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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Hold Ctrl to select multiple terms. Using ‘any words’ functions as an “OR” search. Using ‘all words’ functions as and “AND” search.
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| Document title | Relevant text in the policy | Domain | Topic | State | Local Government name | Council type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUL KE BUILDING 2 30 | Reliable, efficient and affordable mobile phone and internet services are paramount for the future liveability of Buloke Shire. | Economic Development | Local food producers | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BUL KE BUILDING 2 30 | Actively manage fruit fly risks and outbreaks and educate community on the management of fruit fly. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BUL KE BUILDING 2 30 | Buloke is an innovative and strong economy with agriculture, small business and industry capitalising on new ideas | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BUL KE BUILDING 2 30 | Buloke is an innovative and strong economy with agriculture, small business and industry capitalising on new ideas to provide a range of employment and tourism opportunities backed by the services, connectivity and housing to achieve population stability. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BUL KE BUILDING 2 30 | Continue to strengthen, promote and support the agricultural industry and innovation to ensure a strong local future for the sector. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL Strategic Resource Plan 2016 – 2020 | Council will continue to apply Differential Rates based on the purpose for which the property is used. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL Strategic Resource Plan 2016 – 2020 | The general rate applies to all rateable properties except land that is used for commercial and agriculture purposes. The commercial rate is set at the same as the general rate. The agricultural land rate set at 2% less than the general rate. Counci | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 1 | Undertake a review of the rural land use elements of the Buloke Planning Scheme to ensure it reflects agricultural activities | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 1 | Renew Economic development strategy to incorporate agricultural diversification and capitalise on tourism opportunities. | Economic Development | Local food producers | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 2 | *SEEK FUNDING FOR REGIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES (ROAD AND RAIL) TO SECURE VIABLE MARKET ACCESS FOR BULOKE PRODUCTS | Economic Development | Local food producers | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 2 | Undertake a Rating Strategy to ensure equitable outcomes for communities. COU | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 2 | Undertake a review of the rural land use elements of the Buloke Planning Scheme to ensure it reflects agricultural activities. I | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 2 | *SEEK FUNDING FOR REGIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES (ROAD AND RAIL) TO SECURE VIABLE MARKET ACCESS FOR BULOKE PRODUCTS | Sustainability and Environment | Strengthen food chain connections/distribution | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 3 | SEEK FUNDING FOR REGIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES (ROAD AND RAIL) TO SECURE VIABLE MARKET ACCESS FOR BULOKE PRODUCTS | Economic Development | Local food producers | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 3 | Develop Rural Land Study to ensure it reflects agricultural activities. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable local food production | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BULOKE SHIRE COUNCIL PLAN 2017-2021 ANNUAL PLAN – YEAR 3 | SEEK FUNDING FOR REGIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES (ROAD AND RAIL) TO SECURE VIABLE MARKET ACCESS FOR BULOKE PRODUCTS | Sustainability and Environment | Strengthen food chain connections/distribution | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| Buloke Waste Management Strategy 2012 – 2022 | Organic collections, regional compost facility | Food Waste | Food losses and food waste | Victoria | Buloke | Regional |
| BUSINESS RULES FOR USE OF THE TEMORA AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION CENTRE (TAIC) IRRIGATION DAM | Aims The aims of this policy are to: (a) Maximise the potential of the available resources of overflow recycled water and excess stormwater collected by Council; (b) Support the ongoing operations of the TAIC through the provision of access to recycled water and stormwater for the purposes of trial establishment and seed recovery irrigation; (c) Provide security of supply of this resource to TAIC, to agreed levels; and (d) Provide certainty to the wider community that the benefits, both socially and economically, of the provision of well-maintained recreational facilities, and high amenity parks and lake, continue alongside investment in supporting agricultural research. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable water management in food production | NSW | Temora | Regional |
| BUSINESS RULES FOR USE OF THE TEMORA AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION CENTRE (TAIC) IRRIGATION DAM | Overview of Business Case for the Irrigation Dam The TAIC delivers grain research and development through field-based trials, undertaken on a commercial basis. Around 60 workshops, seminars and events are held at TAIC annually with the primary focus being capacity development for producers, researchers and consultants. Major grain farm machinery dealers and manufacturers trial product, conduct training sessions and demonstrations regularly at the site. The irrigation dam will underpin existing private investment at TAIC and grow the level of investment. There is significant demand from crop breeding companies for trial area with irrigation capacity, not to produce irrigated crops, rather to ensure crop establishment and guarantee seed recovery. This is critical to the realisation of the commercial investment. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable water management in food production | NSW | Temora | Regional |
| BUSINESS RULES FOR USE OF THE TEMORA AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION CENTRE (TAIC) IRRIGATION DAM | PART B Business Rules for Use of the TAIC Irrigation Dam Overview The TAIC irrigation dam is intended to complement the provision of recycled water and stormwater to other water recipients within Temora, including parks, gardens, sports fields and Lake Centenary. With active management, Council is of the view that water resources can be shared by all recipients, providing appropriate levels of service to the community and suitable levels of water security to FarmLink as managers of the TAIC. The business rules for use of the TAIC irrigation dam are intended to provide certainty to Council, FarmLink, agricultural researchers and the community about how the dam will operate, in different seasons, to achieve a reasonable level of service for all recipients of recycled water and stormwater in Temora. Recycled water and stormwater amounts and storage On average, 330ML of sewage and stormwater enters Council’s Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) every year. Typically, Council uses 100ML of recycled water over the summer period for urban irrigation purposes, this being Temora parks, gardens and sports fields. However, this quantity can vary between 70ML to 150ML depending on the prevailing seasonal conditions. Around 100ML of effluent is managed through treatment system surface evaporation each year. Remaining water is stored until required by Council. This system provides the community with a secure source of irrigation water for parks, gardens and sports fields. Between 0 – 100ML of recycled water will overflow from the STP each year. It is predominantly this water that will service the TAIC irrigation dam operations. Large volumes of stormwater runoff from town passing through the TAIC provides a relatively secure source of additional water. It is planned that small volumes of stormwater runoff from town will be used to provide water security to irrigation operations. It is noted that stormwater runoff will only be used under strict conditions and will only be used to supplement water secured from Temora STP overflow. Business Rules for the Operation of the TAIC Irrigation Dam The business rules for the operation of the TAIC irrigation dam involves an annual full allocation of 40ML of irrigation water to be drawn from the TAIC irrigation dam. If the dam is operating on a dry season allocation, the allocation is reduced to a minimum of 30ML secure supply. The provision of full allocation relies on maintaining a supply of available water in the irrigation dam at the target levels. If the target cannot be achieved, due to a dry season, the annual allocation will be reduced in order to manage supply, in case of several dry years in a row. The target levels are detailed in Table 1 below: | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable water management in food production | NSW | Temora | Regional |
| BUSINESS RULES FOR USE OF THE TEMORA AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION CENTRE (TAIC) IRRIGATION DAM | The Temora Agricultural Innovation Centre (TAIC) irrigation dam, constructed in 2018 is located on the western side of the Trungley Hall Road, Temora, immediately adjacent to the Temora Shire Council Sewage Treatment Plant. The dam has a capacity of 100ML and is a ‘turkey nest’ dam, as it has no natural catchment and must be filled by gravity feed and/or pumping water into the dam from other sources. The TAIC irrigation dam has been developed for two main purposes: 1. To capture and store excess treated effluent water and excess stormwater that is otherwise lost to the environment; and 2. To provide a secure water supply for the irrigation of crop trial sites located at the TAIC. This means, providing reliable water for timely trial establishment and to ensure suitable seed recovery, however this does not extend to full term irrigation of crops. | Sustainability and Environment | Sustainable water management in food production | NSW | Temora | Regional |
| BUSINESS RULES FOR USE OF THE TEMORA AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION CENTRE (TAIC) IRRIGATION DAM | Provide details about Council’s role managing access to recycled water and stormwater, including targets for filling of the TAIC irrigation dam at certain times of the year and managing situations of low rainfall and drought | Sustainability and Environment | Food supply and food system resilience | NSW | Temora | Regional |
| Byron Shire Rural Land Use Strategy 2017 | Promote Byron Shire as a place where small scale food production is a viable lifestyle and business opportunity. | Economic Development | Food related job creation | NSW | Byron | Regional |
| Byron Shire Rural Land Use Strategy 2017 | Work with land owners of vacant or underused farm land that want to connect with potential producers. | Economic Development | Food related job creation | NSW | Byron | Regional |
| Byron Shire Rural Land Use Strategy 2017 | 5. Future rural tourist development will build on and complement our agricultural industry, reinforcing the predominant use of the rural area for agricultural production while maintaining the rural character and take into consideration increased road traffic impacts. | Economic Development | Local food initiatives for economic development | NSW | Byron | Regional |
| Byron Shire Rural Land Use Strategy 2017 | low scale rural tourism opportunities, particularly those directly associated with primary production and / or improved conservation outcomes. | Economic Development | Local food initiatives for economic development | NSW | Byron | Regional |
| Byron Shire Rural Land Use Strategy 2017 | Research Improve Council’s data base on: • commercial and sub-commercial farmland activities, farm linkages and key transport routes • farms that incorporate value adding and/or diversification activities • farms that are part of formal lease or share agreements • rural tourism activities • spatial accuracy of property and zone boundaries. Involve the community in providing data through the commercial ‘farmland’ rating application process | Economic Development | Local food initiatives for economic development | NSW | Byron | Regional |
| Byron Shire Rural Land Use Strategy 2017 | Work with other Councils in the Northern Rivers region to develop consistent planning policies which better reflect the agriculture, food production and rural tourism development in Byron Shire and the Northern Rivers region. | Economic Development | Local food initiatives for economic development | NSW | Byron | Regional |
| Byron Shire Rural Land Use Strategy 2017 | 4. The planning framework will provide flexibility for our farmers to diversify their income sources where ancillary to farming operations. | Economic Development | Local food producers | NSW | Byron | Regional |
| Byron Shire Rural Land Use Strategy 2017 | Continue to improve capacity for rural roads to be used in connection with farming operations such as stock droving. | Economic Development | Local food producers | NSW | Byron | Regional |