The Western Australian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (the Committee) is a non-statutory committee to provide the Minister of Agriculture and Food (Minister) with independent and evidence-based advice on animal welfare matters. The Committee will advise the Minister in relation to:
- animal welfare policy, legislation or legislative proposals that affect animal welfare
- animal welfare codes of practice, standards and guidelines, including arrangements for implementation
- community education and other programs to improve public awareness about animal welfare
- the development and implementation of standards relevant to training and competency assessment of appointed inspectors under the Animal Welfare Act 2002
- animal welfare research.
Committee membership
The Committee membership will comprise of the Chair and up to five Members.
Meetings will normally be held quarterly, in person or by video call. The Minister may request the Committee to provide advice out-of-session or to hold special meetings if a matter is urgent or extraordinary.
The Committee has been established to ensure Western Australia meets modern community and scientific expectations for animal welfare. The Committee was a recommendation of the independent Animal Welfare Act Review 2020.
Expressions of interest for the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee have now closed. This page will be updated following committee appointment.