Australia Appoints Independent Inspector for Live Animal Exports

Dr Katherine Clift has been appointed Australia’s new Inspector-General of Animal Welfare and Live Animal Exports for five years with her term commencing on September 30, 2024.  

The appointment comes after the federal government made a commitment to strengthen animal welfare assurance and increase accountability and transparency in livestock exports at the last election. 

Clift’s tenure will see her undertake audit and review functions focused on the systems and processes that underpin the department’s regulation of animal welfare and livestock exports. 

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins, said: “Dr Clift will bring independence and impartiality to the expanded Inspector-General role, which is designed to improve confidence for farmers, industry and the community in the regulation of animal welfare and livestock exports.

“As well as her extensive regulatory and veterinary background, Dr Clift boasts a strong track record in stakeholder engagement and a comprehensive understanding of animal welfare and livestock exports regulation.  

“Her qualifications in veterinary science, veterinary public health management and government administration afford her an understanding of the role, at the micro and macro levels, and I congratulate her on her appointment.  

“I would like to thank the Acting Inspector-General, Dr Mike Bond, for his valuable contribution to live export regulation and animal welfare over the past year.”  

Under Bond’s leadership, a report was released by the office highlighting ongoing and systemic failures within Australia’s Independent Observer program designed to provide independent reporting of animal welfare at sea. The program was established after the 2017 death of over 2,400 sheep on the livestock carrier Awassi Express (now Anna Mara). The sheep died of heat stress, and in 2018, television footage aired from this and four other voyages widely undermined public confidence in the treatment of animals in the livestock export trade.

The Inspector-General’s report concludes that the Independent Observer Program, implemented in 2018, does not appear to provide acceptable levels of assurance regarding the health and welfare of livestock.

A 2024 report by the RSPCA analyzed independent observer reports from over 53 voyages and found that 80% of the reports from recent live sheep export voyages say sheep are starving on board, and at least 60% reported animals suffering with signs of heat stress.

Australia has since legislated for the phase out the live export of sheep by May 1, 2028, in favor of a chilled and boxed meat trade.