Welfare standards audit programme

Twenty-one of the 47 positions the group holds are biological: animal health, veterinary biologics, aquaculture and agri-science. The audit programme sets the standard those positions are held to and checks it where it is most often missed, at the contract sites a portfolio company uses but does not own.

Region

Oceania

Lead office

Brisbane

Status

Complete

Start

2024

Sponsor

Yumiko Sandoval-Reyes

The standard covers housing, handling, transport, stocking density, veterinary oversight and the records that prove each of them. An audit reaches the owned site, the contract site and the transport between them. Findings are graded, and a critical finding stops a drawing or a follow-on investment until it is closed.

The programme was built between 2024 and 2026 from Eagle Street House in Brisbane, where the biological-industries specialists sit. Every one of the 21 positions has now been audited at least once. From 2027 the cycle runs annually as ordinary business under the Animal and Biological Welfare in Investment policy, paid for from the compliance budget.

Deliverables

A written welfare standard applied to every biological position, at owned and contracted sites alike.
All 21 biological positions audited at least once between 2024 and 2026.
Findings graded, with a critical finding blocking any drawing or follow-on investment until it is closed.
An annual audit cycle from 2027 covering every biological position held during the year.
Audit results reported to the Ethics and Technology Council and to the Investment Committee each year.