VICTORIAN ELECTION 2026
Where do the candidates in Footscray stand on animal welfare this election?
About the animal welfare policy asks
End recreational duck shooting
Introduce legislation to ban recreational duck and quail shooting consistent with the recommendation of the Legislative Council Committee on Victoria’s Recreational Native Bird Hunting Arrangements.
Legislate the Animal Care and Protection Bill
Expedite the passage of the Animal Care and Protection Bill to replace the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (Vic) before the end of 2027, ensuring the explicit legal recognition of animal sentience.
Wildlife protection and reform
Reforming the Wildlife Act 1975 (Vic) to:
(a) Improve Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW) accountability: Mandate substantive evidence of damage and the exhaustion of non-lethal options; require the publication of application decisions, reasons and kill data; and enforce strict welfare and competency standards; and
(b) Enhance emergency responses: Integrate qualified NGO disaster response wildlife teams into incident control centres and grant them fireground access equivalent to other emergency response professionals.
State Animal Welfare Authority
Strengthen animal welfare enforcement arrangements by recognising Animal Welfare Victoria as an independent statutory body under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (Vic) with responsibility for administering the Act, and with an appropriate budget allocation to ensure adequate resourcing. (Note: this would not replace RSPCA inspectors – they would report to the Authority).
End the public funding of greyhound racing
Commit to phasing out the public funding of greyhound racing in the next parliamentary term by ceasing distribution of the Point of Consumption Tax towards greyhound racing, ending all greyhound-related grants from the Victorian Racing Industry Fund, stopping one-off payments and by mandating that no funds are directed towards the greyhound code from industry funding agreements.
Phase out live lamb cutting (mulesing)
Introduce legislation within the next parliamentary term to commence a phase out of live lamb cutting (mulesing), require multi-modal pain relief while the practice continues, and promote the breeding of fly-strike-resistant sheep.
What can you do?
Educate & share
Learn where the parties and candidates stand on key reforms for animals and share our scorecards with your networks.
Engage with candidates/parties
We’ve created a toolkit to help you contact the parties and let them know what you think about these issues.
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View our select electoral district scorecards
About the scorecards
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At the start of the election campaign we contacted all major parties and listed candidates in key electorates asking for their responses to key Alliance policies. Six of these policies are featured on the scorecards. In completing the scorecards, we took into consideration responses to our emails as well as previous public comments, voting patterns and policy decisions.
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The scorecards have been prepared to raise awareness of the interests of animals and prevent animal suffering by summarising the position of political parties on the key animal welfare policy issues relevant to the charitable purposes of the Australian Alliance for Animals.
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The Alliance does not promote or oppose political parties or direct people on how to vote.
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The scorecards refer to the parties by the following abbreviations.
Animal Justice = Animal Justice Party
Greens = Australian Greens Victoria
Labor = Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Legalise Cannabis = Legalise Cannabis Victoria
Liberal = Liberal Party of Australia – Victorian Division
Nationals = National Party of Australia - Victoria
One Nation = One Nation Victoria
Socialist Alliance = Socialist Alliance
Sustainable Australia = Affordable Housing Now – Sustainable Australia Party
Victorian Socialists = Victorian Socialists Party
