This project will deliver a lobbying and awareness campaign to ban the production of battery eggs in the ACT & to encourage ACT consumers to buy free range eggs. This small but passionate organisation run by dedicated volunteers has been at the forefront of the fight to ban battery eggs since 1995 and due mostly to their efforts, in 1997 legislation was passed to ban the production and sale of battery eggs in the ACT. Part of this legislation also restricted the importation of battery eggs, for which agreement was required from all other Australian states and territories. As agreement was not forthcoming, the legislation was never implemented. Animal Liberation ACT now seeks to build on their previous successes, with their Free Range Canberra project. To circumvent a recurrence of the 1997 problem, they seek to ban the production of battery eggs in the ACT but not the importation or sale of battery eggs into the ACT.

This $1,000 donation is to support the publication of a Perth street paper - "Animosity", to stimulate informed debate on animal issues and mobilise community involvement in animal rights campaigns.

The Animals Australia 'savebabe.com' billboards, for which this special award has been made, are part of a public awareness campaign designed to raise the community's understanding of the way most female breeding pigs are kept in intensive and restrictive enclosures for most of their lives - particularly during pregnancy and during birthing and suckling their piglets. The billboards will direct people to a comprehensive website for further information - 'www.savebabe.com'. The campaign will enlist the support of the Australian community to first learn about how pigs suffer in intensive confinement, and to then as consumers make choices which will encourage the pig industry to adopt alternative housing and management systems to improve the welfare of breeding pigs.

April and Tessa, affiliates of the Australian Vegetarian Society, plan to produce an "entertaining, eye-catching and interactive on-line lifestyle magazine to inform the public about the benefits of making the shift to a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle". The grant will be used to set up the on-line magazine, which aims to reinvent the image of vegetarians and vegans as well as promote human and animal wellbeing.

The Voiceless grant will help fund the publication of this collaborative production of papers by scientists, animal welfare and wildlife protection groups, and guided by Dr. David Croft of the University of New South Wales. The 2nd edition is described by Maryland Wilson, President of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council as "a heartbreaking expose of the insidious events that have led to the present crisis facing the nation's kangaroos". This second edition of the book contains additional scientific papers and a new forward by Professor Peter Singer.

Holland Park State Primary School teacher, Carmel Loane in conjunction with the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts, has been awarded $5,000 to develop on online "Webquest" program, promoting compassion and citizenship through the study of animal rights. The program, which will be aimed at middle school students, will make use of the Webquest format, which allows students to use resources and collaborative tools available on the Internet to enhance their classroom learning.

CIWF Trust, the charitable education and research arm of leading UK based farm animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming, works internationally to prevent cruelty and promote respect for farmed animals and the environment. The Trust has produced a variety of educational resources that have been successfully introduced into schools in Britain , Ireland , South Africa and several countries in Continental Europe.

Now, with Voiceless' support, the popular visual, print and online resource 'Farm Animals & Us' will be adapted so that Australian lower secondary school children can enjoy and relate to it, understand the effect that different farming methods have on the welfare of animals, and appreciate how consumer choice ultimately can effect better lives for farm animals.

Carole de Fraga, Regional Representative - Oceania on hearing about the grant, said: "CIWF is extremely grateful to Voiceless for this valuable opportunity to spread the word of compassion among Australian schoolchildren. As public awareness of farm animal issues is steadily growing, the opportunity comes at a particularly beneficial time".

HSI Australia is a part of the largest animal protection organisation in the world, with over 8 million supporters globally. HSI works to protect animals and the environment in Australia and regionally, and over the past 10 years has developed one of the most effective campaign teams in the country. Verna Simpson, HSI's Australian Director, on hearing that their "Humane Choice" project had been selected for a $20,000 grant, said: "In partnership with Voiceless, we aim to be at the forefront of the promotion of products that will improve the lives of all animals, in this instance, assessing the potential for the development of a "humane choice" label in Australia". This award is to be jointly funded by the Berg Family Foundation and the Sherman Foundation.

The Voiceless grant will be used to support the development of a syllabus related textbook for students enrolling in the Graduate Certificate in Animal Welfare, an innovative and unique higher education degree course which was launched in 2003. Comprehensive course notes and on-line interactive exercises support the course, which is currently offered off-campus. This $10,000 grant will allow Dr Bennett, who is the convenor of the course, to revise the existing course materials and prepare a textbook and supporting CD Rom. These will be made available for sale to other schools and institutions, which will give a greater portion of the Australian community access to education about animal welfare issues.