Sustainability is not just about climate and the environment. It is also about health and welfare, customer expectations, access to domestic and international markets, profitability and giving back to the community. 

People want to feel confident the food and fibre they purchase has been responsibly produced. Demonstrating sustainability performance is increasingly important to local and international markets for Australia's quality sheep meat and premium wool. 

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As the peak bodies for the sector, Sheep Producers Australia and WoolProducers Australia (WPA) demonstrated leadership by working proactively and collaboratively on a holistic approach to sheep sustainability. Together, we led the development of a framework that helps industry better understand its opportunities, challenges and impacts in key areas such as animal care, the environment, economic resilience, and people and community. 

This was achieved via funding, strategic advice and secretariat support from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and an independent Sustainability Steering Group appointed by and WPA made up of representatives from across the value chain with diverse areas of skills and expertise. 

The Sheep Sustainability Framework was launched in April 2021 following extensive consultation with industry, stakeholders, peak industry councils and state farming organisations as well as a materiality review. 

The Framework defines sustainable sheep production in Australia, prioritises industry issues and measures industry performance against relevant indicators to: 

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• demonstrate sustainable practices 

• identify areas of improvement, and 

• better communicate these with stakeholders and consumers via an annual report.

Sheep Producers Australia and WPA continue to lead the framework through their membership on the Sheep Sustainability Framework Board. They monitor Sheep Sustainability Framework outputs and use them as supporting evidence to set relevant industry policy. 

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 The Framework builds trust and confidence in the industry, by demonstrating sustainability performance. The Sheep Sustainability Framework monitors and measures industry performance against priorities aligned with the four themes: 

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1. Caring for our sheep, 

2. Enhancing the environment and climate, 

3. Looking after our people, our customers and the community and 

4. Ensuring a financially resilient industry. 

Data and trends which tell how the industry is tracking against industry agreed sustainability targets are provided via an annual report as well as a digital dashboard on the Sheep Sustainability Framework website. In addition, three annual reports have been released so far. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the Framework is evaluated and evolved every year to ensure it captures contemporary and emerging trends in sustainability. Advancements in best practice, scientific findings, changes in measurement and reporting, evolution of customer needs and consumer expectations, are updated and consistently monitored.