Kangaroos are iconic in Australia and hold significant cultural importance for many Aboriginal peoples.
Kangaroo populations in New South Wales have grown since European colonisation due to changes in land use. Land has been cleared for grazing domestic animals like sheep and cattle, and there are more man-made watering points and fewer dingoes. Kangaroo harvesting reduces grazing pressure and competition with other wildlife species.
Kangaroo harvesting adds value to kangaroos and supports a small professional industry. For thousands of years, Aboriginal communities have used kangaroos for food, clothing, tools and ceremonies.
Kangaroos are not at risk of extinction. We count kangaroos in New South Wales every year using aerial surveys. We have monitored kangaroo populations for 50 years, making NSW kangaroos one of the best-monitored species in the world.
Why we manage kangaroos
Kangaroos are large herbivores that play an important role in maintaining the health of the environment across Australia. As grazers, they impact plant and animal diversity and cycle energy and nutrients.
Modern farming practices have made large parts of the state more suitable for larger kangaroo populations when conditions are ideal. This can result in increased grazing pressure from kangaroos on both natural and agricultural landscapes, and also can potentially result in mass starvation of kangaroos when environmental conditions, such as rainfall, change for extended periods of time.
For this reason, we monitor kangaroo populations and regulate a sustainable and humane commercial harvest industry to protect the viability of those populations. Kangaroos are protected in New South Wales under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, and it is an offence to harm, attempt to harm, or commercially trade kangaroos without a licence.
Under Australian law, kangaroo products can only be exported if the state where the kangaroo was harvested has an approved wildlife trade management plan in place. In New South Wales, this plan is the Wildlife Trade Management Plan for the Commercial Harvest of Kangaroos in New South Wales 2022-26, approved by the Australian Government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The plan outlines the framework for managing and regulating the commercial harvest of kangaroos in accordance with Australian and NSW legislation and regulations. It sets the conditions and rules that need to be followed by the NSW Government to make sure the harvest of kangaroos is sustainable, ethical and humane. We report to the Australian Government every year to show how we are meeting the rules and conditions set out in the plan.
We ensure sustainable kangaroo harvesting by counting them annually across New South Wales and setting harvest limits. We are also responsible for regulating harvest activities to make sure the harvest of kangaroos is humane. The National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes sets the minimum standard a person conducting commercial shooting of kangaroos is required to follow to make sure harvesting is humane.
The Australian Government released the code, and all state kangaroo trade management plans must comply with it. We know that when the code is followed, the animal welfare impacts of commercial harvesting for target kangaroos are lower than those of other management methods.
We are responsible for making sure professional shooters harvesting in New South Wales comply with the code. We do this by educating professional shooters through a mandatory TAFE course and setting shooting accuracy targets before issuing a licence.
Non-compliant individuals can face fines, lose their licence, and/or be prosecuted.