In a ground-breaking report on Victoria’s animal welfare laws, Hannah Kotzman answers the question of ‘how are the animals faring?’ with a resounding ‘not well’. Her report highlights significant deficiencies in Victoria’s animal welfare legislation, leading her to conclude that the system is in need of significant reform.

How Are the Animals Faring? A Report on the Strengths, Limitations and Deficiencies of Animal Welfare Legislation in Victoria reviews the protection offered to factory farmed animals. Kotzman argues that the system of animal protection operating in Victoria is significantly behind the world stage, pointing out that many of the practices still allowed in that State have been outlawed overseas. Of particular concern are the severe inadequacies she highlights in the process of devising and enforcing Victoria’s animal welfare laws including conflicts of interest, inadequate funding and lack of transparency. Given that these issues exist in other jurisdictions, Kotzman’s recommendations on how to fix them are of significance Australia-wide.

The value of this report has been recognised by NSW Young Lawyers Animal Law Committee, who recently awarded Kotzman 2^nd Prize in their annual Animal Law Essay Competition for an essay based on her report - Who is defending the defenceless? Revealing enforcement deficiencies in Australian animal protection law: A Victorian case study.

Both the report and essay are a must-read for anyone interested in animal protection issues.

Follow this link to read the Report and this link to read 2008's award winning essays on NSW Young Lawyers Animal Law Committee's website.

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