Review of Layer Hen Housing and Labelling of Eggs in Australia

The Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand (ARMCANZ), comprising Australian, state, territory and New Zealand Ministers for Agriculture, requested a review in 1999 of the future of conventional cages and alternative layer hen housing systems. 

The 'Review of Layer Hen Housing and Labelling of Eggs in Australia' was the outcome. ARMCANZ's successor, the Primary Industries Ministerial Council (PIMC) has reaffirmed its commitment to implement the hen welfare measures that had been agreed at the March and August 2000 ARMCANZ meetings. 

The Ministers subsequently agreed to a number of measures to improve hen welfare, including that all new cage systems commissioned from 1 January 2001 provided a minimum floor space of 550 square centimetres per bird (previously 450 sq cm) and that old style conventional cages which do not comply with the 1995 standards be scrapped by 1 January 2008.

The Australian egg industry has since established a third party auditable quality assurance program which addresses issues including food safety, biosecurity, animal welfare and egg labelling and it is expected these aspects will be underpinned by state and territory legislation.

The Synopsis Report on the Review of Layer Hen Housing and Labelling of Eggs - Revised version 2000  PDF [312kb]