Australia's peak dairy bodies insist the local industry is not under threat from a crash in global milk prices.
The halving of milk prices in the past 12 months has left Britain's dairy industry in crisis, with many farmers facing the prospect of not being paid by a major co-operative.
But Dairy Australia says the local industry is strong enough to weather the price falls, largely thanks to demand from export customers.
The global dairy market has been disrupted by several factors, including Russia's partial import ban on food from various western nations - Australia among them - in retaliation for sanctions against Moscow over its policy in Ukraine.
Also, Chinese demand has been subdued while production has risen in Europe, New Zealand, the US and Australia.
But Dairy Australia analyst John Droppert says it's unlikely local farmers will find themselves facing a similar crisis to their British counterparts.
"We're quite an export-oriented industry to begin with, so Australian companies have dealt with these market movements for quite some time," he told AAP.
"Although the crash we've seen in the past few months has been fairly dramatic, our pricing system (payments to farmers) is a bit more attuned to that."
Mr Droppert said demand for Australian dairy products overseas was strong, with buyers willing to pay a premium.
China and other southeast Asian customers were also keen to source products outside of New Zealand, the world's top milk exporter, so they weren't so reliant on one supplier.
"We've got quite a number of companies in Australia that are desperate for more milk, and in fact even when the market's down at the moment, they're keen to build their supplier base and goodwill," Mr Droppert said.
"The upshot of that is if a company doesn't pay its farmers on time or they change the rules half way through the season, farmers can pick up the phone and tomorrow they can have a milk tanker come from a different company and pick up their milk."
Australia's largest dairy foods company, Devondale Murray Goulburn, said the local industry was structured differently to the UK, which was more domestic-focused, with a narrower product range.
The president of United Dairyfarmers of Victoria, Tyran Jones, said Australian dairy processors exporting overseas had absorbed the drop in global prices.
The major concern for them now was how far the prices offered by milk processors might fall when new season pricing is implemented in July 2015.
For the 2014/15 season, dairy farmers have been receiving a base price of around $6/kg of milk solids.
"At this stage, the prospect on July 1 will be a significant price drop from where we are at the moment," Mr Jones said.
"There are still hopes that the market will turn around and, with the Australian dollar dropping, that will put us in a better position, and we may well finish the 2015/16 year at the same place we are now."
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