Organic Protection Bill update

A new bill was introduced into Federal Parliament in November last year aimed at protecting buyers of organic products as well as helping to open up new export markets for producers.
The National Organic Standard Bill 2024, if passed, will mean Australia becomes the final OECD country to have a legal definition of the word ‘organic’. This is an objective the organic industry in Australia has been pursuing for decades.
Leading organic certification body Australian Organic Limited (AOL) says that currently, products can be labelled and sold in Australia as ‘organic’ with as little as one organic ingredient. It means consumers have to do their own checking on whether a product is officially certified organic by one of the registered certifying bodies.

Why protection is needed

The Organic Development Group, which is made up of all five organic certification bodies and the two largest peak organic organisations, AOL and the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA), and joined by Organic and Regenerative Investment Co-operative (ORICoop) and Certified Organic Biodynamic Western Australia (COBWA), has made establishing legal requirements for organic certification a priority.
AOL chief executive officer, Jackie Brian, said the National Organic Standard Bill would establish a level of consumer protection that has been desperately needed.
“We know from survey data that consumers are being misled by labels that make unverified organic claims, which is unfair to those buyers and unfair to the producers who go through the lengthy and rigorous process of attaining organic certification,” Ms Brian said.
“It has been a loophole we have been calling to be closed for a long time, and we hope to work with all sides of politics to set the standard for consumers in Australia that is the norm for so many countries around the world.”

Learn more about how we can grow and buy organic good in our Early Autumn issue (OG 155), which you can buy here.