Media Releases and Statements

A Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into pig welfare has been announced less than two months after investigators from Farm Transparency Project released shocking footage of pigs being gassed to death in Victorian slaughterhouses. 

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Australian Food Group slaughterhouse in Laverton has shut down rather than installing CCTV mandated by government regulator PrimeSafe, according to a report by ABC. The slaughterhouse was last month at the centre of a national exposé into the use of gas chambers in pig slaughterhouses, after animal advocate Chris Delforce spent almost 10 hours inside the chamber filming the agonising deaths of pigs inside. Delforce says that AFG's choice to stop operating rather than install CCTV inside their chamber is "typical" of an industry unwilling to take accountability, however it represents a "massive win for pigs." One of Victoria's three largest pig slaughterhouses has shut its doors rather than install CCTV inside their gas chamber. Australian Food Group slaughterhouse was last mont... Read more >

30 protestors have stopped operations at Benalla slaughterhouse in Northern Victoria, chaining themselves onto the gas chamber used to paralyse pigs for slaughter.

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Investigators behind “horrific” footage of pigs being gassed to death stage peaceful sit-in at Australian Pork Limited, seeking meeting with CEOMonday 3 April Animal cruelty investigators from the group Farm Transparency Project have travelled to Canberra this morning, and are asking to meet with the CEO of Australian Pork Limited, after she expressed confusion over footage which shows pigs screaming and thrashing inside "best practice" carbon dioxide gas chambers. Director of Farm Transparency Project, Chris Delforce, hid himself inside one of the gas chambers featured, to capture first-hand what happens to pigs inside. He says that APL have shown a “disgusting unwillingness” to take responsibility for the horrific scenes which he states depict “the norm ... Read more >

Prominent animal advocate Chris Delforce hid inside one of the pork industry’s “humane” carbon dioxide gas chambers to document the gassing of pigs. New footage captured by Farm Transparency Project inside Victoria’s three largest slaughterhouses, revealed exclusively on ABC’s 7.30 program last night, shows thousands of pigs screaming and thrashing in agony as they are lowered into the gas.  This investigation comes 9 years after Delforce first used hidden cameras to expose the use of gas chambers for pigs; the first time in the world that the widespread practice had been captured on camera. He says it “has only become more brutal.” Earlier this year, activist Chris Delforce hid inside the top of a carbon dioxide gas chamber in the Au... Read more >

Pork giant Sunpork has removed a statement from its website claiming that it has eliminated sow stalls, after an investigation by Farm Transparency Project exposed the use of cages for mother pigs in a piggery owned by the company The statement was on Sunpork's website up until November 2022, but has now been removed following the exposé which revealed the widespread use of sow stalls in Victorian piggeries, 5 years after the industry claimed to have phased them out Sunpork supplies to major supermarkets including Coles and Woolworths, and had proudly claimed themselves to be one of the first pork producers to eliminate sow stalls Animal rights group Farm Transparency Project claims Australian pork giant Sunpork has been exposed for deceiving consumers after backtracking on i... Read more >

Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project is responsible for two anti-dairy billboards which have appeared this week in Brunswick and Albion The billboards link to a website showing footage of Australian dairy farms and demanding a complete transition of the industry Chris Delforce, Executive Director of Farm Transparency Project has launched this new project while campaigning as an Upper House candidate in the upcoming state election More images available at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pkfy5uums5a68ea/AABCKXbGrDAWSKuynQrKEz7Sa?dl=0 Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project is calling for a complete end to the production of dairy with a series of controversial billboards. The billboards which have appeared this week in Brunswick and Albion feature an i... Read more >

Media release by Andy Meddick MP (Animal Justice Party Victoria) - An undercover investigation by Farm Transparency Project has revealed at least six Victorian piggeries are confining mother pigs to small cages, despite an industry phase-out deadline of 2017.

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Over February 10 and 11, the High Court will hear a constitutional challenge to a controversial NSW law that prohibits reporting on public interest matters, where the information or material has been obtained covertly.

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The Victorian Government has today announced the introduction of new legislation, the Livestock Management Amendment (Animal Activism) Bill 2021, to address what it calls "the serious impacts of trespass on Victorian farms and... the significant biosecurity risks that breaches from animal activists can pose". These new laws impose heavy on-the-spot fines for people who covertly enter animal agriculture facilities to capture evidence of cruelty. Once again, the issue of biosecurity is being used as an excuse to attempt to limit consumer awareness of the systemic cruelty occurring in farms and slaughterhouses across the country. There has not been a single incident of a biosecurity hazard caused by activists, despite hundreds of investigations into farms, slaughterhouses and related facil... Read more >

Animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project has served the Attorney-General of New South Wales with documents filed in the High Court of Australia, challenging the state government’s use of surveillance privacy laws to limit public awareness of animal cruelty in farms and slaughterhouses.

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Animal protection group Farm Transparency Project has hit back at claims made today by Racing NSW in response to new evidence of the ongoing slaughter of NSW racehorses. The racing body has distanced themselves from responsibility, suggesting that only a handful of the identified horses were in breach of Racing Rule LR114, despite many of the horses coming directly from the industry’s own breeders. Rule LR114 states that “any person that is in charge of or has in his or her possession, control or custody of any [eligible, unnamed or named] horses is not to euthanize or destroy a horse”, and that “where a decision has been made to retire a horse, or not to commence racing an Eligible Horse, and that horse has been domiciled in NSW for the majority of its life…... Read more >

Confronting hidden camera footage has revealed systemic improper stunning of turkeys before they are brutally decapitated in an abattoir in Numurkah, Victoria.

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Hidden cameras installed at the cattle feedlot operated by former pig farmer Wally Perenc, near Yass NSW, have shone new light on the animal cruelty charges mysteriously withdrawn in 2014 by RSPCA NSW, and bolstered calls for the RSPCA to be stripped of its jurisdiction over farm animal cruelty, as detailed in the NSW Parliament by the Hon Mark Pearson MLC. The new footage, anonymously provided to animal protection organisation Farm Transparency Project (formerly Aussie Farms), depicts adolescent calves bellowing in anguish as their young horns are ripped off without pain relief, not 100 metres from the now defunct piggery made infamous by 2012 covert footage. Numerous animals are seen suffering from eye infections, respiratory issues and even blindness, while others lie dead or dying. S... Read more >

New evidence reveals the ongoing slaughter of ex-racehorses in NSW in breach of the state’s racing rules, with many sent directly from industry breeders including a stud owned by billionaire Gerry Harvey, owner of the prestigious ‘Magic Millions’ annual horse sale and retail giant Harvey Norman.  

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We're changing our name! Since our inception in 2014, we've used the name Aussie Farms to challenge perceptions of what it means to farm animals for food in Australia. However, the time has come for a name that more clearly captures our purpose as an animal protection organisation, to fight for the rights of animals to not be exploited and abused commercially, by forcing transparency on industries dependent on secrecy. We've always believed that truth and transparency are some of our greatest tools in the movement for animal liberation. So we'll be moving forward as "Farm Transparency Project". By dropping the "Aussie", we're also ready to expand our efforts internationally, with new countries to be added to our Map and Repository websites later in the year. Our primary focus will alwa... Read more >

Animal protection organisation Aussie Farms has released ‘devastating’ hidden camera footage of horses, including ex-racing thoroughbreds and standardbreds, being shot at two Sydney knackeries.

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A recurring revelation throughout this inquiry was the total lack of transparency and legal restrictions that the industry operates under, with even the poster boy for animal agriculture – goat farmer John Gommans – being exposed for animal cruelty when hidden cameras captured the daily brutal shooting of newborn male goats.   The government’s response does touch on this lack of transparency, but it’s a shame to see that their priority appears to be boosting consumer confidence in the industry, rather than doing anything to actually address the underlying concerns of those consumers. They’ve supported the recommendation for CCTV in slaughterhouses, but as we pointed out in our submission to the inquiry, unless that CCTV is publicly accessible it’... Read more >

Confronting Australian-first footage of baby goats screaming and struggling as their budding horns are burnt off with a hot iron has been released this morning by animal protection organisation, Aussie Farms. The anonymously-supplied footage was captured in recent weeks at Lochaber Farm, a large intensive goat dairy in Meredith, Victoria, owned by the popular Meredith Dairy brand. The practice, known as ‘disbudding’, aims to prevent the growth of the goats’ horns and is performed on days-old females (‘doe kids’) who are intended to join their mothers in the breeding and milking cycle. Though clearly cruel, disbudding is common on Australian goat farms and legally permissible due to an exemption for commercially-farmed animals in Victoria and other statesR... Read more >

It is extremely disappointing and concerning that the animal agriculture industry, whose business interests are at direct odds with our charitable purpose of "preventing or relieving the suffering of animals", were notified in advance of this decision by the ACNC as late as last week and possibly earlier. This, in combination with the language used in communication with us from the ACNC earlier this year, points to a clear and extremely inappropriate influence from that industry in the making of this decision, and more broadly speaks to the ACNC’s failure to conduct this investigation independently of external influence. It is unacceptable that an industry that stands to gain financially from the revocation of our charitable status was notified several days prior to our charity being... Read more >

Makers of the controversial Aussie Farms map and Dominion documentary have laid down a public challenge to the government on its decision to bring in ‘draconian’ federal and state laws: “The government has changed the law to stop you from seeing this. So we put it on a billboard.” This is the message displayed on a prominent billboard on the Westgate Freeway in South Melbourne en route to the city, by animal rights charity Aussie Farms. Underneath the text is the URL: WATCHDOMINION.COM, urging people to watch the documentary Dominion – a damning expose of the cruel and violent treatment of animals in factory farms, slaughterhouses, and the fashion and entertainment industries in Australia – which recently surpassed 1 million views. Dominion, which w... Read more >

Animal protection organisation Aussie Farms has slammed the passing of new ‘ag-gag’ law The Criminal Code Amendment (Agricultural Protection) Bill 2019 in yesterday’s federal parliament. The new law introduces a criminal charge for “inciting trespass onto agricultural land” by means of simply publishing footage of animal cruelty, or publishing a map of factory farms and slaughterhouses where such cruelty is known to occur, regardless of whether incitement to trespass was intended by the publisher, and regardless of whether the cruelty was legal or illegal.

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Confronting footage of baby goats being killed by the trailer-load using a captive bolt gun and then thrown into a bin has been released this morning by animal protection organisation, Aussie Farms. The footage is taken at a farm in Trafalgar owned by John Gommans of Gippy Goat Cafe, which was subject to a high profile protest by animal activists late last year. The goats, only hours old, scream in fear and writhe in pain after being shot with the captive bolt. Their crime is being born male and therefore a waste product to the industry because they cannot produce milk. The release of the footage comes as activists prepare to give evidence at the Melbourne hearing for the Inquiry into the Impact of Animal Rights Activism on Victorian Agriculture this morning. Director of Aussie Farms, ... Read more >

Animal rights organisations Aussie Farms and Animals Within have released new footage captured by a hidden body-worn camera at the Picton Meatworx (formerly Wollondilly Abattoir), a multi-species slaughterhouse south of Sydney, amid efforts by the NSW and Federal Governments to severely increase penalties for activists who expose animal cruelty.   

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Following my appearance before the Committee on Monday 12 August, I wish to make the following points to supplement the evidence I provided. Regarding the occurrence of “humane slaughter” in Australian slaughterhouses: The definition of the word “humane” is as follows: Having or showing compassion or benevolence. (Oxford Dictionary) It is a logical fallacy to suggest that animals can be “compassionately” or “benevolently” slaughtered unnecessarily against their will. There is nothing compassionate about sending an animal into a gas chamber, or slicing a knife across their throat, in order to sell parts of their carcase for commercial gain. Regarding Senator McMahon’s denial of exemptions for livestock animals under st... Read more >

Aussie Farms' submission to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry around the establishment of new laws to target animal rights activism.

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Aussie Farms' submission to the federal parliamentary inquiry around the establishment of new laws to target animal rights activism.

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The NSW Government has today announced proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act (2015), introducing on-the-spot fines of up to $220,000 for individuals, or $400,000 for organisations, who trespass inside factory farms and slaughterhouses to gather footage or to protest.

Once again, the issue of biosecurity is being used as an excuse to attempt to limit consumer awareness of the systemic cruelty occurring in farms and slaughterhouses across the country.

There has not been a single incident of a biosecurity hazard caused by activists, despite hundreds of investigations into farms and slaughterhouses by activists over the last 40 years.

Those investigations have revealed countless atrocities that would otherwise still be an industry secret...

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