Australian State and Territory governments are responsible for disease control and eradication within their own boundaries. Each State and Territory is subdivided into veterinary regions or divisions that are under the control of a government veterinary officer. Each region or division is further subdivided into animal health districts, which are administered by inspectors who may be veterinarians or qualified animal technicians.
The Commonwealth through Animal Health Australia is responsible for quarantine and international animal health matters, including disease reporting, export certification and trade negotiation. It also provides advice and coordination of national government policy, and in some circumstances financial assistance, for national disease control programs.
The welfare of all animals including production animals is coming under increasing focus both in Australia and around the world. In recent years the Australian community has become more aware of animal welfare issues and the Australian government has increased the focus on animal welfare through development and finalisation of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS) in 2004 (for more details, see the link below). The strategy provides direction for future animal welfare policies and facilitates the establishment of priorities and the development of acceptable welfare standards. The increasing focus on animal welfare is demonstrated by the current rationalisation of the various Commonwealth, State and Territory codes of practice into a national set of standards for animal welfare as recommended by the Neumann report.
In 2004 MLA established an on-farm animal welfare R&D program to direct investments in the area of animal welfare. Six priority areas are identified in the strategy. More information and a copy of the strategy can be downloaded from MLA On-farm Animal Welfare Strategy.
In 2005, the National Consultative Committee for Animal Welfare (NCCAW) set principles for the development and review of minimum standards or codes for animal welfare practice. These principles included:
- A strong national framework for the development of `minimum standards' with species specific definitions of animal welfare that are underpinned by legislation. Minimum standards should be outcome-based and measurable.
- Consistency across state and territory jurisdictions in the application (enforcement) of legislation.
- Standards must be auditable for credibility and international acceptance.
Currently these codes of practice are published by the relevant State/Territory or Commonwealth organisations.
For further information click on the links below: