Last year the Independent Poultry Welfare Panel completed its work developing a new Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry and these standards would replace existing voluntary model codes of conduct and would ban battery caged eggs, with introduction sometime by 2036.
We have been advocating that the new welfare standards be introduced as soon as possible and not wait until 2036.
The following update has been provided by the Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries:
Each state and territory will be considering implementation options for the Poultry Standards and Guidelines.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is currently consulting with Queensland egg producers and other poultry stakeholders regarding implementation options for the Standards and Guidelines in Queensland, including timing for the phasing out of conventional cages and economic impacts.
This will be followed by further discussions by all Ministers in early 2023.
We will continue to advocate and will update when we have more information. Anyone wishing to advocate directly with Minister Furner, can do so via agriculture@ministerial.qld.gov.au