The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry supports the Australian wine industry by providing advice to the Australian Government on matters related to wine. This includes advice on:
- international market access,
- policy settings and
- responding to issues affecting the industry.
The department provides this support and advice by working with:
- Australian winemakers and grape growers
- industry representative bodies
- other government agencies and
- international organisations.
Wine Australia is the Australian wine industry’s statutory research and development, marketing and regulatory body. Its regulatory functions include:
- administering the Label Integrity Program
- wine export licensing and
- managing the Register of Protected Geographical Indications.
Wine Australia also provides export data, and market intelligence to the Australian wine industry. Wine Australia is funded by levies, matching funding from the Australian Government, and user-pays fees.
The Australian wine industry is subject to the Wine Australia Act 2013 and the Wine Australia Regulations 2018. Among other things these provide for the Label Integrity Program and the Register of Protected Geographical Indications.
The Act and regulations give effect to:
- the Agreement between Australia and the European Community on Trade in Wine, and
- the Agreement on Trade in Wine between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Data relating the Australian wine industry, including export statistics, can be found on the Wine Australia website.
Useful links and contacts
Information and contacts should you have any questions about the Australian wine industry.
Wine Australia is the Australian wine industry’s statutory research and development, marketing and regulatory body and is a good source of information on exporting wine (including the export approvals process, export fees and charges, wine labelling and marketing).
Wine Australia supports the Australian wine industry by setting strategic research priorities, establishing and managing research and development projects consistent with these priorities and facilitating the dissemination, adoption and commercialisation of research and development throughout the industry.
Wine Australia is funded by the grape research levy and the wine grapes levy. The Australian Government provides capped matching funds, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, for research and development.
The Australian Government’s trade and investment Commission, Austrade, provides practical advice or assistance on exporting wine.
Exports of organic and biodynamic wines are subject to additional requirements under the Export Control Act 2020 and the Export Control (Organic Goods) Rules 2021.
The Australian wine industry is subject to a number of pieces of Commonwealth and State legislation. The legislation specific to the Australian wine industry is the Wine Australia Act 2013 and the Wine Australia Regulations 2018. These provide for, among other things, the Label integrity program and the Register of Protected Geographical Indications and Other Terms.
Food Standards Australia-New Zealand (FSANZ) administers the Food Standards Code which provides for standards relating to health, safety and food and beverage industry requirements. The Code provides production requirements for Australian produced wine under standard 4.5.1. The Code also provides for a broader standard, standard 2.7.4, which provides standards for any wine sold in Australia, including imported products. Any inquiries about these standards, or the Food Standards code should be directed to FSANZ.
Levies are collected to fund marketing, research and development and plant health integrity for the Australian wine industry. The Australian Government provides capped matching funds, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, for research and development. There are currently three Commonwealth levies or charges that apply to the Australian wine industry:
- the grape research levy
- the wine export charge
- the wine grapes levy.
These levies are collected and administered by the Australian Government on behalf of the industry.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) is the science and economics research division of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. ABARES releases a number of reports which contain useful information and analyses about the Australian wine industry. Of particular note for the wine industry is the ABARES Agricultural Commodities statistics for wine.
Wine Australia provides a range of free and user-pays information, including export data, market intelligence and other general information for the Australian wine industry. Wine Australia produces an annual National Vintage Report, which is produced on behalf of the wine sector based on survey data collected across all winegrowing regions in Australia. This report is a useful snapshot of each year’s vintage and provides:
- an estimate of the total crush in Australia
- a summary of the grape crush in each region by variety and
- an analysis of grape purchases, including price dispersion.
The Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) is a tax applied at a rate of 29% of the wholesale value of Australian and imported wines. The WET producer rebate scheme provides a rebate on the WET in certain circumstances. All inquiries relating to taxation, including the WET and the WET producer rebate, should be referred to the Australian Taxation Office.
Advice on technical matters, such as planting, pruning, harvesting, or winemaking can be directed to the Australian Wine Research Institute.
You can also contact your State Government agricultural department at:
- New South Wales Government Department of Primary Industries
- Queensland Government Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
- Primary Industries and Regions South Australia
- Tasmanian Government Department of Natural Resources and Environment
- Victorian Government Agriculture Victoria
- Western Australian Government Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
As the national peak body for the wine industry, Australian Grape and Wine can also provide advice on winemaking and winegrape growing.
The Wine Export Label Directory was introduced on 1 July 2021.
It is an online database of all Australian wine labels that have been legitimately exported from 1 July 2021. The Directory strengthens protection for Australian wine labels against intellectual property theft and copycat labelling.
The Label Directory was set up at the request of Australian Grape & Wine, the Australian wine industry’s peak representative body. The Directory is implemented by Wine Australia through their licencing and approval system (WALAS).
All wine exporters must upload copies of their labels to WALAS.
The images and data uploaded to WALAS is filtered and uploaded to the Export Label Image Search System (ELISS).
Read more about ELISS on the Wine Australia website.
The Australian Government offers a range of general industry grants that may be applicable to certain Australian wine producers, winegrape growers and exporters.
Wine Australia is Australia’s regulatory and enforcement body for protected wine geographical indications (GIs), traditional expressions and other terms. The use of these terms is governed by the Australia-European Community Agreement on Trade in Wine (Wine Agreement).
The Register of Protected Geographical Indications and Other Terms, kept by Wine Australia, contains a list of geographical indications (GIs) and traditional wine terms that are protected under Australian law.
As part of negotiations to amend the Wine Agreement, the department ran a public objections process on proposed European Union (EU) wine GIs between 24 March to 21 April 2023. The department received close to 600 submissions throughout this process.
To read more about the public objections process, visit the department’s Have Your Say webpage. This page includes a summary of submissions received, the list of GIs included in the process, the discussion paper and Frequently Asked Questions.