Where do the parties stand on animal welfare this election?

Federal Election 2025

About the animal welfare policy asks

Protecting the live sheep export phase out

Support the current legislative phase out of live sheep exports by 1 May 2028.

Establishing a National Animal Welfare Commission

Establish a national Animal Welfare Commission/Office as recommended by the Productivity Commission to coordinate the states and territories in developing and implementing national animal welfare standards and to provide independent science-based advice to Government on animal welfare.  

Note: amber tick available for supporting either of the following policies: 

  • expand the functions of the Inspector-General for Animal Welfare and Live Animal Exports to include other areas of Commonwealth responsibility for animal welfare beyond live exports, including export abattoirs 

Funding for the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy

Support the ongoing development and implementation of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy with a funding commitment of $14 million over 4 years.

Supporting animal welfare advocacy by expanding DGR status

Extend eligibility for deductible gift recipient (DGR) status to all animal welfare charities and support charity advocacy, as recommended in the Productivity Commission’s Future Foundations for Giving report and the Not-for-profit Sector Development Blueprint.

Promoting animal welfare in trade agreements

Establish a formal animal welfare trade policy to inform the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s approach to negotiating trade agreements.

Expanding the trophy hunting import ban

Extend the existing ban on hunting trophies under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, which currently includes African lions, elephants and the southern white rhino, to all species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

What can you do?

 

Educate & share

Learn where the parties and candidates stand on key reforms for animals and share our scorecards with your networks.

Engage with candidates/parties

We’ve created a toolkit to help you contact the parties and let them know what you think about these issues.

Follow the Alliance

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About the scorecards

  • At the start of the election campaign we contacted all major parties and listed candidates in key electorates asking for their responses to key Alliance policies. Six of these policies are featured on the scorecards. In completing the scorecards, we took into consideration responses to our emails as well as previous public comments, voting patterns and policy decisions.

  • The scorecards have been prepared to raise awareness of the interests of animals and prevent animal suffering by summarising the position of political parties on the key animal welfare policy issues relevant to the charitable purposes of the Australian Alliance for Animals.

  • The Alliance does not promote or oppose political parties or direct people on how to vote.

  • The scorecards refer to the parties by the following abbreviations.  

    Animal Justice = Animal Justice Party
    Fusion = FUSION | Planet Rescue | Whistleblower Protection | Innovation
    Greens = Australian Greens
    Jacqui Lambie = Jacqui Lambie Network
    KAP = Katter's Australian Party (KAP)
    Labor = Australian Labor Party
    Liberal = Liberal Party of Australia
    National = National Party of Australia
    One Nation = Pauline Hanson's One Nation
    Sustainable Australia = Sustainable Australia Party - Universal Basic Income

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