Live Exports

The live export of sheep for slaughter is cruel and cannot be justified on religious, cultural or economic grounds.

Cattle to Indonesia

Australia has exported a total of 6.4 million cattle to Indonesia over the past 20 years. In 2010, 60% of live cattle exports (521,002 cattle) went to Indonesia: these cattle are sourced from properties in northern Australia and are not used to human handling. Rope casting, where cattle are forcibly tripped onto their sides, followed by slaughter using multiple throat cuts while animals are fully conscious, are all normal practice in Indonesia. Evidence documented in early 2010 revealed Australian cattle being subjected to torture techniques such as tail twisting, tail breaking and eye gouging in an effort to move animals into restraint boxes or down onto the slaughter floor. The restraint box facilitates the roping and casting (tripping an animal onto its side) of Australian cattle and is, in itself, an inhumane device.

Upon arrival in Indonesia

  • Cattle are offloaded in a country with no enforceable animal welfare laws.
  • They are feed-lotted for further fattening.
  • They may be on-sold to individuals or merchants.
  • Cattle may be subjected to rough, inhumane handling.
  • They are slaughtered by having their throat cut, without being stunned first.
  • They are killed in ways that would be illegal in Australia.

Exporting live animals for slaughter is cruel.

The return to the Australian economy of cattle exports to Indonesia was around $440 million in 2009-2010. In contrast, our global beef exports in the same period were worth over $4.5 billion.

Help end the live export of animals for slaughter.

Sheep to the Middle East

Every year around 4 million Australian sheep are loaded onto ships and sent overseas to be slaughtered for their meat[1]. The journey to the Middle East can take up to a month. Animals suffer at sea through starvation, illness, injury and disease. Around 40,000 sheep every year don't survive the sea journey alone.

Those that do survive are often subjected to rough handling and transport in countries that have few or no animal welfare laws. They are slaughtered without being stunned so their throats are cut while they are fully conscious.

Sending live sheep on long journeys overseas just to be slaughtered when they get there is cruel and unnecessary.

  • Sheep meat exports are four times more valuable to the Australian economy than live sheep exports.
  • Australia sends Halal-certified meat to every country we send live animals to.
  • Halal-certified abattoirs in Australia allow pre-slaughter stunning and this meat is just as religiously acceptable as meat from an animal slaughtered overseas.

How you can help

Become a Political Animal

  • Ask your Federal MP how they would address these animal welfare issues.

The economics

In 2008/09, live sheep exports returned $351 million to the Australian economy. Sheep meat exports returned $1.5 billion. The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union estimates around 40,000 jobs have been lost in the meat-processing sector since the live export trade began[1]. Rural Australia continues to struggle to keep abattoirs open, while live animals are trucked past empty processing plants and are loaded onto ships to be processed overseas.

We know that farmers do not need live sheep exports to make a living. Two reports completed in 2009[2] revealed that Australian jobs are at risk because of live sheep exports and that there are better opportunities for farmers by processing sheep domestically.

Greater investment in our meat processors will help farmers reduce the risks associated with the live sheep trade and create jobs in Australia.

What we want:

  1. Increased marketing activities to further promote Australian sheep meat to the world.
  2. Greater investment in Australia's meat-processing industry.
  3. Investigation into mechanisms to help farmers move away from the live sheep trade.
  4. A signal to farmers that a phase out of live sheep exports is going to occur.

The laws governing live animal exports

There is a maze of regulation types and responsibilities in the Australian live export trade. It makes it very difficult to identify and prosecute breaches relating to the welfare of exported animals. Australian laws also do not protect our animals in other countries.

The Australian Government is responsible for export policy and regulation of the live export industry through the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation (Export Control) Act 2004[1][2]. Under this legislation, the Australian Government is also responsible for the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (ASEL)[3]. Unfortunately ASEL is not widely enforced as it isn't referenced in State and Territory government legislation. At ports and at registered premises, ASEL is enforced by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). While at sea, the Australian Marine Safety Authority (AMSA) is responsible for animal welfare.

[1] Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment (Export Control) Act 2004

[2] Australian Position Statement on the Export of Livestock

[3] Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (Version 2.2)