Sheep

The 'Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Sheep' are part of a series of projects to develop livestock welfare standards and guidelines.

The standards and guidelines for sheep will be refined from the Model Code of Practice for the welfare of animals (MCOP) and will apply to all people responsible for the care and management of sheep.

‘The Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Sheep’ will follow the principles described in the revised Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines Development Business Plan (507 KB) .

The sheep writing group, responsible for drafting the standards and guidelines for sheep, is comprised of representatives from: Animal Welfare Committee (AWC), Sheepmeat Council, WoolProducers, CSIRO science and DAFF. The group is led by an independent Chair and supported by Animal Health Australia (AHA).

The sheep reference group is comprised of representatives from all aspects of sheep care and management. Reference group meetings are held to review the standards and guidelines draft and to provide further guidance; a 90 day public consultation period is part of the process.

Progress report

The second sheep reference group meeting was held on the 21 – 22 April 2010. The meeting was devoted to reviewing the draft standards and guidelines document, with a particular focus on the standards. The standards are intended to be legislated so it extremely important that they are considered fully to ensure they meet the intended objectives.

The sheep writing group will meet to discuss feedback and make appropriate changes to the next draft of the Sheep Welfare Standards and Guidelines. A further reference group meeting is possible in October 2010 to agree on the revised draft the draft Regulation Impact Analysis.