Archer Brewing is campaigning to change the Food Standards in relation to dogs inside venues. We want to make it so allowing a dog inside a venue becomes a venue owner or managers choice. We do not wish for dogs to enter any food preparation areas, or be near them, nor are we requesting they be given the right to enter every venue, but venue owners and managers should be able to decide, not a governing body. We want Australia to reflect more modern and up to date opinions on dogs as members of the family, not simply pests that harbour diseases.

Archer Brewing is a brewery based in Wilston in Brisbane. We are named after our dog Archer, a brown border collie. We are a suburban based brewery, bar and kitchen, and our business model was about being able to bring the whole family down to enjoy the space, and dogs now are family to many. It was also about people who walked their dogs past our venue being able to come in and have a beer. This was so common we created a dog beer (chicken stock) that customers could buy for their dog with a $2 donation to the Animal Welfare League, so both dog and owner could enjoy a pint together. We designed our bar space to work with the laws by putting doors on all food preparation areas and where food is served to patrons (we have a buzzer system so staff don’t handle food beyond those already blocked off areas)

After doing this for nearly a year, in November of 2023 we were banned by the Brisbane City Council after a single complaint. We were unaware that the entire space people eat in is not allowed to have dog, not just food preparation areas (ie the kitchen, the bar, the brewery). Within the Food Standards is the phrase food handling areas, which when you further enquire includes all dining areas.

We tried to work with the council for a compromise but the areas they suggested were unsafe (pushing dogs into a very confined area that every patron must walk through) or required massive renovation work on the building we only rent.

We want our dogs back! Our locals want to bring their dogs back. Archer wants to come back to his second home. We want to be bring Archer to work (especially as a dog who is afraid of storms and wants his owners). So it’s time to change the rules.

The section we petition to change is that dogs should be exempt from the ban in areas that food is consumed. It means even if you have a food truck outside your bar/brewery, you cannot then allow dogs inside, even though the cooking is happening outside. If you have a brewery inside a building, dogs can’t be allowed inside. If you have a bar inside, dogs cannot be allowed inside. Many bars/venues/pubs break this rule as they are unaware that handling food includes serving which means dining, and that bar and breweries are food preparation areas also.

We just want choice over our own venue. While some may not want to eat with dogs, which is perfectly fair, they can choose to go elsewhere, or to areas within venues that dogs can’t go. For example within our own venue would we make upstairs areas completely dog free.

There are many contradictions in the law, and many places that are exempt that do not make sense, the worst being Bunnings, who all have cafes and food licences, but are allowed dogs inside. It’s time to be fair, and give us all the choice – that’s all we request. Turning away our four legged customers that we’ve gotten to know and love has been heartbreaking – help us bring them all back. Let Archer come home!