Australia’s livestock traceability system gets $22.5 million database boost

Australia’s livestock traceability system will get a technological boost to meet growing consumer demand, while improving Australia’s biosecurity, food safety, and market access.

The Albanese Government has awarded a $22.5 million grant to Integrity Systems Company Limited (ISC) to enhance the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database and its supporting systems.

The funding, announced in the October Budget, will help to modernise Australia’s data capture, storage, and distribution system for tracking livestock and their movements, helping industry and producers adapt to changing consumer and market needs into the future.

The database will deliver significant system-wide traceability benefits for all animal species captured by the NLIS and allow for future additions to the system.

The grant will also support the delivery of a platform that can accommodate additional data inputs from other systems, which will assist in demonstrating Australia’s agricultural credentials and compliance with international market access requirements, including sustainability and animal welfare.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said the NLIS Uplift Grant was part of the Government’s $46.7 million commitment to work with industry and state and territory governments to improve national livestock traceability arrangements over the next three years.

“Traceability plays a key role in protecting and growing Australian agriculture, and we need the right tools in place to see it thrive,” Minister Watt said.

“The NLIS is key to maintaining world-class livestock traceability, because the faster and more accurately animals are traced, the quicker we can respond and recover from any emergency animal disease outbreak.

“There are also trade benefits with increasing demand for proof of origin and sustainability for Australian livestock and meat products, so this will help to maintain and develop market access overseas.

“This uplift will also make the NLIS easier to use for farmers and producers.

“It will streamline reporting processes, linking to the electronic national vendor declaration system (eNVD), and farmers will be able to see the information they have entered into the system and where their stock have moved.

“Australia has world-leading livestock traceability systems, and enhancements like these will ensure they continue to meet our needs into the future.”

The grant is expected to run until June 30, 2026.

For more information on the NLIS visit: www.integritysystems.com.au/identification--traceability/national-livestock-identification-system/

Today’s announcement builds on the traceability work the Albanese Government has done since being elected last May:

- Launch of the National Traceability Strategy 2023-2033 in July 2023.
- Establishment of the Sheep and Goat Traceability Task Force (SGTTF).
- National Agriculture Traceability Grants Program; 

• Sustainability Reporting Uplift Grant Round - $4m in funding through to 2024 to help build the agriculture sector’s data capabilities.
• Regulatory Research and Insights Grant Round - $6m through 2025, to assist in streamlining compliance across multiple agricultural sectors, commodities and supply chains.
• Indigenous Agricultural Product Framework Grant Round - $2m in funding to undertake fundamental research and insights into Indigenous agricultural products; and to develop Australia’s first Indigenous Agricultural Product Framework.
• Data Enabled Proof of Concepts Grant - $5m in funding provided to the Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre (Food Agility CRC) to lead industry-government projects to test data-enabled traceability concepts.
• Evidence-based Sustainable Credentials and Next Steps for the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework (AASF) - $5m in funding provided to the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) to bring industry together to determine how to demonstrate evidence-based sustainability credentials, continue work on the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework (AASF), and shape international sustainability standards.