The Australian Beef Sustainability Framework (ABSF) aims to provide a transparent, evidence-based assessment of the Australian beef industry's sustainability performance. It tracks progress against a range of indicators covering four key themes—Best Animal Care, Environmental Stewardship, Economic Resilience, and People and the Community—and reports on issues that are most important to those with a stake in the beef value chain.

The ABSF is designed to demonstrate the industry's commitment to continuous improvement, accountability, and responsible production practices, while helping to maintain market access and stakeholder confidence. By measuring and reporting sustainability outcomes across the entire beef value chain, the ABSF also helps inform industry investment priorities and supports constructive engagement with stakeholders on future sustainability challenges and opportunities.

The Australian dairy and beef industries face ongoing challenges in creating economically viable and scalable pathways for non-replacement dairy calves. Many dairy producers, particularly smaller and land-constrained businesses, are unable to achieve the scale, infrastructure, labour capacity, or consistency required to rear calves to meet the needs of downstream beef supply chains. This can result in fragmented calf-rearing systems, inconsistent animal quality, limited market certainty, duplicated infrastructure investment, and reduced value capture across the supply chain.

Through previous CalfWays initiatives, industry stakeholders identified a potential opportunity to improve supply chain coordination through a cooperative, hub-and-spoke calf-rearing model. A regional calf-rearing facility could aggregate calves from multiple farms, apply consistent welfare, biosecurity and production standards, provide access to specialised calf-rearing expertise, and deliver a more reliable supply of fit-for-purpose cattle to the beef sector.

However, significant uncertainty remains regarding the technical feasibility, commercial viability, financial sustainability, governance arrangements, workforce requirements, and investment readiness of such a model in the Australian context. Gardiner Foundation and the CalfWays collaboration (Dairy Australia and MLA) are seeking an experienced consultant to undertake an independent feasibility study and business case to determine whether a greenfield cooperative calf-rearing facility represents a viable, scalable and investable opportunity capable of supporting long-term industry growth and stronger beef-from-dairy supply chains.

The dairy and beef industries have a significant opportunity to create greater value from non-replacement dairy calves by strengthening connections between dairy producers and beef supply chains. However, regional differences in production systems, market access, supply chain structures, and stakeholder relationships mean that pathways identified in one region may not be directly transferable to another.

Building on the successful methodology developed through the Alpine Valleys pilot, CalfWays is seeking to expand this work into Western Victoria and Gippsland to better understand region-specific opportunities, constraints, and pathways for beef from dairy animals. The project aims to generate practical insights into supply chain requirements, market demand, production economics, and pricing benchmarks while strengthening collaboration between dairy producers, backgrounders, feedlots, processors, and other supply chain participants.

The opportunity for this procurement is to engage suitably qualified consultant(s) to deliver one or more regional pilot projects that will provide evidence-based recommendations, strengthen industry relationships, and identify commercially viable and sustainable pathways for non-replacement dairy calves. The outcomes will support improved producer decision-making, greater market transparency, increased confidence to invest in calf quality, and the development of region-specific implementation strategies that can inform future CalfWays activities across Australia.

Australia’s dairy industry generates a substantial number of non-replacement dairy calves (also called surplus calves) each year. Historically many of these calves had limited value and uncertain market pathways, contributing to ongoing animal welfare and social licence challenges.

There is an opportunity to create value from these calves within commercial beef systems. With appropriate genetics, feeding and management, dairy-origin cattle can meet market specifications and deliver improved production and eating quality outcomes.

Despite this, adoption remains constrained by knowledge, confidence, market understanding and supply chain coordination.

Dairy Australia's CalfWays Roadmap aims to improve the welfare and value of non-replacement calves across the dairy industry. Complementing this work, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Dairy Australia are delivering the Growing Beef from Dairy (GBfD) initiative to support best practice adoption across the beef from dairy production system and strengthen commercially viable market pathways for dairy-origin cattle.

As part of the GBfD initiative, on-farm demonstration sites will be established to demonstrate practical production systems, build producer capability and support adoption through peer-to-peer learning and on-farm demonstration.

MLA is supporting industry fast track a transition from paper to digital consignments using electronic National Vendor Declarations (eNVD), and ultimately to paperless consignments. Via the MLA Donor Company (MDC) MLA is making available a co-funding opportunity to support value chain stakeholders such as processors, livestock agencies, saleyards, transporters, integrated companies and their supply chain, including software providers, shift towards digital NVDs.

eNVDs address the inefficiencies of paper-based NVDs including NVDs becoming lost, outdated, incomplete and illegible, resulting in challenges capturing the robust data required to underpin market access. eNVDs also provide receivers such as processors, transporters, agents and saleyards, with consignment information ahead of livestock arrival allowing easy information exchange, real-time corrections, removing manual and duplicative data entry requirements, enabling data to be used across multiple systems and reducing processing time by the receivers. 

Meat & Livestock Australia are seeking expressions of interest from individuals with extensive professional experience in prime lamb production in Australia, either seedstock or commercial, to represent the prime lamb industry on the National Livestock Genetics Consortium.

The National Livestock Genetics Consortium (NLGC) is a skills-based taskforce, established in 2016 by MLA. The NLGC acts in an advisory capacity and provides direction and support to increase collaboration, transparency, communication and investment in livestock genetics research, development and adoption (RD&A) for the benefit of Australian red meat producers. The primary aim of the NLGC is, through strategic research investments, to increase the rate of genetic progress for traits that drive value chain productivity and sustainability in the sheep and beef industries. 

Woody thickening, native woody vegetation encroachment, and the spread of woody weeds are increasingly impacting northern Australian rangelands, affecting pasture productivity, livestock performance, biodiversity, and long-term landscape condition.

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) is seeking experienced applicants to develop and undertake a project which seeks to improve understanding of woody vegetation dynamics and their impacts through integrated spatial analysis, ecological research and production system modelling. The project will also identify practical, cost-effective management strategies that balance productivity, biodiversity and landscape resilience. It will strengthen early detection and response capabilities for woody weeds and support adoption through targeted extension and demonstration activities.

Woody thickening, native woody vegetation encroachment, and the spread of woody weeds are increasingly impacting northern Australian rangelands, affecting pasture productivity, livestock performance, biodiversity, and long-term landscape condition.

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) is seeking experienced applicants to develop and undertake a project which seeks to improve understanding of woody vegetation dynamics and their impacts through integrated spatial analysis, ecological research and production system modelling. The project will also identify practical, cost-effective management strategies that balance productivity, biodiversity and landscape resilience. It will strengthen early detection and response capabilities for woody weeds and support adoption through targeted extension and demonstration activities.

MLA is supporting industry fast track a transition from paper to digital consignments using electronic National Vendor Declarations (eNVD), and ultimately to paperless consignments. Via the MLA Donor Company (MDC) MLA is making available a co-funding opportunity to support value chain stakeholders such as processors, livestock agencies, saleyards, transporters, integrated companies and their supply chain, including software providers, shift towards digital NVDs.

eNVDs address the inefficiencies of paper-based NVDs including NVDs becoming lost, outdated, incomplete and illegible, resulting in challenges capturing the robust data required to underpin market access. eNVDs also provide receivers such as processors, transporters, agents and saleyards, with consignment information ahead of livestock arrival allowing easy information exchange, real-time corrections, removing manual and duplicative data entry requirements, enabling data to be used across multiple systems and reducing processing time by the receivers. 

Meat & Livestock Australia are seeking expressions of interest from individuals with extensive professional experience in prime lamb production in Australia, either seedstock or commercial, to represent the prime lamb industry on the National Livestock Genetics Consortium.

The National Livestock Genetics Consortium (NLGC) is a skills-based taskforce, established in 2016 by MLA. The NLGC acts in an advisory capacity and provides direction and support to increase collaboration, transparency, communication and investment in livestock genetics research, development and adoption (RD&A) for the benefit of Australian red meat producers. The primary aim of the NLGC is, through strategic research investments, to increase the rate of genetic progress for traits that drive value chain productivity and sustainability in the sheep and beef industries. 

The Australian Beef Sustainability Framework (ABSF) aims to provide a transparent, evidence-based assessment of the Australian beef industry's sustainability performance. It tracks progress against a range of indicators covering four key themes—Best Animal Care, Environmental Stewardship, Economic Resilience, and People and the Community—and reports on issues that are most important to those with a stake in the beef value chain.

The ABSF is designed to demonstrate the industry's commitment to continuous improvement, accountability, and responsible production practices, while helping to maintain market access and stakeholder confidence. By measuring and reporting sustainability outcomes across the entire beef value chain, the ABSF also helps inform industry investment priorities and supports constructive engagement with stakeholders on future sustainability challenges and opportunities.

The Australian dairy and beef industries face ongoing challenges in creating economically viable and scalable pathways for non-replacement dairy calves. Many dairy producers, particularly smaller and land-constrained businesses, are unable to achieve the scale, infrastructure, labour capacity, or consistency required to rear calves to meet the needs of downstream beef supply chains. This can result in fragmented calf-rearing systems, inconsistent animal quality, limited market certainty, duplicated infrastructure investment, and reduced value capture across the supply chain.

Through previous CalfWays initiatives, industry stakeholders identified a potential opportunity to improve supply chain coordination through a cooperative, hub-and-spoke calf-rearing model. A regional calf-rearing facility could aggregate calves from multiple farms, apply consistent welfare, biosecurity and production standards, provide access to specialised calf-rearing expertise, and deliver a more reliable supply of fit-for-purpose cattle to the beef sector.

However, significant uncertainty remains regarding the technical feasibility, commercial viability, financial sustainability, governance arrangements, workforce requirements, and investment readiness of such a model in the Australian context. Gardiner Foundation and the CalfWays collaboration (Dairy Australia and MLA) are seeking an experienced consultant to undertake an independent feasibility study and business case to determine whether a greenfield cooperative calf-rearing facility represents a viable, scalable and investable opportunity capable of supporting long-term industry growth and stronger beef-from-dairy supply chains.

The dairy and beef industries have a significant opportunity to create greater value from non-replacement dairy calves by strengthening connections between dairy producers and beef supply chains. However, regional differences in production systems, market access, supply chain structures, and stakeholder relationships mean that pathways identified in one region may not be directly transferable to another.

Building on the successful methodology developed through the Alpine Valleys pilot, CalfWays is seeking to expand this work into Western Victoria and Gippsland to better understand region-specific opportunities, constraints, and pathways for beef from dairy animals. The project aims to generate practical insights into supply chain requirements, market demand, production economics, and pricing benchmarks while strengthening collaboration between dairy producers, backgrounders, feedlots, processors, and other supply chain participants.

The opportunity for this procurement is to engage suitably qualified consultant(s) to deliver one or more regional pilot projects that will provide evidence-based recommendations, strengthen industry relationships, and identify commercially viable and sustainable pathways for non-replacement dairy calves. The outcomes will support improved producer decision-making, greater market transparency, increased confidence to invest in calf quality, and the development of region-specific implementation strategies that can inform future CalfWays activities across Australia.

Australia’s dairy industry generates a substantial number of non-replacement dairy calves (also called surplus calves) each year. Historically many of these calves had limited value and uncertain market pathways, contributing to ongoing animal welfare and social licence challenges.

There is an opportunity to create value from these calves within commercial beef systems. With appropriate genetics, feeding and management, dairy-origin cattle can meet market specifications and deliver improved production and eating quality outcomes.

Despite this, adoption remains constrained by knowledge, confidence, market understanding and supply chain coordination.

Dairy Australia's CalfWays Roadmap aims to improve the welfare and value of non-replacement calves across the dairy industry. Complementing this work, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Dairy Australia are delivering the Growing Beef from Dairy (GBfD) initiative to support best practice adoption across the beef from dairy production system and strengthen commercially viable market pathways for dairy-origin cattle.

As part of the GBfD initiative, on-farm demonstration sites will be established to demonstrate practical production systems, build producer capability and support adoption through peer-to-peer learning and on-farm demonstration.