Every sentient animal values their own life, body and freedom and has an interest in continuing their existence and avoiding suffering.
Animals have the right to be treated with respect and justice and not to be treated as property.
Production of animal products necessarily results in suffering or death of animals.
Humans have no need for any animal products and in particular are able to live healthily on a vegan diet.
Many people who adopt a nutritious vegan diet will enjoy significant health improvements by reducing the risk of the leading causes of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.
Raising and processing of animals for food is a major cause of environmental damage, including land degradation, water shortage, deforestation, ocean degradation, air pollution and climate change.
Veganism is an ethical response to many urgent social justice issues. The negative consequences of animal production impact heavily on the poor, the disempowered and the hungry.
Issues of race, culture, gender and class are important factors to consider in the promotion of veganism.
Humans should reduce the harm caused indirectly to animals due to the extraction of natural resources, transportation, development and other human activities as much as possible, including harm resulting from agriculture.
To implement its mission, Vegan Australia will
Vegan Australia is a peaceful, inclusive organisation and is opposed to all forms of oppression and discrimination. Vegan Australia acknowledges and respects the rights of the descendants of the first peoples of Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We recognise the violent invasion of the lands where the First Nations peoples have lived for generations. We also recognise the ongoing effects of this invasion on the lives of First Nations peoples today.
See our Code of conduct for guidelines regarding the kind of behaviour that Vegan Australia expects of staff, volunteers and others who work with us.
Vegan Australia defines veganism in terms of respecting the rights of our fellow animals. See below for a full description.
Veganism is a radical movement that strives for a world where the inherent rights of our fellow animals are respected.
Every sentient animal has intrinsic value and rights, including a right to their own body, life and freedom and a right not to be exploited, objectified or used by humans or treated as a commodity or property. Veganism upholds and protects these rights.
Animals are accorded these rights grounded solely in their sentience and not on any other cognitive traits.
Recognising the rights of animals is a matter of justice, respect and fairness and is not dependent on the mercy, kindness or compassion of humans.
The goal of veganism is not to regulate the use of animals within a system that views them as property but to abolish their use altogether. It is not to improve the welfare of animals but to liberate them from human exploitation.
Veganism is a social justice movement, along with other progressive social justice movements based on respect for human rights. It seeks to change how we see animals and to end speciesism.
As a consequence of this respect for the rights of animals, veganism is also a way of living that puts these principles into practice by not exploiting or using animals for food, clothing, entertainment or any other purpose.
In dietary terms it denotes the practice of not consuming products derived from animals or where animals have been used in the production or testing. See our Certification standard for full details.
As a way of living, being vegan means that we should avoid causing unnecessary suffering of animals as much as possible. Because we live in a very non-vegan world, it is sometimes not possible to avoid harming animals, such as by taking medicine that has been tested on animals or by riding on buses that have non-vegan tyres. Whenever we are able to avoid using or harming animals, we should do so.
Since most people already believe that it is wrong to cause unnecessary suffering and death to animals, veganism can be considered a way to align their actions with their values of non-violence.
Being non-vegan is a violation of our fellow animals' rights to their bodies, lives and freedom. Some of the reasons given by people who do not live vegan are habit, taste, convenience, culture and tradition, none of which are adequate reasons to violate the rights of others.
The practice of veganism also has a number of other benefits, including avoiding the damage caused to the world environment by the billions of animals we breed, raise and kill for food each year. The United Nations has identified animal agriculture as 'one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems', including climate change and species extinction.
A well planned vegan diet is healthy. This is confirmed by a solid body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence. Not only is a vegan diet as healthy as any diet containing animal products, in many aspects it can be more beneficial to human health.
Find out more about veganism on our Why vegan page.
The views of Vegan Australia on animal rights and veganism and how to advocate for them have been influenced by a number of other organisations and authors. Some of these are listed below.
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