Department of Home Affairs – Supermarket Task Force – Food Supply and Food Security

NATIONAL

MGA regularly attends the Department of Home Affairs Supermarket Task Force - Food Supply Working Group. This forum was originally commenced by former Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton and has been continued under the auspices of Minister Karen Andrew.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it many challenges in Australia including the risk to the food supply chain. This task force comprises of industry leaders, not only from the agriculture, food processing and manufacturing industries, but so too food retailers and government departments from each state and territory in Australia.

The meetings seek to identify areas of concern in each state and territory in regard to “COVID-19” risks associated with the supply of food to grocery and supermarket outlets around Australia.

The main topics of conversation have centred around NSW, ACT and Victoria which are, and have been, locked down for long periods of time.

The newer COVID-19 Delta variant continues to spread exponentially and continues to further risk supermarket team members being excluded from the workplace owing to close and casual contacts being detected. The Health Departments in each state have been stretched and very slow to advise a business of a case being detected in their business – sometimes taking up to six to seven days. This is not good enough. We cannot afford to isolate and quarantine grocery and supermarket staff for fiurteen days – this is a risk to independent grocers and supermarkets partially or fully closing as they do not have the staff to run the business.

NSW Health explained the contact tracing regime is under enormous pressure and currently undergoing a restructure to enable faster responses to contact tracing findings. It was stated that any individual traced as having close and casual contact with an infected COVID-19 person is notified personally by text message and advised to immediately get tested and isolate – this does not help a business owner.

It was emphasised that the Supermarket sector is one of the safest and lowest risk environments for staff to contract COVID-19 from a customer – in fact there is no recorded case of this occurring. As such it was suggested and discussed that in order to remain viable, members need to be able to keep open and operate their businesses by reducing the risk of staff being away (excluded) from work. It was requested that the state and territory Health Departments send business owners specific information to enable them to immediately identify precisely when, how and where the close and casual contact took place, enabling them to separate those staff members immediately for testing and isolation rather than isolating the entire shift. Testing of at-risk staff must also be quicker so that anyone who has been exposed and tests negative can go back to work. MGA also raised the question concerning suppliers and their exposure to Covid-19 and how members feel vulnerable to the risk of a food supplier closing down which then risks food supply to that business particularly in the regional areas. The Department takes all these insights very seriously and then works with the states and territories toward a common solution and outcome.

This Food Supply Working Group also includes the Australian Food and Grocery Council and National Farmers Federation who have responded by saying that all agri food suppliers from the farmer to the producer and manufacturer have their COVID-19 protocols in place. Transport drivers have mostly been vaccinated, and all is being done to mitigate any risk of not supplying food and groceries to supermarkets.

MGA has acknowledged the support of all State and territory Health Departments, particularly the NSW Department of Health for removing the mandatory rapid antigen testing initiative that was due in September and the extension of the vaccination deadlines for workers having to travel outside the LGAs.