Food for Thought: An Assessment of Australian Law and Regulation for Combating Food Waste

Food waste is a significant issue in Australia and globally. Reducing food waste helps to mitigate climate change and minimise the environmental effects of agriculture on biodiversity, soils, and water. Law has an important role to play in addressing the causes of food waste. This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of Australian law and regulation regarding food waste. It details the disparate regulatory regimes that intersect with food waste, focusing on the role assigned to different actors and the advantages and deficiencies in the current framework. The article finds that, despite repeated political statements and the introduction of various initiatives, there is no clear and meaningful approach to adequately reduce food waste along Australia's food supply chain. Instead, actions in current policy focus on managing, reusing and repurposing food waste through voluntary non-binding industry-lead initiatives and food rescue. This article shows why this focus limits the ability of the regime to respond to food waste and identifies opportunities to improve the regime.