Bird Flu Outbreak Prompts Delay in Victorian Poultry Welfare Changes

The Victorian government has delayed the implementation of stricter regulations on egg and poultry production due to the H5N1 bird flu outbreak. The new poultry welfare standards, which were set to be implemented by mid-year, will now be pushed back until mid-2027.

Victorian Agriculture Minister Michaela Settle said the 12-month delay would allow producers "more time to prepare for new poultry welfare regulations" amid the bird flu outbreak. "With H5 bird flu in Australia, poultry producers need to be able immediately focus on preparing for the disease," she said.

The delayed regulations were designed to align with national welfare standards agreed to in 2023 and included a plan to ban conventional laying cages by 2036. However, Victorian Farmers Federation egg group president and caged egg producer Brian Ahmed welcomed the move, stating that farmers had not been consulted on the changes.

"We've had no input into these new regulations," he said. "There's a lot of stuff in those documents that farmers have never been consulted with and have never agreed to."

Mr Ahmed said the delay gave farmers and the government more time to debate the issue. "We're not going to get rid of a farming system that we believe is positive for our birds and our animals," Mr Ahmed said. "[The government] had an ideological view that we need to get rid of cages and that's all they've stuck to."

Minister Settle emphasized that the decision to delay did not affect the government's commitment to phase out conventional unfurnished cages by 2036. "These changes are about ensuring farmers, industry and government can focus on preventing H5 bird flu from entering the sector while developing new animal welfare standards that protect the wellbeing of poultry," Ms Settle said.

The delay means the changes will not come into effect until after the state election in November. Mr Ahmed stated that farmers would fight the regulations if necessary, saying "As farmers, we're going to dig our heels in and if we have to fight this, we will."

In related news, poultry producers in southern Victoria have been ordered to keep their birds indoors until at least mid-October due to the ongoing bird flu outbreak. Victoria has recorded nearly 200 H5 bird flu events since the first confirmed case in Portland in July.