Food spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms are a major challenge in the food industry threatening public health, food security and food sustainability. As a response to the increased and persistent proliferation of these food microorganisms, there has been an increased interest in the exploration of alternative antimicrobial agents such as essential oils. Many essential oils have been found to exhibit significant antimicrobial activity and there is a growing interest in the antimicrobial activity of native Australian plants. In this study, the in vitro antimicrobial activity of native Australian plants Tasmanian mountain pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata), lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora), Peppermint (Mentha piperita), tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia), as well as cassia bark (Cinnamomum cassia Blume), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) was evaluated against common food spoilage and pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Initial screening was conducted using the disc diffusion assay and the broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of the essential oils. The compositional profile of the oils was determined using GC-MS. The oils were found to be potent antimicrobial agents against the food microbes. The antimicrobial efficacy of the native oils was found to be comparable to the non-native oils. Lemon myrtle appeared to be the most potent antifungal and exhibited antibacterial activity comparable to cinnamon and thyme which showed the highest antibacterial activity.