Buying or transferring a health-related business

What is a health-related business?

Health-related businesses include:

• Personal care and body art businesses that provide hairdressing, beauty treatment, skin penetration procedures and colonic irrigation
• Prescribed accommodation including rooming and boarding houses and motels, hostels and caravan parks.

For more information on the different types of health-related business, see What are health-related businesses?

Pre-purchase inspection of an existing health-related business

If you are looking to buy an existing registered health-related business, Council strongly recommends that you request a 'Pre-purchase Inspection' before you buy the business.

Moreland City Council offers a Pre-purchase Inspection service. This service includes an inspection of the business by Council Environmental Health Officers and a report that details all non-compliant items with the relevant requirements and regulations.  After Council issues the report, it is the responsibility of the purchaser and the vendor to negotiate to resolve all outstanding non-compliant items. 

There is a fee for this service and the standard service provides a report within 15 working days.

The current proprietor of the business must agree to you making an application for a pre-purchase inspection.

How To Apply

Online

• No need to fill in forms, simply click on the link below,enter your information and pay the fee by Visa or MasterCard.

Councils online lodgement guide (DOC 1Mb) should help if you are having any issues lodging online.

Submit a request for pre-purchase inspection report

• Mail or in Person

  • Complete the Request for Public Health and Wellbeing Act Transfer Inspection Report form (DOC 84Kb)
  • Mail form and fee to Merri-bek City Council, Locked Bag 10, Merri-bek, VIC 3058, or
  • Deliver form and pay in person at Merri-bek Civic Centre, 90 Bell Street, Coburg.
  • Forms are not accepted by email.

Transferring existing health-related business registration

As part of the process of purchasing an existing health-related business, you must apply to transfer the registration from the current owner to you. The current proprietor must agree to you making the transfer application.

For businesses that are hairdressing and/or temporary make-up only, it is not possible to transfer the registration. Please apply for a new one-off registration

Council Environmental Health Officers will assess the health-related business and inform you whether the registration transfer has been granted by Council. There may be conditions that you have to comply with before the registration can be transferred.

You can contact Council for more information about transferring health-related business registration.

How to Apply

Online

• No need to fill in forms, simply click on the link below,enter your information and pay the fee by Visa or MasterCard..

Councils online lodgement guide (DOC 1Mb) should help if you are having any issues lodging online..

Submit a request to transfer a business

Mail or in Person

• Complete the Application for Transfer a Public Health and Wellbeing Act Premises form (DOC 86Kb).
• Mail form, fee as well as any other documents required depending on the business to Merri-bek City Council, Locked Bag 10, Merri-bek, VIC 3058, or
• Deliver form as well as any other documents required depending on the business and pay in person at Merri-bek Civic Centre, 90 Bell Street, Coburg.
• Forms are not accepted by email.