Australian Eggs Sustainability Framework

The Australian Egg Industry Sustainability Framework has built trust among Australian consumers and helped guide the Australian egg industry to farm eggs in more socially, environmentally and economically responsible ways.

The Sustainability Framework is designed to increase productive engagement with Australians and to drive continuous improvement within the industry. Over three years, Australian Eggs engaged CSIRO to conduct a comprehensive annual national survey of Australian community perspectives, which meant the egg industry was able to identify drivers of trust and acceptance of the egg industry, and obtain a much clearer sense of community attitudes and expectations.

The Sustainability Framework Report 2021 uses insights from annual community research to identify priority issues for the egg industry to address in important areas, including the environment, food security and safety, hen welfare, human nutrition and economic viability.

In direct response to key issues raised by the community and industry as part of the Sustainability Framework process, Australian Eggs has developed the Farm Sustainability Dashboard and the Biosecurity Virtual Training Tool.

Recognising that industry improvement mostly happens on-farm, the Farm Sustainability Dashboard offers a range of sustainability learning modules, including environmental management, production efficiency, supply chain impacts, energy and water use, on-farm practices, and business management and market considerations. Each module was developed with industry experts and, once completed, provides guidance to the farmer on areas for improvement in their business. The final output also includes a farm self-assessment score, with egg producers encouraged to interact with the Dashboard annually to benchmark themselves.

Biosecurity management on-farm is vital to prevent disease from entering, spreading through or leaving the farm. The Biosecurity Virtual Training Tool provides a biosecurity introduction, refresher or training for anyone entering the farm, including staff, visitors and contractors. Importantly, as a virtual training tool, it allows people to be trained before they arrive at the farm, allowing better management of biosecurity risks.