01 August 2025
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
NO PLANNING PERMIT FOR MICRO ABATTOIRS! Historic reform a win for small-scale farmers in Victoria
The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) has recorded its biggest advocacy win in the history of the organisation, as the Victorian Government passes reforms to make it easier for micro abattoirs to be built on-farms without a planning permit. This historic reform has been 8 years in the making, after AFSA first started lobbying state governments to amend planning legislation in 2017.
Following the decision made by Hardwicks, Victoria’s largest and most central abattoir, to close its doors to small-lot service kills in December 2024, AFSA swiftly responded by ramping up its advocacy efforts and launched a national abattoir campaign to call on all state governments to amend planning legislation to enable micro and mobile abattoirs. The Hardwicks decision happened in parallel with smallholder loss of access to five other abattoirs in WA, NSW and Tasmania over a six month period.
“We commend the Victorian Government for introducing strong measures to support smallholders this week, and responding to the rapid loss of access to abattoirs for small and medium scale producers,” says AFSA Focal Point for Farmers, Dr Tammi Jonas.
“The Victorian Government’s reforms are practical and will strengthen both animal welfare and resilience of local food systems. For the past 8 years, we’ve been working on evidence-based thresholds that demonstrate that micro abattoirs promote little to no risk on environment and amenity, so we are thrilled to see the State Government recognising processing as ancillary use for farmers whose livelihoods depend on it,” continues Jonas.
Given this context, AFSA farmer members in Victoria, who are largely small-scale producers, will not need to apply for a planning permit to build on-farm micro or mobile abattoirs to service local communities and keep up with demand for local and ethical meat production.
“AFSA’s farmer members across the country are celebrating with us today, and calling for all state governments to follow suit and get on board with micro abattoir reforms,” says Jonas.
-ENDS-
Contact: Dr Tammi Jonas (m) 0422 429 362
Focal Point for Farmers, Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance
