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- About Your Licence
- Poultry Processing Facility Licence
Poultry Processing Facility Licence
What you need to know about a Poultry Processing (slaughtering) Facility licence.
Summary
- A poultry processing facility is a facility that slaughters and processes poultry for human consumption.
- The law requires you to have a licence to slaughter poultry to sell the meat for human consumption.
- You need PrimeSafe approval to add new species to your licence once you already have a licence.
What you can do with a Poultry Processing Facility licence
Get a Poultry Processing Facility licence to:
- slaughter poultry to sell the meat for human consumption
- process poultry meat from birds you have slaughtered for wholesale or retail sale
- store poultry meat from birds you have slaughtered for wholesale or retail sale
- sell poultry meat from birds you have slaughtered for wholesale or retail sale
- render prime tallow or inedible by-products from birds you have slaughtered
- slaughter rabbits for human consumption.
Your Poultry Processing Facility licence allows you to operate the following if all the poultry meat and by-products come from your poultry processing facility:
- further meat processing facility
- retail butcher shop
- prime tallow processing facility
- inedible rendering facility.
PrimeSafe issues this licence under the Meat Industry Act 1993.
What you can’t do with a Poultry Processing Facility licence
You cannot slaughter:
- consumable animals other than poultry and rabbits (get an Abattoir licence)
- game (see Game Meat Processing licences)
- poultry to sell the meat for pet food (get a Pet Food Establishment licence)
- process poultry meat slaughtered by another business (get a Further Meat Processing Facility licence).
You cannot transport meat or seafood (get a Meat Transport Vehicle licence).
PrimeSafe licence conditions require all meat processing facilities to comply with relevant Australian and Victorian standards and guidelines. For:
- Chickens, fowls, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons, pheasants, quails and guinea fowls this is the Australian Standard for Construction and Hygienic Processing of Poultry Meat for Human Consumption (AS 4465:2005).
- Farmed rabbit this is the Australian Standard for the Hygienic Production of Rabbit Meat for Human Consumption (AS 4466:1997).
When we give you a licence, you need to meet the licence conditions. Get help from us if you don’t understand your licence conditions.
There are things your business needs to do before we can give you a licence. To learn about preparing your business before you apply and how to apply, read Apply for a licence.
Contact us if you want to add new species to your licence once you already have a licence.
Poultry processing facilities are audited in the first week after opening and then every week until their Quality Assurance Program is fully implemented. Poultry processing facilities then have audits every six months.
Audits are conducted by a PrimeSafe approved auditor.
Find out more about Audits.
There is an application fee when you apply for a new licence.
There is an annual fee to hold a licence that you pay each year in June.
There are other charges when you hold a licence with PrimeSafe.
You may have to pay a fine if you do not meet your licence conditions.
PrimeSafe follows the Department of Treasury and Finance’s guideline for setting fees and charges.
Our current fees
You can calculate the annual fee for a poultry processing facility by estimating the annual throughput of the facility. Throughput is the number of units slaughtered at the facility each year. We use the following measures to calculate the number of units of throughput of a poultry processing facility:
- 1 bird = 1 unit.
The current fee schedule for a poultry processing facility licence is:
| Annual Throughput | Application Fee ($) | Annual Fee ($) |
| Up to 50,000 units | 1,008 | 2,016 |
| 50,001 to 500,000 units | 1,378 | 2,755 |
| 500,001 to 2,500,000 units | 2,110 | 4,220 |
| 2,500,001 to 5,000,000 units | 3,620 | 7,240 |
| Over 5,000,000 units | 6,520 | 13,040 |
Calculate the total cost to apply today for a licence
To apply for a poultry processing facility licence you need to pay:
- the application fee (paid once only)
- the licence fee (paid when you first apply and then every year in June).
The amount you pay when you apply depends upon the time left until the licence is renewed in June (pro rata).
Use the Fee Calculator to see what you will pay today to apply for a licence.
All PrimeSafe fees are GST exempt so we will not give you a tax invoice when you pay.
Fee Calculator
Please enter the number of birds/rabbits slaughtered per annum below.
Standards and guidelines that apply
This standard sets out the requirements for the production of wholesome poultry meat for human consumption.
Use this standard to process and store wholesome rabbit meat for human consumption.
Use this standard to receive and raise poultry on the farm (traceability).
We're here to help
Send us your questions and we'll get back to you in two to seven business days.
