Defining Australia's Approach to Animal Welfare
All animals have intrinsic value. The Australian approach to animal welfare requires that animals under human care or influence are healthy, properly fed and comfortable and that efforts are made to improve their well-being and living conditions. In addition, there is a responsibility to ensure that animals which require veterinary treatment receive it and that if animals are to be destroyed, it is done humanely.
This responsibility towards animals does not necessarily extend to intervention in the management of individual wild animals and their populations, in which animals suffer or die as part of natural processes.
Australia’s approach to animal welfare, through adoption of the Strategy, is to ensure that due consideration is accorded to a multitude of factors (including science, practicability, culture, economics, ethics, societal values of the whole community, education and awareness, innovation and international developments). These considerations are relevant to the establishment and promotion of sound animal welfare standards.
The Senate Select Committee established in 1983 set a precedent for openness and inclusiveness in dealing with animal welfare. The Strategy will operate according to the open, consultative and consensual nature of Australia’s democratic, tolerant and pluralist society.