For over 25 years
For over 2 5 years
The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme focuses solely on improving the lives of Australia’s farmed animals.
The Three Pillars
of the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme
Science and standards
Assessment and certification
Working with industry
In 2022 we certified
97,079
layer hens
92,084
pigs
647,150,667
meat chickens
209,434
turkeys
5,650,334
farmed Atlantic salmon
535
farms
RSPCA Assessors conducted
1,113
assessments of farms, processes and abattoirs
1.8 million layer hens
1
.
8
million
layer hens
1.7 million pigs
1
.
7
million
pigs
5 billion meat chickens
5
billion
meat chickens
3.3 million turkeys
3
.
3
million
turkeys
30 million farmed Atlantic salmon
30
million
farmed Atlantic salmon
- 1996
- 2001
- 2003
- 2005
- 2009
- 2010
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
- 2022
- 1996
- The RSPCA established the RSPCA Accreditation Scheme and released its first animal welfare standard.
- Its focus was to improve the lives of Australia’s egg-laying hens and provide guidance
- and a trustworthy choice to consumers wanting to purchase eggs from cage-free farms with a focus on animal welfare.
- The first egg farm joins the Scheme.
- 2001
- The RSPCA releases an animal welfare Standard for pigs.
- 2003
- The first pig farm joins the Scheme.
- 2005
- Rohde’s Free Range Eggs joins the Scheme
- and is still proudly RSPCA Approved and is the only participating egg farm in South Australia.
- 2009
- After the Scheme’s first external review, it’s renamed the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme.
- 2010
- For the first time, a major Australian supermarket sources RSPCA Approved pork for a product line under their own brand.
- To this day, Coles is the only supermarket to offer customers RSPCA Approved pork nation-wide.
- The RSPCA releases animal welfare Standards for meat chickens and turkeys.
- Mt Barker Free Range Chicken is the first chicken brand to join the Scheme, followed closely by Freedom Farms in 2011.
- 2013
- 95.2 million hens, pigs, meat chickens and turkeys have benefitted from higher welfare farming conditions since the Scheme began.
- 2014
- In a landmark move forward for farm animal welfare in Australia, Coles became the first supermarket to source RSPCA Approved chicken for all of its own brand of fresh chicken.
- This move was closely followed by Woolworths and launched a transformation within the industry.
- 2015
- 805 million hens, pigs, meat chickens and turkeys have benefitted from higher welfare farming conditions since the Scheme began.
- 2016
- The RSPCA releases an animal welfare Standard for farmed Atlantic salmon.
- 2018
- A second external review is undertaken to better understand how the Scheme can operate to best practice standards.
- After undergoing the RSPCA’s certification process for two years, Huon Aquaculture became the first RSPCA Approved farmed Atlantic salmon producer.
- The RSPCA releases an animal welfare Standard for dairy veal calves (which is now the Standard for dairy calves).
- 2 billion hens, pigs, meat chickens, turkeys and salmon have benefitted from higher welfare farming conditions since the Scheme began.
- 2019
- After the Scheme’s second external review, the RSPCA Certification Body and a management system is implemented for the Scheme’s meat chicken program.
- In an Australian first, Coles launches RSPCA Approved Slow Hills chicken — the first slow-growing chicken available to the Australian consumer.
- 2020
- In addition to fresh chicken, Coles and Woolworths source RSPCA Approved for the Australian chicken used as an ingredient in their own brand products.
- Three billion hens, pigs, meat chickens, turkeys and salmon have benefitted from higher welfare farming conditions since the Scheme began.
- 2021
- We continued to assess farms and abattoirs with a remote model during lock downs.
- 2022
- Five billion hens, pigs, meat chickens, turkeys and salmon have benefitted from higher welfare farming conditions since the Scheme began.
