Animal Welfare Bill
Tuesday 12 November 2024
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (21:13): I rise today in support of the Animal Welfare Bill 2024, which provides an update of the Animal Welfare Act 1985 and seeks to amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935, the Dog and Cat Management Act 1995, the Sentencing Act 2017, and the Veterinary Services Act 2023 to better protect and prevent the harm of animals in South Australia.
At the 2022 state election, the Malinauskas Labor team promised to update and modernise our animal welfare laws to be consistent with the expectations of South Australians, because the vast majority of us really love our furry, woolly, hairy, feathery, scaly friends and we want them to be protected, whether they are in our backyards, our streets, the outback, our rivers or our oceans. We made this promise in recognition of the importance that animals have always played in our lives, in particular the companionship so many provided during the pandemic.
It became clear to us that existing animal welfare laws and the enforcement of those laws were not keeping up with our community's expectations. The bill before us today fulfils that promise, updating the Animal Welfare Act and introducing a number of related amendments to ensure these laws are consistent with contemporary practices, science and community expectations.
Our first step towards delivering this promise was to review the existing Animal Welfare Act with the support of the broader South Australian community. In early 2023, community consultation was sought via the YourSAy platform, which identified several reform opportunities. In April this year we again sought the views of South Australians on these proposed reforms to help guide the final bill we see before us today. Throughout both of these consultations more than 1,000 participants showed compassion and the very best in our community to provide a voice for animals.
I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone who participated in this review, particularly residents in my electorate who participated in the consultation and took the time to share directly with me their views on how we can best protect and support animal welfare in our state.
To help better explain why the Animal Welfare Act exists and support its interpretation, this bill seeks to update the purpose and include objects in the act. Community consultation heard strong support for these inclusions, particularly the inclusion of principles that acknowledge an animal's ability to feel, perceive and have experiences and a person's duty of care.
Almost two-thirds of participants to the initial community consultation on the Animal Welfare Act agreed that the definition of 'animal' should be changed. In response, this bill seeks to broaden the definition of 'animal' to include fish, and the inclusion of cephalopods such as squid, octopus and cuttlefish when used, supplied or kept for scientific purposes. As the Deputy Premier outlined in her contribution, this bill will not affect fishing and aquaculture so long as those activities are carried out in compliance with the relevant legislation.
Community consultation broadly showed that a blanket exemption of fish from the definition was not appropriate and that South Australians expect fishing activities to be conducted in a humane way by everyone. This will ensure sharks and rays, which we have seen horrific things done to such as stingers or fins being cut off, are protected through this act.
The current Animal Welfare Act contains an implicit duty of care that this bill makes explicit: anyone who is responsible for an animal must make sure it has appropriate food, water and living conditions. This duty of care provision was supported by more than 80 per cent of respondents to the consultation on the draft bill. This provision also allows authorities to address neglect before an animal is harmed, empowering the RSPCA SA to talk to owners proactively.
Further reforms included in this updated bill include improving regulation, oversight and transparency of the research and teaching sector; increased abilities to administer and enforce the act; and contemporising the governance and administrative provision for the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. These reforms address community concerns by providing greater accountability and transparency, holding those who do not meet animal welfare requirements to account, and diversifying where advice pertaining to animal welfare comes from. This bill also seeks to create an animal welfare fund, capturing licence fees, fines and penalties to be put back into supporting and promoting animal welfare outcomes.
This bill also updates assistance to the RSPCA with a range of tools that will make enforcing the act much more effective, swift and animal focused. I am really proud to be part of a state government that provides significant support to the RSPCA South Australia, such as our $1 million funding commitment over the parliamentary term and an additional $16.4 million of funding provided over four years to deliver animal welfare compliance activities.
In accordance with community expectations, it is important that we not only update the Animal Welfare Act but ensure that penalties for breaching the act are appropriate and act as a deterrent. This bill includes fines of up to $250,000 or 10 years' jail for people who mistreat animals, a significant increase on the current maximum fine of $50,000 or four years' jail for the aggravated ill treatment of an animal.
In closing, I would like to thank the Deputy Premier, her team and everyone in the Department for Environment and Water for their work in bringing this bill before us today. Today, we deliver on yet another election commitment: this time, our promise to update the Animal Welfare Act. This reform establishes a significant boost to animal welfare outcomes in our state, modernising our laws to align with what our community expects. I commend the bill to the house.
