Vic’s progression on new animal welfare standards is slow - but farmers say there’s been minimal impact
Victoria has failed to implement animal welfare standards for cattle and sheep endorsed almost a decade ago, but farmers say it’s had little impact on the marketability of the state.
Victoria has failed to implement nationally endorsed animal-welfare standards for cattle and sheep almost a decade after agreeing to them — leaving the state lagging behind most others.
But farmers insist the ongoing delay has had little impact on the marketability of the state’s industry.
In 2016, the-then Andrews government, alongside all other state and territory governments, endorsed new federal animal welfare standards for sheep and cattle, to replace the old codes of practice from 2004 and 2006 respectively.
The standards were to set nationally consistent requirements for feed, water, handling and husbandry procedures. While South Australia and NSW implemented these standards into state law in 2017, and Queensland and Tasmania followed suit in 2021 and 2023 respectively, Victoria, alongside Western Australia, has yet to do so.
The Victorian government had pledged to include them alongside its revamped Animal Care and Protection Bill, promised by former Premier Daniel Andrews in 2017 – but as of the final sitting week of 2025, neither the standards nor the Bill have been introduced.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking acknowledged animal welfare was an important issue, but said Victoria falling behind other states was not a big concern for the state’s industry.
“We’re not seeing instances of poor animal welfare outcomes very often, they’re an exception, not a rule,” he said.
“We’re waiting on the (Animal Care and Protection) Bill to pass parliament, but that’s not stopping farmers doing the right thing.”
Western Districts cattle farmer John Wyld did not think Victoria’s lethargy in implementing the standards has had any impact on the state’s industry and marketability so far, but it was hard to predict what would happen in the future.
“I think most people are aware of what their obligations are regarding animal welfare and there’s a good track record,” he said.
“I think pressure is always coming from activist groups but I would say animal welfare standards are up to date with expectations.
“It’s a matter of how much political pressure is put on rather than consumer pressure (in regards to changing standards).”
Sheep Producers Australia chief executive Bonnie Skinner said they had not heard from producers of any impacts on their ability to market or sell sheep products as a result of the progress in implementing the standards.
Australian Alliance for Animals director Jed Goodfellow believed Agriculture Minister Ros Spence was “pretty keen” to get the Bill done, with a draft bill released in 2023, but the government had decided it wasn’t a priority.
“We’ll be certainly contacting people within the government across the board, because there’ll be quite a few members of government who’ll be concerned about the lack of action here because the bill was ready over a year ago now, so there shouldn’t be any further delays to its introduction,” he said.
Agriculture Minister Ros Spence did not reply directly to questions whether the Bill would still be progressing, nor to queries over whether implementing the standards would be on the agenda for her as Agriculture Minister.
“There is no place for animal cruelty and anyone who breaks the law will be investigated and dealt with,” a Victorian government spokesperson simply said.
Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell said: “If I was a betting woman, I think it’d be a bad bet to put money on seeing these laws put before the parliament during this term.
“The government must come clean and tell Victorians whether it will push ahead with these much-needed laws, or whether it intends to break its promise with Victorians,” she said.
Ms Purcell on November 19 put forward a motion that was passed, which requires the government to produce all documents relating to the new bill within 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, while most states have moved on the national sheep and cattle standards, revamped pig welfare standards have been on the agenda of the federal government’s National Animal Welfare Task Group since 2017, with nothing to show for it.
Last year a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into pig welfare made 18 recommendations, including imposing mandatory CCTV in farming facilities, and banning sow stalls and farrowing crates.
The Allan government said at the time it supported replacing the code of practice for pig welfare with national standards, and the federal working group’s last communique from October said it was continuing to discuss details of a project by Australian Pork Limited in relation to the standards.
APL chief executive Margo Andrae said the group was proud to lead the development of the standards, and said that the process would be stewarded by an independent chair and secretariat, and that stakeholders in the process included the RSPCA, the Australian Pig Veterinarians Group, representatives from a range of jurisdictions and Animal Welfare Science Centre.
However, Mr Goodfellow said asking industry to develop its own standards is “essentially self-regulation” that “doesn’t meet the pub test in terms of community expectations”.
“The federal government is essentially saying that they need to wait for a state government to put its hand up to lead the review of a national standard. But no states have any kind of compulsion to do that,” he said.
“Why would they put their hand up to do that when it can turn into a funding issue, be sometimes politically contentious etc. … So no one really wants to do it.”
Mr Hosking said the bigger concern is break-ins to piggeries, and the risk of disease in the industry that comes with trespassers visiting multiple piggeries one after the other.
