Generate council-ready food safety audit reports in PDF and CSV — covering temperature logs, cleaning records, corrective actions and training.
While checklists vary by council and by state or territory, environmental health officers commonly assess temperature control of potentially hazardous food (keeping it out of the 5°C to 60°C danger zone), cleaning and sanitising, personal hygiene and handwashing, pest management, and the condition of premises and equipment. Crucially, they look for evidence rather than assurances — dated records that show checks are actually being done, and a corrective-action trail showing that problems were found and fixed. This is general guidance; your local council is the authority on what it will assess.
The most reliable approach is to run your business so it would pass on any given day, since council and EHO inspections are usually unannounced. Keep daily temperature checks logged, cleaning schedules signed off, delivery records current, corrective actions closed out, and training and Food Safety Supervisor details up to date. With FoodSafety HQ, these are captured digitally as work happens, so when an audit occurs you filter to the relevant venue and date range and export a report rather than reconstructing weeks of paperwork.
Digital records are widely used in Australian food businesses, and many inspectors find timestamped digital reports easier to review and verify than paper diaries. FoodSafety HQ organises records into the categories officers typically examine — temperature, cleaning, deliveries, corrective actions and training — in one clear document. That said, acceptance and any specific record-keeping requirements are determined by your local council or state regulator, so confirm their expectations for your business.
Standard 3.2.2A (Food Safety Management Tools) introduced additional requirements that came into force on 8 December 2023 for certain food-service and retail businesses handling unpackaged, ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food. Depending on your business category, the tools can include a trained Food Safety Supervisor, food handler skills and knowledge, and keeping certain records or substantiation. Whether it applies to you, and which tools you need, depends on your classification — confirm this with your state or territory regulator.
A strong report brings scattered evidence together into one place: temperature monitoring (storage, display, transport and service), cleaning and sanitising sign-offs, goods-inwards delivery checks, staff training and induction acknowledgements, and corrective actions with the resolution recorded. FoodSafety HQ compiles all of these automatically against the venue, date and staff member, so the report reflects real operational activity across the period you select rather than a document created just for the audit.
Yes. You can filter by venue and by date range, so single-site operators produce one report and multi-venue groups can generate a report per premises. That is particularly useful when different councils oversee different sites, or when an operations manager needs to review each location individually as well as across the group.
Reports can be exported as a PDF for sharing with an inspector or auditor, or as a CSV for offline review and analysis. Because every record is timestamped to a user and time and cannot be quietly backdated after submission, the exported trail carries integrity that an inspector can rely on.
The temperature danger zone is 5°C to 60°C — the range in which bacteria in potentially hazardous food can multiply most rapidly. Keeping such food out of this zone during storage, display, transport and service is a core part of safe food handling under the Food Standards Code, and temperature records are among the first things an inspector asks to see. FoodSafety HQ logs these readings with timestamps so you can demonstrate consistent control over any period.
When a check falls outside acceptable limits — for example a fridge reading too warm — the issue can be raised and tracked through to resolution, with the action taken and the time it was closed out recorded. Inspectors often weigh this corrective-action trail as heavily as the original reading, because it shows the business identifies and responds to problems. The full trail is included in your exported audit report.
No software can guarantee an inspection outcome. FoodSafety HQ is a tool to help you maintain and present the evidence that supports safe food handling; it does not replace your legal obligations under the Food Standards Code or any food safety program required for your business. This page is general guidance, not legal advice — always confirm the specific requirements that apply to you with your local council or state and territory food regulator.