Two current government consultations illustrate different ways in which the rights of animals are routinely overridden.

In response, Vegan Australia made a submission in NSW arguing that commercial kangaroo killing violates the right of kangaroos to their own lives, and in Queensland that invasive practices such as castration, sterilisation of female farmed animals, and the removal of horns and tails violate the right of animals to bodily integrity.

The issues are different, but they have something fundamental in common. Both begin from speciesist assumptions about what humans are entitled to do to our fellow animals.

In the case of kangaroos, the central issue is the right of animals to their own lives. Our submission objects to a system which allows free-living kangaroos to be treated as a 'natural resource' and permits them to be commercially shot and their bodies sold. It argues that population sustainability does not justify killing. A population is not the individual who is killed. Read Vegan Australia's submission

In the case of invasive practices on farmed animals, the central issue is the right of animals to their own bodies. Current laws allow invasive procedures associated with animal agriculture to be carried out by farm workers and other people without veterinary qualifications. These procedures are not carried out in the medical interests of the individual animal involved, but because they make using animals in agriculture easier or more profitable. Our submission challenges the assumption that animals' bodies may be cut, altered or have parts removed simply because doing so benefits humans. Read Vegan Australia's submission

Two examples of speciesism

Speciesism allows interests and rights that would be regarded as fundamental for humans to be discounted or ignored when the individuals affected belong to another species.

One consultation concerns a system in which animals may be deliberately killed because their population is considered sufficiently abundant and their bodies have commercial value.

The other concerns a system in which animals may have their bodies altered because doing so makes their exploitation more convenient or economically useful.

The circumstances differ, but the underlying assumption is similar: that other animals are available for human use.

Animal rights offers a different starting point. Animals are individuals with rights to their own lives, their own bodies and their freedom. Those rights should not depend on whether exploiting them is profitable, customary or considered 'sustainable'.

Have your say

Both consultations are open to members of the public. You do not need specialist expertise to raise the fundamental ethical issues involved.

For the NSW commercial kangaroo killing plan, you might tell the government that:

• kangaroos are sentient individuals, not 'natural resources'
• the ability of a population to withstand killing does not justify killing its individual members
• kangaroos have a right to continue living their own lives
• the commercial killing quota should be zero
• government policy should respect the rights of kangaroos rather than regulate their exploitation.

The NSW consultation closes 4 September 2026.

Make a submission on kangaroo killing

For the Queensland Veterinary Surgeons Act review, you might tell the government that:

• animals have a right to their own bodies
• procedures should not be imposed on animals merely to facilitate their breeding, management or commercial use
• treatment undertaken in the medical interests of an individual animal should be allowed, but procedures imposed for human benefit should be ended
• invasive procedures used to facilitate animal exploitation should be ended rather than simply transferred from non-veterinarians to veterinarians
• veterinary regulation should recognise animals as individuals whose interests and rights matter in their own right.

The Queensland review closes 7 September 2026.

Make a submission on animals' bodily rights

Even a short submission can put an animal rights perspective before government. These consultations are opportunities not only to challenge the speciesist assumption that the lives and bodies of other animals are ours to use, but to affirm that animals are individuals with rights to their own lives, bodies and freedom.