Submission guide: Stop the commercial use of Tasmanian wallabies.

While Australians are becoming more aware of the nightly cruelty faced by kangaroos shot for profit around the country, fewer know that in one state, wallabies are also the target of commercial slaughter.

In Tasmania, the state government allows up to half a million wallabies to be shot and killed under a permit system each year. This violent and futile system defies the globally embraced promotion of humane, non-lethal coexistence between land managers and wildlife. 

Instead, it offers a commercial incentive for companies to profit from these animals killed under the guise of ‘crop protection’- a dangerous and slippery slope for wildlife. An active ‘game meat’ company application is a critical opportunity for you to have your say, regardless of whether you are in Tasmania or not.

See below for:

• About the ‘game meat’ company’s application
• Tips on what to cover in your submission
• How to make your submission

Lenah Game Meats has applied to extend their annual licence to export the skin, fur and meat from 200,000 dead wallabies, and the government are inviting the public to comment.

You will find Lenah Game Meat’s application online here. 

Please write an email submission and let the government know how you feel about the commercialisation of killing wildlife in Tasmania before Friday the 7th of November. We’ve put together some writing tips below.

Your submission doesn’t have to be long or complex. The most important thing is that the government hears how you feel about companies profiting from killing wildlife by the hundreds of thousands.  Please be sure to write your submission in your own words so it carries more weight. 

Note that the government has requested submissions be provided under the following headings:  

• Management and methodology 
• Monitoring procedures 
• Ecological sustainability of the operation 
• Animal welfare 
• Other

• Fully oppose the wildlife trade operation application to commercialise wallaby culls in Tasmania. 
• The current application masks the failure of lethal control and discourages contemporary, humane, non-lethal wildlife ‘management’. 
• Lenah Game Meats’ application should be rejected to encourage a shift to humane, effective alternatives. 

Then, address each heading in your own words:

• Wallaby killing in Tasmania is purely done for human benefit. 
• Over 500,000 wallabies killed annually for 20+ years with no measurable ‘success’ in reducing impacts on farms. 
• Lack of quotas and unchanged strategy show poor oversight and ineffectiveness. 
• Non-lethal methods (e.g., exclusion fencing) proven more effective. 
• Approving the proposal would entrench outdated, ineffective, and inhumane practices.

• It is impossible to regulate or oversee shooting activity. 
• Effective monitoring of remote, nocturnal shooting is impossible.  
• Even under supervision, wounding rates (1.1%) imply thousands of injured animals annually. 
• Data monitored (0.003% of total kills) is too small to be representative. 
• Commercial incentives may worsen welfare standards. 
• The absence of culling further undermines regulation and accountability.

• Proposal wrongly equates high cull numbers with sustainability. 
• There is very little evidence that wallaby populations harm farming at current levels. 
• Lack of research on true ecological effects of culling; may even harm biodiversity. 
• Habitat loss and human expansion—not overpopulation—are root causes of conflict. 
• The state’s permit system is based on assumptions, not evidence.

• Shooting inherently causes suffering, even when done “humanely.” 
• Female wallabies often have dependent joeys; year-round culling guarantees offspring deaths. 
• Joey killing methods (blunt force bludgeoning, decapitation, etc.) are highly distressing and risk errors. 
• Escaped at-foot joeys likely die slowly from starvation or predation. 
• Dire and unavoidable welfare implications of shooting macropods damages Australia’s animal welfare reputation. 
• Refer to our online reference for more information on the welfare failures of the National Code of Practice.

• Payment per carcass raises conflict-of-interest concerns. 
• Global backlash against macropod products is rife (e.g., Adidas ending kangaroo leather). 
• There is growing public opposition to commercial wildlife killing (64% of Australians oppose wildlife being killed for commercial gain). 
• Local communities and wildlife carers suffer psychological and financial burdens when wildlife are killed both commercially and non commercially. 
• Commercialisation of wildlife undermines social values, modern welfare and conservation approaches, and Tasmania’s international reputation. 

• The Wildlife Trade Operation application should be rejected for perpetuating ineffective, cruel, and outdated wildlife management. 
• Risks severe animal welfare harms, public backlash, and loss of global credibility. 
• Tasmania should instead lead in humane, non-lethal, and evidence-based wildlife management.

Please remember to write your submission in your own words; your unique voice will be most powerful for wallabies.

Please send your submission before Friday the 7th of November.

Via email:

• You can email your submission to: [email protected] 

Via post:

• If you’d prefer to post your submission, you can address it to:
  The Director
  Wildlife Trade Assessments Section
  Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
  GPO Box 3090
  Canberra ACT 2601 

If you have any questions about making your submission, please call our friendly Supporter Services team on 1800 888 584 during regular office hours, Monday to Friday.