Introduction 

To fully appreciate animal welfare problems in Australia, and how they might be resolved, it is first necessary to have some understanding of the country, its geography, climate, and political and legal systems established to control the welfare of animals.

Australia

Geography

Australia is a very old large island continent situated south-east of the mainland of Asia. The eastern seaboard is washed by the southern Pacific Ocean, while that of the western seaboard is washed by the Indian Ocean. To the south is the Antarctic continent whose weather patterns greatly influence the southern areas of Australia, while to the north immediate neighbours are Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the countries of South East Asia. To the east is the island state of New Zealand situated close to the international date line. 

The actual size of Australia is often not appreciated. In jet aircraft terms it takes six hours to fly from coast to coast in both a north-south or east-west direction. The Northern Territory capital city of Darwin is only one hour by aircraft from Djakarta, one and a half hours from Singapore, and three hours from Hong Kong. 

The Australian continent separated from the Asian mainland long ago trapping a large number of wildlife which have evolved into the unique native animals known today. Once there was a huge inland sea. Today this area is marked by fragile infertile soils and vast deserts. The fertile soils of Australia occur principally along the eastern coastline and in the south-west. The major problems limiting the development of Australia are lack of water in the vast non-fertile area, together with high ambient temperatures. 

Climate

The Tropic of Capricorn passes through central Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia, so Australia has Tropical, sub-Tropical, and Temperate climate zones. By northern hemisphere standards the climate is so mild that production animals, except for housed intensively farmed pigs and poultry, spend their whole lives year round in the open. 

At any one time parts of Australia can suffer from natural disasters such as cyclones, bushfires, drought or flood. So far in 1996 there have been serious cyclones across Australia in the Tropical zones, a continuing drought now in its fifth year affecting most of the Northern Territory, western Queensland, and parts of western New South Wales, and serious floods in south-west Queensland and northern New South Wales. Bush fires have been limited because of the very mild spring and summer experienced in south-east Australia. 

Population

Europeans settled in Australia in January, 1788. They established for the first time on the continent permanent settlements (the indigenous Aborigines are nomads), and began to farm the land in the traditional European fashion. It has taken two hundred years to finally appreciate that these methods often did, and continue to do, great harm to the country, particularly in the fragile and arid land areas. 

The present population of Australia is 18 million people, the majority of whom live in the temperature, fertile coastal zones. Half the population lives in the States of New South Wales and Victoria, and in particular the national capital of Canberra, and the State capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne. The State of Western Australia accounts for one third of the Australian land mass. 

Politics

Australia is a federation of 6 sovereign States and two self-governing Territories. Those States regarded as wholly dependent on agriculture - including animal production for their income are the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia. The original federating States ceded certain powers to the Commonwealth of Australia in the national interest, and retained all others (the reverse of the situation in the United States of America). The Australian Constitution does no mention animals, nor the welfare. Notwithstanding the fact that there are 8 legal jurisdictions in Australia controlling the welfare of animals, the Commonwealth has developed significant influence on animal welfare via its constitutional control of import/exports, quarantine and transport interstate by road, rail and air; as well the Commonwealth brokers agreements via national committees which involve all State and Territory Ministers involved with the health and welfare of companion, production, and native animals. 

Legal Controls for the welfare of animals

Each State and Territory has a Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Those Acts which have received the attention of the respective Parliaments since 1990 are those of the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and Victoria; during the 1980's the Acts of New South Wales and South Australia were reviewed while the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australian Acts have been largely unchanged since 1940. New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Queensland are currently drafting totally new legislation. 

Australian Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Acts control all uses of animals including animal experimentation, except New South Wales where animal experimentation is controlled by a separate Act. "Animal" is defined in most Acts as a live member of a vertebrate species including any amphibian, reptile, bird and mammal but not a human of fish. Queensland and Victorian legislation include fish and crustaceans. Most legislation has abandoned a definition of cruelty preferring to list those acts of commission or omission deemed to be acts of cruelty. Aggravated cruelty is deemed to occur where the animal dies or is seriously disabled by the act of cruelty. 

Model Australian Codes of Practice for the Welfare of Animals are developed by the Commonwealth for use by the States after adaptation to suit the particular State circumstances. Animal welfare organisations have adequate opportunities to contribute to the content and direction of the Codes. Proven adherence to the provisions of the Codes may assist a person defending a charge of cruelty. In South Australia, Codes of Practice are regulatory, while Victoria follows the English system of non-regulatory Codes proclaimed under the Act. In all other States and Territories Codes of Practice are not recognised by the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Acts. 

There is no Commonwealth Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act binding Commonwealth employees (such as scientific, military, environmental staff). They are subject to the provisions of the State or Territory Acts in whose region they are working. 

Since 1980 responsibility for the administration of each State and Territory Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act has been vested in the Ministers for Agriculture, except in South Australia and Western Australia. At first this was resisted by animal welfare societies but most now accept that the transfer of this responsibility to a Department that actually handles animals (and has officers that understand animals) has resulted in much progress being made. 

Enforcement of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Acts 

Australian POCTA Acts recognise by statute full-time officers of the RSPCA, members of the police force, and designated officers of the Department of Agriculture as those persons delegated by the responsible Minister to enforce the Act. The bulk of prosecutions is undertaken by officers of the RSPCA. 

Community access to Government for animal welfare 

Australian States and Territories, with the exception of the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, have an Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AWAC) which considers the broad range of animal welfare issues and provides advice, recommendations and reports directly to the Minister in charge of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in that State. The Committee is usually chaired by an independent person and all administration and secretarial requirements are provided by an Animal Welfare Unit within the Minster's Department. 

The Commonwealth Government is advised by the National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare (NCCAW). The Committee is composed of representatives of the national animal welfare organisations, representatives of the national non-government organisations which deal with animals, representatives of Commonwealth departments which deal with production and native animals, and representatives of each State and Territory Minister who administers the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The Committee may consider and make recommendation of any animal welfare matter of national significance. The Committee coordinates animal welfare activity in Australia and ensures unity of purpose. It reports directly to the Commonwealth Minister for Primary Industries. 

Development of Animal Welfare Societies

The RSPCA movement, founded in the United Kingdom in 1824, was established in Australia 126 years ago in Melbourne on 4 July, 1871, and rapidly spread to the other Australian States. Although the Australian RSPCA movement has never had any constitutional ties to the United Kingdom RSPCA, it retains the same objectives and animal welfare philosophy. The Australian State and Territory RSPCA bodies federated in 1980 as "RSPCA Australia". 

Recent national independent surveys show a greater than 99% recognition rate of the RSPCA amongst Australians, with an 85% belief that the Society "is doing a good job". 

The non-RSPCA societies who share an animal-rights based philosophy also federated in 1980 as the Australia New Zealand Federation of Animal Societies. 

There are many other small animal welfare societies mostly devoted to single issue matters. 

Current animal welfare issues in Australia

Companion animals

Australians have a very high per capita ownership of companionship animals, particularly cats and dogs. Australia shares with other countries of the western world the same problems associated with such pet ownership. 

It is impossible to provide complete Australian statistics on cats and dogs handled through municipal pounds, and animal welfare shelters, or which are abandoned and die through disease, starvation or accident. The national RSPCA shelter system receives over 140,000 casts and dogs annually. Some 43% of dogs are recovered by their owners or are adopted to new homes, while the figure for cats is only 16%. 

All Australian States and Territories except Queensland have a Dog Act which controls dog ownership and disposal. Central to the system of control is dog registration with the Local Government authority where the dog is kept. Most Dog Acts are now deemed to be bout of date with current community expectations and requirements because they do not adequately control dog acquisition, manage dog nuisance, or solve the issue of dangerous dogs. These Dog Acts obviously do not cover the huge problem of cat control, which includes feral cats. 

Australian governments are currently reviewing their laws relating to the ownership and control of companion animals. The most far reaching of these is the Victorian Domestic Animals Act. 1994, which: 

• establishes ownership of both cats and dogs by registration and identification with Local Government; 
• controls the ownership and acceptable behaviour of cats and dogs, including dealing with nuisance caused by cats and dogs and the control of dangerous dogs (based on deed not breed); and 
• controls the supply of cats and dogs by the registration of domestic animal businesses, including the use of regulatory Codes of Practice for Pounds and Shelters, Pet shops, Breeding Establishments, Boarding Establishments, and Dog Training Establishments. 

There is still a long way to go to gain community and political support for the compulsory desexing of all companion animals not used for breeding, however, there has been much progress over the last decade. The three things that have most contributed to a reasonably high desexing rate are: 

• the acceptance by human males of joint responsibility for human reproduction; 
• the use of the "hip pocket nerve" by setting registration fees depending upon the status of the animal with registration fees for entire animals being set at a minimum three times the desexed fee; and 
• the introduction of early age desexing of pet animals with associated low veterinary fees. 

Farm animals

The general approach of Australian governments is to promote Australia as producing "clean and green" food for consumption, particularly in Asian countries. There are some food exports to the European Union and to the United States. There remains a heavy trade in live sheep to the Middle East and live cattle to South-East Asia. Australia is fortunate that all of the original domestic animals were brought to the country via long sea voyages. Many diseases were not introduced because of this and strict quarantine laws have maintained this situation. 

Intensively farmed animals (factory farming) 

Pigs

Although pigs can live outdoors throughout the year there is benefit in housing pigs in Australia due to the problem of sunburn. Most pigs are now group-penned although there are still difficulties with continued use of single stalls and tethering. Tethering will be illegal by the end of 1996. 

Poultry

The Poultry industry was forced for the first time to confront animal welfare concerns during the National Layer Hen Housing Review conducted in 1995. The most significant result of the Review was that all States and Territories legislated a minimum cage floorspace of 450 sq cms per bird for birds which weigh 2.4 kg or less, and 600 sq cm per bird which weigh above 2.4 kg. Now those who breech the requirements of the law can be prosecuted. 

The Egg industry also agreed to the introduction of Animal Care Statements. This is a document written by an individual producer to explain precisely how the provisions of the Australian Code of Practice will be implemented on his farm and which employee will be responsible for implementing which provision. It is registered document which allows farmer self-regulation, but with community accountability, and increases the credibility of Codes of Practice. 

The RSPCA in conjunction with the egg industry are shortly to produce eggs produced be methods which meet the requirements of RSPCA policy. It is expected that these eggs, most likely to be produced by barn or free-range methods, will capture 10% of the market. 

Beef feedlots 

Beef feedlotting is a growth industry which occurs in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. Most of the meat produced in beef feedlots is destined for sale in Asia. 

National Feedlot Guidelines were developed three years ago to control environmental and animal welfare issues associated with beef feedlots. These are administered by Local Government in conjunction with State Departments of Agriculture. The protection of the welfare of beef feedlot animals is via a specific Code of Practice (revised in February 1996) in conjunction with an Animal Care Statement. 

Veal production 

Australians eat very little veal preferring yearling beef. There is no "white veal" production despite over 1 million calves being produced each year in association with milk production. A recent move in Tasmania and Victoria to produce "pink veal" exclusively for the European market which required calves to be singly boxed for the first ten weeks of life created uproar in the farming and general community. 

Sharlea sheep 

The production of super-fine wool by confining sheep in sheds on slatted wooden floors caused difficulties because the sheep were confined to single pens. Group penning has resolved most of the issues. 

Extensively Farmed Animals 

The Australian climate enables animals to be kept outdoors throughout the year. The size of farms varies from several hundred acres with high stocking density in the south to giant stations measured in square miles with very low stocking densities in the north and centre of the continent. 

Animal welfare issues include surgical animal husbandry procedures without anesthetics, problems of handling, including round-up, and the consequences of drought, bushfire and poor shelter. Abattoirs are usually located on the coast so that transport problems such as time and distance are inevitable. 

The live-sheep trade continues. The issue involves problems which occur from the farm-gate to shipside, shipping to the Middle East and final distribution and slaughter. Much has been done to cut the death rate via selection procedures and shipping laws but the shipping distances are simply too far. No political party supports a ban on the live-sheep trade. 

The live cattle trade to South-east Asia is booming. Young cattle are shipped from northern ports with transport being completed within several days. The death rate is almost zero. There are nonetheless major animal welfare problems with this trade. 

Use of animals in sport

Horses 

Horses are used for racing, trotting and other equestrian events. Animal welfare problems include horse wastage associated with 2 year old racing, use of whips, steeplechasing and hurdling death and injury rate of 1 in 68 starters, and endurance rides and bush racing problems. 

Greyhound racing 

Despite toughening the law on live baiting, the RSPCA regularly gains convictions for the office. Greyhound coursing was banned in the late 1950's. 

Duck and Quail Shooting 

A long battle has been fought to ban duck shooting seasons. This has been successful in two States. The shooting lobby is very powerful in Australia. 

Angling 

Inclusion of fish in the definition of animal in POCTAA legislation in Victoria is the first step to introducing humane angling practices. 

Animal as Prizes 

Sporting clubs often raise funds by raffling animals. This practice should be banned because the winners invariably have no knowledge of the husbandry requirements. 

Animal experimentation and research

With the exception of Western Australia animal experimentation is now legally and well controlled by both statute and regulation. The Australian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes is regulatory. Since 1985 no research institute using animals could operate without registration and it is a condition of registration that the institute has an Animal Ethics Committee. The composition of the Committee is controlled by law and all experiments have to be approved by the Committee first. Two of the four essential members of the Committee are: an active member of an animal welfare Society and an independent member of the community. The major issues now are animal replacement, AEC function and inspectorate composition and activity. 

Other issues are use of animals obtained from pounds for experimentation, importation of exotic live virus for use as a biological pest control agent and genetic manipulation and patenting of animals. 

Native animals

Australia has an abundance of unique native animals. Some have been lost due to the dramatic changes wrought by the establishment of permanent settlements and clearing vast tracts of land for farming. Others are now endangered, such as the Koala which will only live in those coastal regions preferred by Australians for their dwellings; still others, such as the common species of Kangaroo, have thrived due to human activity creating water and food sources not previously available. Damage to the environment and to native animals from the activity of rabbits, foxes and feral animals is astronomical. 

Those Government departments charged with the protection of native animals believe that their sole role is to ensure the survival of the various native species. The welfare of these animals is not considered. It has been a major task to convince these scientists that survival of the species and welfare are intertwined. 

Of international concern is the annual kangaroo slaughter "for mitigation of agricultural damage" There are a number of factors which make this issue complex and at present unsolvable. It is not helpful to Australian animal welfare societies for international groups to misunderstand the complexity of this matter. The RSPCA seeks much better management, including appropriate "culling" programmes, to ensure the wellbeing of native animal populations. 

Introduced pest and feral animals

The declaration of an animal as a pest in Australia seems to automatically remove from it the right to be treated humanely. Control methods are usually antiquated and known for the infliction of pain and suffering. Research monies are never available in sufficient quantity to develop humane techniques to control pest animals. 

The European rabbit and red fox were introduced to Australia early last century for sporting reasons. With no natural predators they have covered the continent and do enormous environmental damage with consequences for the welfare of other animals. Control is still via poisons (particularly compound 1080) and various barbaric systems for rabbits such as warren ripping, fumigation and even use of explosives. Biological control agents such as myxomatosis have been used for rabbits and recently the release of rabbit calicivirus in Australia has brought the RSPCA into major confrontation with the Commonwealth. Urban fox densities rival those of Europe. 

Immunosterilisation is being touted as the answer for fox control. 

Early European settlers simply released unwanted domestic animals into the bush believing that they would die of starvation or be eaten by Aborigines. Most survived and adapted to the country. Feral cats, dogs, cattle, buffalo, horses, goats, camels, donkeys, pigs and deer are in abundance. Hard-hoofed animals do massive damage to the fragile soils of the arid zones. Feral animals such as pigs are highly dangerous to both humans and other animals. Other ferals, such as cats and dogs, live off other animals, both native and domestic. The most significant control issues relate to the immense areas feral animals occupy and the lack of human and other resources to deal with them. 

Conclusion

Australia is a large and diverse country whose animal welfare problems are a mixture of those similar to those found elsewhere in the world and those which are exclusive to Australia. Australians use common humane principles in attempting to solve these problems but in some cases they must be tempered by the reality of sparseness and the vastness of the country itself. 

The greatest advances have occurred in the past twenty years because of the development in Australia of full consultation procedures between animal user, animal welfarists and Government. This form of consultation can be painful at times but the RSPCA movement in Australia is committed to it as experience tells us that only via a properly established and balanced consultative system can we expect meaningful progress for the welfare of animals.