Author: Sarah Babington

In Australia animals are slaughtered at slaughtering establishments to produce meat and meat products for both domestic and overseas markets. Slaughtering establishments are regulated through food safety and animal welfare legislation, as well as voluntary assurance schemes and retail customer requirements. All commercial slaughtering establishments in Australia must comply with the Australia Standard for hygienic production and transportation of meat and meat products for human consumption (AS 4696:2023). The Australian Standard includes requirements relevant to infrastructure, food safety, and animal welfare. Under the Australian Standard a slaughtering establishment must have an ‘Approved Arrangement’ which is a documented arrangement of how compliance with the Standard will be achieve and a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan to manage the risks associated with slaughter. The Approved Arrangement is approved by the controlling authority and used during oversight activities to verify compliance of the slaughtering establishment.

Food safety legislation

Slaughtering establishments must be licensed to process and sell meat and meat products by the relevant state or territory food safety authority. All slaughtering establishments must comply with the Food Standards Code legislation, as well as their state and territory food safety legislation. The food safety legislation of each jurisdiction for slaughtering establishments, as of December 2024, are as follows:

• NSW – Food Act 2003 and Food Regulations 2015
• NT – Meat Industries Act 1996 and Meat Industries Regulations 1997
• Qld – Food Production (Safety) Act 2000 and Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014
• SA – Primary Produce (Food Safety Schemes) Act 2004 and Primary Produce (Food Safety Schemes) (Meat) Regulations 2017
• Tas – Primary Produce Safety Act 2011 and Primary Produce Safety (Meat and Poultry) Regulations 2014
• Vic – Meat Industry Act 1993 and Meat Industry Regulations 2015
• WA – Food Act 2008 and Food Regulations 2009

Animal welfare legislation

In addition to complying with food safety legislation, slaughtering establishments are required to comply with the relevant state or territory animal welfare legislation. The animal welfare legislation of each jurisdiction for slaughtering establishments, as of December 2023, are as follows:

• NSW – Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulation 2012
• NT – Animal Protection Act 2018 and Animal Protection Regulations 2022
• Qld – Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 and Animal Care and Protection Regulation 2023
• SA – Animal Welfare Act 1985 and Animal Welfare Regulations 2012
• Tas – Animal Welfare Act 1993 and Animal Welfare (General) Regulations 2013
• Vic – Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulations 2019 (the Act and Regulations do not apply to the slaughter of animals in accordance with the Meat Industry Act 1993 or any Commonwealth Act)
• WA – Animal Welfare Act 2002 and Animal Welfare (General) Regulations 2003

The Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals: Livestock at Slaughtering Establishments includes requirements specific to animal welfare at slaughter. Slaughtering establishment may be required to comply with the Model Code of Practice where it is stated under regulations or licensing conditions. The Model Code of Practice is mandated in SA under their regulations, while in Qld and WA if it is adopted it can be used as a defence to provide an exemption to the cruelty provisions under the Acts. The Model Code of Practice is intended to be replaced by the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Livestock at Processing Establishments, which is currently under development. On completion and endorsement from each Agricultural minister the Standards and Guidelines are designed to be implemented in the legislation of each state and territory to provide a consistent minimum standard of animal welfare at slaughtering establishments across Australia.

Export legislation

Slaughtering establishments that only produce meat for domestic consumption are regulated by their relevant state or territory authorities. Some states, such as NSW and Vic, also allow for meat to be slaughtered and processed through mobile slaughtering units on-farm and sold for domestic consumption. Meanwhile, establishments that are licensed to export and sell meat to overseas markets are regulated by the Federal Department of Agriculture and must comply with the specific requirements of each importing country.

Export slaughtering establishments must be registered and comply with the requirements in the Export Control Act 2020, Export Control (Meat and Meat Products) Rules 2021, and Export Control (Poultry Meat and Poultry Meat Products) Rules 2021. The Export Control Act and Rules are primarily food safety legislation, but they do require compliance with the Australian Standard (AS 4696:2023), which has some general animal welfare requirements. Export slaughtering establishments can be classified as Tier 1 or Tier 2 establishments depending on the importing countries they are choosing to supply. Tier 1 establishments supply to overseas countries that accept the Australian Standard and regulatory oversight is conducted by the relevant state or territory authorities. Tier 2 establishments are eligible to supply all overseas countries conditional of meeting their importing requirements and regulatory oversight is conducted by the Federal Department of Agriculture. Tier 2 establishments are required to have an On-Plant Veterinarian from the Federal Department of Agriculture that is present during processing, who acts to verify compliance with the Approved Arrangement in place and relevant importing country requirements.  

Voluntary standards

Industry Animal Welfare Standards

The Industry Animal Welfare Standard for Livestock Processing Establishments Preparing Meat for Human Consumption (AAWCS Standard) underpins the Australian Livestock Processing Industry Animal Welfare Certification System. The administration of the AAWCS Standard is managed by the Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC), while the certification and oversight processes are managed by AUS-MEAT. The AAWCS Standard is formally recognised by the Federal Department of Agriculture as evidence that an export licensed establishment is complying with animal welfare legislation. Similarly, some states in Australia, such as NSW and Qld, require domestic establishments to comply with the AAWCS Standard under licensing conditions.

WOAH Animal Welfare Chapters

The World Organisation for Animal Health Chapter 7.5. Slaughter of Animals is a set of recommendations related to animal welfare that are agreed upon by the 183 member countries. The standards within the chapter are not mandated but the member countries are encouraged to adopt and implement the standards into their own legislation to make them mandatory.

Oversight and enforcement

Slaughtering establishments have both internal and external forms of oversight that act to verify compliance with the requirements under legislation. Internal oversight at slaughtering establishments often includes monitoring and verification activities conducted by staff either physically or remotely through video or data surveillance system as part of an establishment’s internal audit system. External oversight may include an authorised third party or government inspector that monitors compliance at slaughtering establishments during processing. External audits are also undertaken by regulators periodically the verify compliance of slaughtering establishments. There may also be additional audits conducted if a slaughtering establishment is certified under a voluntary assurance scheme, such as the AAWCS Standard, or to verify compliance with the relevant retail customers requirements.

As it relates to animal welfare, in some jurisdictions the authority responsible for conducting the audits and regulating the food safety and animal welfare legislation differs from those responsible for investigating and enforcing the legislation if an issue is identified. The authorities responsible for regulating and enforcing legislation at slaughtering establishments are detailed in Table 1. The separation between regulation and enforcement of food safety and animal welfare legislation at slaughtering establishments means that coordination across sometimes several authorities is required.

Table 1. Regulatory and enforcement authorities responsible for regulating and enforcing food safety and animal welfare at slaughtering establishments in Australia.

At Tier 1 export slaughtering establishments, like domestic establishments, the relevant state and territory authorities are responsible for regulation and enforcement. At Tier 2 export slaughtering establishments the state or territory authorities are responsible for regulating food safety and animal welfare, however they rely upon the Federal Department of Agriculture to verify compliance and report any issues. Meanwhile, the Federal Department of Agriculture at Tier 2 establishments is responsible for the regulation and enforcement of the Export Control Act and Rules, as well as the importing country requirements.

Summary

The regulation of slaughtering establishments in Australia varies across each state and territory, as well as between domestic and export registered establishments. The regulatory framework that ensures compliance of slaughtering establishments with food safety and animal welfare legislation is complex involving numerous regulatory and enforcement authorities. This regulatory framework contributes to maintaining food safety and animal welfare standards at Australian slaughtering establishments. However, there remain some regulatory gaps due to inconsistencies between jurisdictions and challenges from the considerable regulatory burden on industry. A consistent regulatory framework across Australia for slaughtering establishments would address some of the current gaps and facilitate continual improvement of food safety and animal welfare practices. Additionally, cooperation between regulatory and enforcement authorities, as well as the use of technology could assist in reducing the current regulatory burden on industry while assuring continued compliance with the relevant legislation.