Australia Raw Milk Laws & Regulations

Australia has two legal routes to raw dairy. Raw goat milk is sold by goat dairies in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, and raw milk cheese may be made, imported and sold in every state and territory. Raw cow's milk is not sold as a food anywhere in Australia; it reaches buyers as cosmetic "bath milk".

Is raw milk legal in Australia?

Dairy production is governed nationally by Standard 4.2.4 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, the Primary Production and Processing Standard for Dairy Products, which applies in Australia only. Clause 15 requires milk to be pasteurised (72°C for 15 seconds, or a process with an equivalent effect) "unless an applicable law of a State or Territory otherwise expressly provides". That proviso is the basis for raw goat milk: a state that writes an express provision into its own law can let goat dairies sell unpasteurised milk under its dairy food safety scheme.

Raw goat milk by state

• Queensland. Part 4 of the Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014 covers unpasteurised goat milk from an accredited dairy, sold from the dairy where the goats are milked, with laboratory testing, a recall program and a caution label.
• Western Australia. Regulation 8 of the Food Regulations 2009 provides that the pasteurisation clause of Standard 4.2.4 does not apply to goat's milk.
• South Australia. Raw goat's milk may be sold under SA Health conditions covering testing, recall procedures and labelling.
• New South Wales. Goats' milk is exempt from the pasteurisation requirement under the Food Regulation 2025, administered by the NSW Food Authority.

Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have not made a goat milk provision, so milk of every species is pasteurised there before it is sold for drinking.

Raw milk cheese

Raw milk cheese is legal across Australia. Since February 2015, Division 5 of Standard 4.2.4 has allowed Australian dairies to make cheese from raw milk, with requirements from farm to vat: healthy, individually identified animals, milk cooled to 6°C within two hours of milking and made into cheese within 24 hours, raw cheese milk kept apart from other milk, and a finished cheese that does not support the growth of pathogens. Imported raw milk cheeses are sold too; see Australia starts importing raw cheese from the UK.

Bath milk and cold-pressed milk

Raw cow's milk is sold in several states as cosmetic "bath milk" or "pet milk", labelled as not for human consumption. Victoria requires these products to be treated to deter drinking, for example with a bitter flavouring, in a way approved by Dairy Food Safety Victoria. See Raw milk is "bath milk" in Australia. Cold-pressed milk sold in shops is high-pressure processed, a treatment approved as equivalent to pasteurisation; see Cold-pressed milk is not raw milk.

Finding raw dairy in Australia

Raw goat milk dairies and other sources are listed at raw milk in Australia. For the background to the goat milk exemption, see Goat milk is exempt from pasteurization in Australia. Select a state or territory below for its rules.