A continued focus on animal welfare
14 May 2025
By Andy Hancock, DA Sustainable Animal Care Manager
Dairy Australia's Sustainable Animal Care Manager, Andy Hancock is a qualified veterinarian with extensive experience working in corporate and government roles. Andy is proud to be part of an industry that not only cares deeply about its animals, but also seeks to continually improve its practices regarding biosecurity and evolving consumer and market expectations.
Based in Timboon, Victoria, Andy and his team are involved in Dairy Australia projects and activities related to the Animal Care commitment of the Australian Dairy Sustainability Framework, including animal health, animal welfare, surplus calves, antimicrobial stewardship, and biosecurity and emergency animal disease preparedness.
No other farmers consistently see their animals as much as dairy farmers do.
Animal health and welfare is front and centre in importance on every dairy farm. It’s also a top priority for Dairy Australia, and the dairy industry as a whole.
The importance of animal welfare is represented in the Australian Dairy Sustainability Framework (ADSF), an industry-owned framework that aims to promote and protect the Australian dairy industry. It demonstrates to both domestic and global consumers that Australia produces a high-quality, sustainable product.
Dairy Australia is heavily involved in this framework, facilitating its implementation, providing governance support, engaging consumers, enabling practice change and reporting on progress. The framework has four key commitments: enhancing economic viability and livelihoods; improving wellbeing of people; providing best care for animals; and reducing environmental impact. My team and I are responsible for the actions and priorities within the Animal Care commitment.
Since inception, there has been significant progress towards the goals and targets within the ADSF’s Animal Care commitment, notably the phasing out of tail docking and calving induction. These, and other examples, serve to demonstrate how the industry has implemented practice changes to enhance animal welfare and respond to evolving societal expectations.
Following a recent dairy-industry commissioned materiality assessment, the goals and targets within each commitment of the ADSF are up for review and update. The Animal Care commitment has already undergone a review process, and new goals and targets have been approved by industry.
Within the updated Animal Care commitment, there will be an even stronger focus on biosecurity. Specifically, new biosecurity goals will include an action statement that the Australian dairy industry strives to maintain its privileged market access status through preparedness activities for emergency animal diseases (EADs). Ideally, EADs would be prevented from being introduced into Australia in the first place – but if they were to reach our shores, we want to minimise the impact so we can either maintain, or rapidly regain, access to our high-value overseas markets.
Another key goal in the updated commitment regards the sustainable management of surplus calves. To address this, Dairy Australia has developed the CalfWays roadmap, which provides a strategy to ensure that calves that are not required as replacements enter a valued market chain by 2035, and that routine on farm euthanasia of viable calves is eliminated. Dairy Australia is exploring partnership opportunities with Meat & Livestock Australia for the implementation of the CalfWays Initiative.
There are significant practical challenges at the farm level for achieving industry’s surplus calf objectives – particularly with respect to beef price volatility, and the availability of land, labour and infrastructure. Despite these challenges, farmers support the CalfWays approach, which aims to improve the economic value of surplus calves, as a means of incentivising these calves to be reared and enter the red meat supply chain. Overseas examples in the United States and the United Kingdom provide inspiration that this program can be successful, and that the CalfWays roadmap objectives can be attained within the next decade.
Above all, transparency is key. The more we can do to reconnect communities with where their food comes from, the more likely we will be to build connections, and gain more support from local consumers and overseas markets alike.
To find out more about how Dairy Australia supports dairy farmers with achieving the best standards of health, welfare and care for animals, visit Animals.
Based in Timboon, Victoria, Andy and his team are involved in Dairy Australia projects and activities related to the Animal Care commitment of the Australian Dairy Sustainability Framework, including animal health, animal welfare, surplus calves, antimicrobial stewardship, and biosecurity and emergency animal disease preparedness.
No other farmers consistently see their animals as much as dairy farmers do.
Animal health and welfare is front and centre in importance on every dairy farm. It’s also a top priority for Dairy Australia, and the dairy industry as a whole.
The importance of animal welfare is represented in the Australian Dairy Sustainability Framework (ADSF), an industry-owned framework that aims to promote and protect the Australian dairy industry. It demonstrates to both domestic and global consumers that Australia produces a high-quality, sustainable product.
Dairy Australia is heavily involved in this framework, facilitating its implementation, providing governance support, engaging consumers, enabling practice change and reporting on progress. The framework has four key commitments: enhancing economic viability and livelihoods; improving wellbeing of people; providing best care for animals; and reducing environmental impact. My team and I are responsible for the actions and priorities within the Animal Care commitment.
Since inception, there has been significant progress towards the goals and targets within the ADSF’s Animal Care commitment, notably the phasing out of tail docking and calving induction. These, and other examples, serve to demonstrate how the industry has implemented practice changes to enhance animal welfare and respond to evolving societal expectations.
Following a recent dairy-industry commissioned materiality assessment, the goals and targets within each commitment of the ADSF are up for review and update. The Animal Care commitment has already undergone a review process, and new goals and targets have been approved by industry.
Within the updated Animal Care commitment, there will be an even stronger focus on biosecurity. Specifically, new biosecurity goals will include an action statement that the Australian dairy industry strives to maintain its privileged market access status through preparedness activities for emergency animal diseases (EADs). Ideally, EADs would be prevented from being introduced into Australia in the first place – but if they were to reach our shores, we want to minimise the impact so we can either maintain, or rapidly regain, access to our high-value overseas markets.
Another key goal in the updated commitment regards the sustainable management of surplus calves. To address this, Dairy Australia has developed the CalfWays roadmap, which provides a strategy to ensure that calves that are not required as replacements enter a valued market chain by 2035, and that routine on farm euthanasia of viable calves is eliminated. Dairy Australia is exploring partnership opportunities with Meat & Livestock Australia for the implementation of the CalfWays Initiative.
There are significant practical challenges at the farm level for achieving industry’s surplus calf objectives – particularly with respect to beef price volatility, and the availability of land, labour and infrastructure. Despite these challenges, farmers support the CalfWays approach, which aims to improve the economic value of surplus calves, as a means of incentivising these calves to be reared and enter the red meat supply chain. Overseas examples in the United States and the United Kingdom provide inspiration that this program can be successful, and that the CalfWays roadmap objectives can be attained within the next decade.
Above all, transparency is key. The more we can do to reconnect communities with where their food comes from, the more likely we will be to build connections, and gain more support from local consumers and overseas markets alike.
To find out more about how Dairy Australia supports dairy farmers with achieving the best standards of health, welfare and care for animals, visit Animals.