Animal welfare: States drag their feet on national standards implementation

Just three states have implemented the national animal welfare standards and guidelines agreed to in 2016.

National animal welfare standards unanimously agreed to seven years ago have been implemented in just three states so far.

Only New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland have incorporated the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for sheep and cattle into legislation.

This is despite the guidelines being agreed to by all state and territory governments in 2016. Since then, the issue has increasingly been brought into the spotlight by retailers demanding higher animal welfare standards, and overseas trading partners such as the United Kingdom and the European Union increasing scrutiny as part of new trade deals.

Last month The Weekly Times revealed Woolworths was aiming for a “Tier 1” leadership status with the Business Benchmark for Farm Animal Welfare. The benchmark was established and is financially supported by two UK-based animal welfare organisations with well publicised aims of halving livestock production by 2040 and ending factory farming.

Some industry commentators have said big business will be forced to adopt overseas benchmarking and certification systems to assess animal welfare standards if Australia fails to take the lead on the issue.

Federal member for Maranoa and Nationals party leader David Littleproud says Australia’s major retailers should focus on the good work Australian farmers were already doing in the animal welfare space.

But Nationals leader David Littleproud said it was a matter of promoting the certification schemes each agricultural industry already had that demonstrated best-practice.

“Coles and Woolworths would do better promoting what Aussie farmers already do,” he said.

SA mandated the cattle and sheep standards in 2017, Queensland in 2021, while NSW has introduced them as non-binding guidelines.

All other jurisdictions remain in the process of amending the relevant legislation to incorporate the standards, with many years overdue their own deadlines.

A Victorian government spokeswoman said animal welfare “continues to be a priority”.

The Andrews Government is in the process of updating its animal welfare legislation. A draft act is due to be released this year; the national standards and guidelines are expected to be adopted though the new Animal Care and Protection Act.

In the Northern Territory, the standards are expected to be implemented in full its new livestock biosecurity act is enacted, while a spokesman from the Tasmanian government said they are due to be implemented this year.

Western Australia’s agriculture minister is yet to respond to The Weekly Times.

RSPCA Australia chief executive Richard Mussell said the slow implementation of animal welfare standards and guidelines was “incredibly frustrating”.

“Australia’s poultry standards have been in review for over seven years and are yet to be endorsed by state and territory governments. The pig standards’ literature review was conducted in 2018 with no further progress to date. And the cattle, sheep and saleyard standards have seen delays in implementation across all states and territories,” Mr Mussell said.