A law with tougher consequences for trespassing on agricultural properties has the approval of a Senate inquiry.
In some states, like South Australia and Victoria, tresspassing can attract fines or six months in jail but the Criminal Code Amendment (Animal Protection) Bill 2015 makes criminal trespass on lawful animal enterprises, like piggeries and abattoirs, an offence punishable with prison time of one year, and no possibility of fines.
The bill was introduced to parliament in February but has not yet become law.
Cases of animal cruelty have been brought to public attention on several occassions through the release of secretly filmed video, most recently with revelations of live baiting in the greyhound racing industry.
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A previous case was the Lenah Game Meats possum meat processing plant in Tasmania, when the ABC exposed cruelty towards possums more than a decade ago.
In both cases, people trespassed on property and used hidden cameras to expose cruelty towards animals.
Warning - this video contains disturbing images of animal cruelty
Warning - this video contains disturbing images of animal cruelty
The Bill creates a new offence of "causing fear of death or serious bodily injury if a person engages in conduct involving threats, vandalism, property damage, criminal trespass, harassment or intimidation to another person," for trespass on a lawful animal enterprise, the bill's explanatory memorandum says.
The committee’s final report said they ‘noted’ concerns, but did not recommend changes to the proposed new penalties for criminal trespass.
“In particular, the committee notes the views expressed by those who argued that the proposed legislation would unfairly target those who seek to uncover animal cruelty, such as whistleblowers (including abattoir, farm and factory workers), undercover investigators and investigative journalists,” the report said.
The bill will make an offence for not reporting animal cruelty within one business day, however the committee recommended that be changed to “’as soon as practicable to the relevant authority”.
Supporters of the bill have said trespassing poses biosecurity risks for piggeries, as diseases could be brought into farms from the outside.
“An activist could have come back from a visit overseas and go onto a farm in an unauthorised manner,” Dr Barry Lloyd, a South Australian veterinarian told a Senate inquiry in May.
Others say trespassers can cause property damage.
The nation’s peak animal rights group, the RSPCA, does not support the bill.
“The Bill is fundamentally flawed and has nothing to do with animal protection,” RSPCA policy adviser Jed Goodfellow said.
The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics (VIAE) and the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) also oppose the bill.
VIAE president Dr Rosemary Elliot said installing CCTV cameras in animal facilities would be more effective to protect animal rights than the bill would be.
“This bill offers nothing to rectify the deficiencies in our current animal welfare regulatory framework,” Dr Elliot said in a Senate inquiry in May.
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