RSPCA Certified is just one of the ways RSPCA Australia works towards improvements for farmed animals, by working with producers to implement detailed, science-based Standards. These Standards focus on requirements around housing, husbandry and handling to meet the behavioural and physical needs of the animal. Importantly, the RSPCA Australia Standards go beyond what is legally required in Australia and provide opportunities for animals to express behaviours that come naturally to them.
The Standards are reviewed around every five years to keep up to date with latest animal welfare science and farming innovations and continue raising the bar for farmed animal welfare. By being assessed against the RSPCA Australia Standard and achieving certification, Producers are put on a pathway of continuous improvement for the animals their raise now, and into the future with incremental improvements along the way.
Last week, RSPCA Australia has publicly released its revised RSPCA Australia Standard for meat chickens. This new Standard is the result of an extensive consultation process and will be implemented from 18 January 2027 when assessments against the requirements of the Standard will commence.
In the period leading up to this implementation date, the existing RSPCA Australia Standard for Meat Chickens will continue to be the standard which RSPCA Certified Producers will be assessed against. To ensure full transparency, both the previous and revised versions of the Standard will feature on the RSPCA Australia website until 18 January 2027. After this date, the recently revised Standard will be the only relevant RSPCA Australia Standard for meat chickens.
RSPCA Australia’s animal specific standards exist solely to improve farm animal welfare. Written by the RSPCA’s team of science experts, they are detailed and focus on providing better living conditions for farmed animals. The new Standard for meat chickens represents a meaningful step forward, delivering higher standards of care, informed by independence, science and transparency, at a scale that can make a real difference.
