Australia has world-leading livestock traceability systems and a commitment to ensure they continue to meet and exceed future biosecurity needs.
In September 2022, federal and state agriculture ministers agreed to implement a nationally consistent individual electronic identification (eID) system for sheep and goats by 1 January 2025.
eID tags allow individual identification of animals. These devices contain a radio frequency identifier (RFID) microchip that can be read using a handheld scanning wand or panel reader.
It has been mandatory for all cattle nationally to be electronically tagged since 2005. Sheep and goats in Victoria have been electronically tagged since 2017.
Moving from visual tags to eID for sheep and goats offers a range of benefits including:
Sheep and goat eID is an opportunity for producers to enhance their business practices and market outcomes.
