NSW wildlife harm licensing response welcomed, but firm action and timelines are urgently needed
Humane World for Animals Australia
SYDNEY (November 6, 2026)—Humane World for Animals Australia is welcoming the government’s plan to review the licence to harm native animals framework in response to recommendations from a parliamentary committee inquiry earlier this year but says that clear implementation timelines, measurable targets or firm commitments to address many of the systemic problems identified by the inquiry must be included.
Last week, the Minns Government published its response to an inquiry into licences to harm native animals, outlining its support for the recommendation to establish a technical reference group representing farming, landholder and animal welfare interests to review the widespread killing of native animals by private landholders, saying it offered an important opportunity to strengthen oversight, transparency and accountability in wildlife licensing. Nearly half a million native animals were authorised to be killed in NSW in 2025.
Humane World for Animals Australia’s Wildlife Program Manager, Dr Renae Charalambous said: “We welcome the NSW Government’s recognition that the licence to harm framework needs to be reviewed. With hundreds of thousands of native animals authorised to be killed in New South Wales each year, there is no time to waste. Coexistence strategies, rather than killing, should become the default approach to managing conflicts landholders have with native wildlife.”
The inquiry, undertaken by the NSW Animal Welfare Committee, chaired by The Hon Emma Hurst MLC, made 17 recommendations to strengthen wildlife licensing in NSW, including requiring stronger evidence of damage caused by wildlife and consideration of non-lethal alternatives before licences to harm animals are issued, improving transparency and compliance monitoring, strengthening animal welfare safeguards, increasing consultation with First Nations communities and supporting greater adoption of non-lethal wildlife management.
Recommendations relating to evidence of damage, non-lethal alternatives and transparency have been described by the government as “existing practice”, despite evidence presented to the inquiry of significant shortcomings in the current system.
Other important reforms, including stronger compliance monitoring, improved welfare standards for shooting and trapping, and wildlife population assessments, have received support in principle, without clear commitments to action.
The government stopped short of committing to meaningful investment in non-lethal wildlife management. The inquiry recommended funding research, education and grants to help landholders use non-lethal alternatives, but the government merely noted the recommendation. With a state election approaching, Humane World for Animals is recommending all parties commit funds to helping landholders use innovative and humane strategies to solve their conflicts with wildlife.
“Non-lethal methods like exclusion netting can protect crops from birds and flying foxes, while wombat gates can prevent damage to fencing,” said Dr Charalambous. “Solutions like these address the causes of wildlife conflict instead of the knee-jerk reaction of lethal control.”
The Animal Welfare Committee’s inquiry into licences to harm native animals followed Humane World for Animals’ 2024 report, Licence to Kill: The shocking scale of licensed wildlife killing in Australia, which revealed the extent of wildlife killing by private landholders in Australia and the lack of accountability surrounding it. More than 4.5 million native animals were licensed to be killed across Australia between 2021 and 2023. In NSW, that number rose from 234,759 in 2023 to 296,269 in 2024 and 485,668 in 2025. Species covered by these authorisations included kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, corellas, lorikeets, emus and cockatoos. The number of animals actually killed, orphaned or unintentionally targeted is unknown.
Many of the inquiry’s recommendations could be addressed through reform of the state’s Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and its associated regulations. Reform to this Act is an unfulfilled election commitment from the Minns Government. Humane World for Animals Australia is urging the government to fulfil this election commitment and looks forward to working constructively with the NSW Government and the Biodiversity and Heritage Regulator to deliver a more humane, transparent and accountable approach to wildlife conflict management.
ENDS
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