Victoria regulates camel milk as part of a raft of primary industry legislative changes

Victoria corrects a legislative oversight on camel milk and gives mobile abattoirs the green light in an omnibus bill focused on farming.

Chris and Megan Williams milking camel herd at their Kyabram dairy in 2017.

CAMEL milk is set to be regulated and mobile abattoirs given the green light in Victoria as part of grab bag of Spring St reforms.

Covering a range of sectors, government and opposition MPs waved through the Primary Industries Legislation Amendment Bill last week, with changes to dairy regulations generating interest.

Camel dairies will now be able to operate on a similar footing to cattle, sheep, goat and buffalo dairy operation.

Only a handful of camel dairy operations exist in Victoria but the product sells for more than $18 a litre in speciality stores.

Labor MP Harriet Shing and Liberal MP Ed O’Donohue said camel milk was currently regulated by local government, which did not have the resources to properly manage growth in the sector.

“(Camel milk) is a potential growth market locally, given the different tastes and different choices that Victorians have, and therefore it is appropriate to bring camel milk production under the auspices of Dairy Food Safety Victoria,” Mr O’Donohue said.

The amendment Bill also altered the Meat Industries Act, making it legal for vehicles to be licensed as meat-processing facilities.

The move follows NSW taking the lead in June this year, when it licensed Australia’s first mobile abattoir, run by red-meat company Provenir.

Company co-founder Chris Balazs said: “We’re very pleased that the Bill has been passed unamended and now this opens the way for Prime­Safe to propose licensing requirements for mobile abattoirs.”