Now lawFarming & Regions Introduced in the House of Representatives, 01 Jul 2026

Wine Australia can now survey grape growers

This law lets the body that runs the wine industry send out surveys and share what it learns. The main aim is to back a planned set of rules on how wineries buy grapes. It also lets the farm research bureau give farmers' contact details to mailing firms for surveys.

Official name: Wine and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Grape growers: Wine Australia may survey them. The results can help back a planned code on how wineries buy grapes.
• Winemakers: Facts they give Wine Australia can be shared with bodies like the competition watchdog, under set rules.
• Farmers and fishers who pay farm fees: Their name, address, email or phone number can go to a mailing company, so the farm research bureau can send them surveys.
• Wine Australia and department staff: A court can fine them if they use or leak protected facts without permission.

Planned code for grape buying

Wine Australia is the government body that helps and watches over the wine and grape industry. It is set up by the Wine Australia Act 2013. We will call that law the Wine Act.

The government ran a review of how the wine and grape industry could be overseen. It suggested a code of conduct for how wineries buy wine grapes. A code of conduct is a set of rules that businesses in one industry must follow.

Everyone in the industry would have to follow the code. It would be made under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. That is the main law against unfair business dealings.

The government says Wine Australia needs to collect facts from the industry to back up that code. It also needs clear rules on what it can do with those facts.

Julie Collins, the Agriculture Minister, brought in the bill. It also changes a separate law about farm fees. These are small charges that farmers pay on what they grow, catch or make. The money pays for research and for advertising farm products.

Wine Australia runs surveys

The first part of the bill gives Wine Australia a new job. It can run surveys of the grape and wine industries, or get others to run them. The surveys must help the Wine Act or the fair trading law work.

It also adds a new goal to the Wine Act. That goal is to back the fair trading law in the grape and wine industries.

Say you grow shiraz grapes in the Barossa, a wine region in South Australia, and sell them to a winery. Wine Australia could send you a survey. Your answers could help the grape-buying code work.

Rules for sharing information

The first part also says who is trusted to handle the facts. This includes the minister, and Wine Australia's board members and staff. It also includes inspectors, and staff of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

These trusted people can use and share facts to run the Wine Act. They can pass them to other federal agencies.

One is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. It is the competition and consumer watchdog that makes sure businesses deal fairly.

Facts can also be shared for research and data work that helps the wine industry. They can be shared to help plan government policy too.

The other side must sign a deal that limits how they use the facts. Personal details must be taken out first, or kept to the smallest amount needed.

Other allowed uses include number counts that cannot point to any one person. Facts that are already public can be used. Facts can be shared with the person they are about, or if that person says yes.

The head of the department or a Wine Australia board member can share facts with a state or territory body. This is allowed when it is needed to run a state law, such as food safety or pest and disease rules. A deal must be in place.

The government can add more allowed uses later, in detailed rules it writes without a new vote. Parliament can cancel those rules.

Fines for leaks

Some facts are protected. This covers business facts that could hurt a company if they got out. It also covers anything a person could sue over in court for being shared after they were given in secret.

A trusted person might use or leak protected facts without permission. A court could fine them up to 60 penalty units. This fine does not give anyone a criminal record.

The fine does not apply if the person acted honestly.

A new part lets senior department officials use the usual powers to chase these fines in court.

Some older rules on facts are scrapped, because the new rules cover them. These include rules on the Label Directory, Wine Australia's list of wine labels. The new rules apply to facts collected before or after the law started.

Farm survey contact details

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences is the government's farm research and numbers team. We will call it the farm research bureau. It surveys farmers. Its results feed into advice to government and industry.

The second part of the bill changes the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 2024. The farm research bureau can now use the personal details of people who pay farm fees to do its job.

In real life, the bureau will give names, addresses, emails or phone numbers to a mailing company. The company sends out letters and surveys. Then the bureau's survey staff contact the farmer to set up an interview.

Sometimes the bureau will hand details to someone outside the federal government. That outside group must first sign a deal that limits how it uses them. Personal details must be taken out where possible, or kept to the smallest amount needed.

A rule-making fix

The farm fees law lets the head of the department make rules about collecting the fees. The words made it look like every rule had to be about making sure fees get paid. The law fixes the words so the power works as planned.

Rules that already exist still count.

Start date

The second part, about the farm research bureau, started the day after the law was signed.

The first part, about Wine Australia, starts on a day the government picks. If no day is picked within six months of the law being signed, it starts by itself after that.

The bill was brought into the House of Representatives on 1 July 2026. It passed the House on 13 August 2026. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 10 September 2026.

The Governor-General, who stands in for the King, signed it into law on 15 September 2026. It became Act No. 85 of 2026.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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