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About the network
The OzFoodNet network ensures we have a national capacity to respond to foodborne diseases.
Why it is important
Surveillance of foodborne disease helps reduce cases of food poisoning.
Analysis of foodborne disease data helps several authorities detect problems with food or water safety, including:
- government health departments
- food safety areas such as Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- departments responsible for managing imports and exports of food (such as the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry).
Mission and aims
Mission
OzFoodNet's mission is to:
- investigate foodborne disease
- describe more effectively its epidemiology
- identify ways to minimise foodborne disease in Australia.
Aims
OzFoodNet aims to:
- investigate the epidemiology of foodborne diseases, conduct enhanced surveillance and collaborate on relevant studies
- collaborate nationally to coordinate investigations into foodborne disease outbreaks, particularly those that cross state, territory and country borders
- identify foods and commodities that cause human disease, providing relevant information to stakeholders, advocacy for policy development and implementation, and contributing to risk assessments
- contribute data to inform the estimation of the incidence and cost of foodborne disease in Australia
- develop and maintain skills and capacity for the epidemiological investigation of foodborne diseases.
Reports
OzFoodNet publishes annual reports in Communicable Diseases Intelligence.
You can also view older reports on Trove.
OzFoodNet’s Guidelines for the epidemiological investigation of multi-jurisdictional outbreaks that are potentially foodborne provide clear guidance for coordinating national epidemiological investigations of outbreaks that cross state, territory and country borders.
Who we work with
We fund state and territory health departments to maintain an OzFoodNet site in each jurisdiction.
A coordinating epidemiologist oversees all OzFoodNet sites to ensure consistent methods to monitor and investigate foodborne disease and outbreaks.
OzFoodNet is part of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia, and works with:
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- state and territory food authorities
- Public Health Laboratory Network.
Learn more
See data collected through OzFoodNet via National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System reports.