Strategy 2019-2021 | Council’s rating strategy currently has five different land categories but eight differential rating categories as follows: Residential – Maryborough Residential – Other Vacant Land – Maryborough Vacant Land – Other Commercial – Maryborough Commercial – Other Industrial Farm Council also levies a municipal charge of $262.65 per property (noting that single farm enterprises are entitled to an exemption for all but one of the municipal charges levied on that single farm enterprise). | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Central Goldfiedls | Regional |
| RATING STRATEGY 2019-23 | The rating system used at Horsham for the 2018-19 year is as follows: General Rates levied using differential rates based on Capital Improved Valuations multiplied by specified rates in the dollar, being General rates including Residential, Commercial and Industrial properties (201819: 0.4908 cents/$CIV) and Farm rates at 80% of the General rate (2018-19: 0.3926 cents/$CIV) | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Horsham | Regional |
| RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN 2018 – 2022 | Healthy Hume – Indigenous community garden established through the Australian Government’s Healthy Communities Initiative to develop a range of projects including four community gardens and one indigenous community garden. | Health and Wellbeing | Traditional food cultures | Victoria | Hume | Metropolitan |
| RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN 2018 – 2022 | Healthy Hume – Indigenous community garden established through the Australian Government’s Healthy Communities Initiative to develop a range of projects including four community gardens and one indigenous community garden. | Sustainability and Environment | Food production on LG land | Victoria | Hume | Metropolitan |
| RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN 2018 – 2022 | Healthy Hume – Indigenous community garden established through the Australian Government’s Healthy Communities Initiative to develop a range of projects including four community gardens and one indigenous community garden. | Sustainability and Environment | Home and community gardening | Victoria | Hume | Metropolitan |
| Recreation Action Plan | Gardens Lane Cove Community Nursery and Eco-garden in Blackman Park incorporates a propagation nursery and an ecogarden. The nursery is open each Friday and the first Saturday of each month. Plants propagated by volunteers at the nursery are used in parks and bushland projects. Workshops on composting, worm farming and growing herbs are held at the eco-garden. | Health and Wellbeing | Education/events on food system issues | NSW | Lane Cove | Metropolitan |
| Recreation Action Plan | Provide drinking water, bag dispensers and bins at all designated unleashed dog exercise areas (UDEA) | Health and Wellbeing | Access to safe drinking water | NSW | Lane Cove | Metropolitan |
| Recreation Action Plan | Encourage and facilitate the establishment of community gardens. | Sustainability and Environment | Food production on LG land | NSW | Lane Cove | Metropolitan |
| Recreation Action Plan | Investigate the feasibility of establishing community gardens in parks in apartment areas with good surveillance, such as Goodlet Reserve. | Sustainability and Environment | Food production on LG land | NSW | Lane Cove | Metropolitan |
| Recreation Action Plan | Encourage and facilitate the establishment of community gardens. | Sustainability and Environment | Home and community gardening | NSW | Lane Cove | Metropolitan |
| Recreation Action Plan | Gardens Lane Cove Community Nursery and Eco-garden in Blackman Park incorporates a propagation nursery and an ecogarden. The nursery is open each Friday and the first Saturday of each month. Plants propagated by volunteers at the nursery are used in parks and bushland projects. Workshops on composting, worm farming and growing herbs are held at the eco-garden. | Sustainability and Environment | Home and community gardening | NSW | Lane Cove | Metropolitan |
| Recreation Action Plan | Investigate the feasibility of establishing community gardens in parks in apartment areas with good surveillance, such as Goodlet Reserve. | Sustainability and Environment | Home and community gardening | NSW | Lane Cove | Metropolitan |
| Recreation and Open Space Service Driven Asset Management Plan | Drinking Fountains | Health and Wellbeing | Access to safe drinking water | Victoria | Bayside | Metropolitan |
| Recreation and Open Space Service Driven Asset Management Plan | Development of community gardens. | Sustainability and Environment | Food production on LG land | Victoria | Bayside | Metropolitan |