From 1 July 2026, every restaurant, café, fish-and-chip shop, caterer, food truck, takeaway, pub, hotel, and delivery operator in Australia must clearly label seafood as Australian (A), Imported (I), or Mixed (M). Failing to comply — or labelling imported product as Australian — exposes your business to penalties under the Australian Consumer Law.
Most operators have started auditing menus and suppliers. Here's what to do.
List every dish that contains seafood. For each, identify the supplier, species, and country of catch / production. Get this in writing from your supplier.
Add A, I, or M next to every seafood dish — printed menus, chalkboards, counter signage, your website, your QR code menu, and third-party delivery listings (UberEats, Menulog, DoorDash).
Servers, counter staff, and managers need to confidently explain the codes if a customer asks. Build a one-page reference card and run a 10-minute briefing.
Keep invoices, certificates of origin, and supplier specs on file. Regulators may request evidence — being able to back your label is the legal safe harbour.
If you swap suppliers seasonally (e.g. wild prawn season), your label may shift between A and M. Build a process for updating menus and printed materials whenever supply changes.
Operators with a strong ‘A’ story consistently outperform on bookings. The new rule is also an invitation to tell your sourcing story — country, region, supplier, even the boat name.
Three concrete ways to add A/I/M to your menu without disrupting design. Pick one and apply it consistently.
Simplest — adds 3 characters per line. Add a small key at the bottom of the menu.
Best for premium menus — turns the label into a marketing asset.
Visual flag works well on graphic menus. Pair with a footer key explaining the symbol.
Independent surveys consistently find Australians prefer local seafood — and are willing to pay a premium when they can verify it. The 2026 standard isn't just a compliance burden: it's an industry-wide opportunity for operators who source local to stand out.
If your business serves seafood for immediate consumption — eat in, takeaway, or delivery — yes. Restaurants, cafés, fish-and-chip shops, food trucks, caterers, hotels, pubs, clubs, sushi shops, and delivery operators are all covered.
If your menu has no seafood items, the standard doesn't apply to you. If you sell even one seafood dish (e.g. an occasional fish special), you'll need to label it from 1 July 2026.
Pre-packaged seafood at supermarket-style retail is already covered by separate, existing country-of-origin food labelling rules. The 2026 standard targets seafood-for-immediate-consumption.
The standard is enforceable under the Australian Consumer Law. Failing to provide accurate information — or making misleading claims (e.g. labelling imported product as Australian) — can attract significant penalties under the ACL.
The standard requires origin (A/I/M). Species naming is governed by separate fish-naming rules (e.g. it's misleading to call basa ‘flathead’). Best practice is to name both — origin AND species.
Update the label whenever supply changes. M (Mixed) is a safe label when a single dish contains seafood from multiple countries.