Live sheep export

Our role

The state and territory member Societies provide services to animals in need through their shelters and inspectorates. In the national office, RSPCA Australia works to influence animal welfare policy, practice and legislation across the country

Go to Our role

Animal welfare science

Caring for animals

Farm animal welfare

Public education

Advocacy

Enforcing the law

Key issues

The RSPCA advocates for the welfare of animals across a number of industries, issues and platforms. Help from our supporters is important to progress change. Working together is key.

Go to Key issues

Priority issue

On 1 July 2024, the Federal Government…

Live sheep export

News

Here you'll find the latest news relating to the RSPCA's vital work, press releases on national events, education on animal welfare issues, animal welfare science updates and our very own podcast covering a range of current topics.

Go to News

Blog

Media centre

Podcast

Media release: Live sheep export unfixable, unnecessary, unacceptable – and now, soon to be unlawful

Read the media release

Support us

Whether you're an individual or a business, there are multiple ways you can support the RSPCA

Go to Support us

An animal in the RSPCA care being cared for by an RSPCA vet

Donate now to support your local RSPCA and make a difference to animal welfare across Australia

Donate

Learn

The RSPCA aims to make evidence-based research accessible to the community, so that they can have confidence in the choices made when it comes to animal welfare.

Go to Learn

Knowledgebase Offsite

Animal Welfare Seminar

Animal Welfare Science Update

Download our latest issue

Education resources

Cage free and proud

Responsible sourcing

RSPCA Approved Standards

RSPCA Animal Welfare Seminar 2025

Animal ethics and animal welfare…

Learn more

About

The RSPCA is an independent, community-based charity providing animal care and protection services across the country.

Go to About

Annual reports

Annual statistics

Board & governance

Scholarships

Join our team

Our history

Contact

Read our National Statistics

Compiled on a national basis by RSPCA…

Annual statistics

Adopt

By choosing adoption, you’ll not only have the chance to make a friend for life, but you’ll be giving an animal a second chance and helping support the RSPCA.

Go to Adopt

Adopting a dog or puppy

Love is Blind

Adopting a cat or kitten

Safe and happy cats

Adopting other animals

Responsible pet ownership

Visit the Adopt A Pet website

Make a difference to a pet’s life today.

Search Adoptapet

Report Cruelty Donate

Live sheep export

On 1 July 2024, the Federal Government legislated an end date to live sheep export.

This means that this cruel and unfixable trade will end by 1 May 2028.

It provides a definitive end date and a clear indication to those in the trade and throughout the supply chain that they need to prepare over the coming years to transition away from reliance on the live sheep export industry. A $107 million transition package has been made available by the Federal Government.

But 2028 is a long way away – and a lot can happen between now and then.

Live sheep export has cumulative and inherent animal welfare issues. It could not be fixed by better regulation – Australia's dark history of live sheep export atrocities has proven this.

The decision to end the trade is firmly backed by science and evidence and by the Australian community.

It means a better future – for animals and for the community. Australian sheep are better off at home – and as a country and a society, we can and will do better than live sheep export.

Stay updated for future developments on this key issue

Subscribe here

The science

The animal welfare issues are cumulative and inherent to the live sheep export trade.
Contemporary animal welfare science and recent analysis of animal welfare conditions onboard live export vessels demonstrate that live sheep export by sea causes extreme suffering for sheep. Risks include starvation, ship motion, ammonia exposure, heat stress, stocking density, unhygienic environments from being confined to accumulating faeces throughout the journey, 24/7 engine noise and artificial lighting, scabby mouth and enteric and respiratory infections. For more information on the science behind the animal welfare issues in live export, see here. For sheep in particular, animal welfare science substantiates that long journeys are a significant stressor.

Data gathered by on-board Independent Observers from over 53 live sheep export journeys carrying 2.5 million sheep between 2018 and 2023 shows that in 80 per cent of those voyages sheep were reported as starving on board, and at least 60 per cent reported sheep suffering from heat stress. These issues have not, and cannot, be fixed.

Community support

71% of West Australians, including 72% in metro WA and 69% in rural and regional WA, support the Federal Government’s policy to phase out live sheep export (2023).
63% of West Australians would be more likely to vote for a candidate in the next federal election who supported a phase out of live sheep export (2023).
78% of Australians would support a phase out of live sheep export if affected farmers were provided with assistance to transition (2022). The Australian Government has allocated $107 million to support farmers and others in the supply chain to transition away from the trade.
Nearly 44,000 Australians signed a parliamentary petition in favour of a phase out of live sheep export – a robust two-step process where emails were verified, resulting in one of the largest parliamentary e-petitions in Australia’s history (2023).

What you can do

Write to your federal MP and Senators in support of maintaining the phase out legislation. There’s a long way to go until 2028 – so we need to remind parliamentarians that this was the right decision and one that was firmly backed by science and by the community. You can find MPs’ and Senators’ contact details here.
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or call talkback radio in support of a phase out of live sheep export, pointing out that sheep are better off at home.
Share this page with friends and family or on social media – reminding the community that we can do #betterthanliveexport for Australia’s sheep.
Subscribe to the RSPCA Australia enews, so you’ll be the first to know when there’s something more you can do to help ensure Australian sheep have a better future.

Authorised by Richard Mussell, RSPCA Australia, 6 Napier Close, Deakin