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.And the winner is...
Canada Bay Council
In 2007, CHOICE called for hygiene inspection reports to be made public, nationally and consistently. Some councils and authorities have taken up the mantle and are working to make choosing a safe place to eat as easy as choosing something from a menu.
Looking at how each scheme performs, two councils clearly stand out – Brisbane City and Canada Bay.
The award goes to Canada Bay Council, which ticks most boxes. They have a great consumer awareness program, encourage and reward best practice, and generally run it in a way that could provide the template for a national scheme.
Brisbane ticks almost all the boxes, except that they inspect less than annually. Four- and five-star businesses are required to do self-checks, and a random sample are inspected yearly, but there’s no guarantee any one business will be visited. Poor performers are the only ones to get six-monthly inspections.