Racing Australia Annual Report 2020

16 | RACING AUSTRALIA ANNUAL REPORT 2020 M y appointment as Racing Australia’s first National Equine Welfare & Traceability Executive in May 2020 represented an important step in Racing Australia’s ongoing commitment to the welfare and traceability of the Thoroughbred. Equine welfare and retirement programs remain the responsibility of the Principal Racing Authorities (PRAs) across each State and Territory of Australia. The purpose of this new role is to work closely with the PRAs to help coordinate and promote “best practice” equine welfare standards across the Thoroughbred industry. In addition, Racing Australia has specific operational and system responsibilities for equine traceability and this role is now monitoring and reviewing these responsibilities whilst also undertaking research, preparing reports and other communications reporting, and promoting equine welfare practices. As a continuation of Equine Welfare and Traceability development over recent years, Racing Australia completed an independent audit of all its processes and procedures which resulted in the acceleration of development of a suite of rules and operational procedures surrounding traceability while Thoroughbreds are participating in both racing and breeding. After extensive consultation these proposed traceability rule changes are due for final consideration in late 2020. Working closely with the PRA Equine Welfare Managers, a Working Group has been established to share initiatives and develop coordinated approaches to Equine Welfare and Traceability where appropriate. This Working Group in conjunction with the National Equine Welfare and Traceability Executive works closely with the Equine Welfare Committee of the Racing Australia Board. Racing Australia represents the industry and actively contributes on the following committees: • Animal Health Australia • The Horse Industry Consultative Council • The National Horse Welfare Roundtable And the newly formed • National Horse Traceability Working Group Racing Australia is committed to whole of life traceability for all Thoroughbreds, supports all efforts to fill in the gaps of the Thoroughbred’s lifecycle, and is actively seeking to foster data sharing programs to initiate this goal. Racing Australia continues to invest in the development and enhancement of the tools to be used by the industry to update and maintain data. Having now completed the migration of all PRAs onto the Single National System an enhanced set of tools for Trainers is currently being piloted by Trainers nationally with the new Stable Assist to be launched in 2020. Further, the decommissioning of the current separate Stud Book System will be completed by the end of 2020 with all Breeder related functions integrated into the Single National System. This will complete the integration of Breeder, Owner, Trainer and Jockey functions nationally enabling a Thoroughbred’s journey to be documented in one database from birth to exiting racing and throughout its breeding career (where relevant). Karen Day National Equine Welfare & Traceability Executive NATIONAL EQUINE WELFARE AND TRACEABILITY REPORT Karen Day National Equine Welfare & Traceability Executive “Racing Australia is committed to whole of life traceability for all Thoroughbreds and supports all efforts to fill in the gaps of the Thoroughbred’s lifecycle.”