Animal Welfare Legislation in Australia

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the Australian legislation for animal welfare. The structure of the legal system in Australia under the current Constitution, and the history of the Australian law for animal welfare, is briefly described. The eight states and territories comprising the Commonwealth of Australia have independent legislations and these are compared for their purpose, definitions, adopted codes of practice, and systems of enforcement. These comparisons help to highlight the strong features and the limitations of the Australian animal laws. Particular attention is given to the Australian code of practice for the use of animals in teaching and research. All states use this code as a framework for local legislation, and here we use it to illustrate the benefits of harmonisation and self-regulation. In the last section, the role of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy in the enhancement of animal welfare is described to illustrate the importance of consultation in the process of legislation.