Kangaroo export ban lifted after nine months

The federal government has finally signed off on Victoria’s 2024-2028 kangaroo harvesting plan, allowing exports to resume.

Processors can finally export meat and hides from Victoria’s booming kangaroo population, after a nine-month ban.

A nine-month export ban that crippled Victoria’s kangaroo harvest has been lifted.

The ban had been in place since December last year, due to delays in federal government approval of Victoria’s kangaroo harvesting management plan, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act.

A federal government spokesman said Victoria’s kangaroo harvesting plan had finally been approved this month.

Australian Wild Game Industry Council chairman Ray Borda, who runs South Australia’s Macro Meats, said lifting that ban not only cleared the way for exports, it also mean processors no longer had to keep Victorian carcasses separate from those sourced from other states.

Much of the delay was due to the Victorian Government failing to finalise its plan for months after the federal government asked it to consider public feedback obtained as part of the EPBC Act consultation process.

Meanwhile, the number of kangaroos that farmers can cull using Authority to Control Wildlife permits has been set at 80,700, despite concerns the population is exploding.