An effective regulatory framework is only as good as it is policed and enforced.
For six weeks in Oman, an undercover investigator documented what a decade of regulation was meant to prevent: Australian sheep sold, bound, dragged, and slaughtered beyond the reach of the rules that were supposed to follow them. The evidence was delivered to Australian authorities before the Festival of Sacrifice, yet the festival came and went with the breaches intact. At the heart of this story is a question as old as governance itself — whether a law without enforcement is a law at all, and whether the distance between a rule written in Canberra and an animal on a concrete slab in Muscat can ever truly be closed.
- An investigator spent six weeks in Oman with a hidden camera and fluent Arabic, building a case that Australian sheep were being sold and slaughtered in systematic violation of the rules meant to protect them.
- Evidence — GPS coordinates, video, audio — was handed to the Department of Agriculture weeks before Eid al-Adha, with an urgent plea to act; the government investigated but did not retrieve the animals, and the festival slaughter proceeded at unapproved sites.
- The ESCAS system, in place for over a decade, places responsibility on exporters to control every step of the supply chain, yet it relies entirely on in-country compliance with no Australian government presence on the ground to enforce it.
- Industry defenders argue that continued trade gives Australia leverage over welfare standards abroad, while critics counter that unpoliced regulation is not protection but performance.
- The footage now lands in the middle of a live political decision: an independent panel must report by September 30 on whether Australia should phase out live sheep exports entirely, with Western Australia warning the cost could reach $123 million a year and nearly 400 jobs.
Shatha Hamade spent six weeks in Oman posing as a livestock buyer, a hidden camera beneath her clothes. She speaks fluent Arabic. She was there to test whether Australian sheep were being handled according to the rules meant to govern their treatment once they leave home.
What she found was systematic breach. At fourteen locations across Oman, she documented Australian sheep being sold outside the approved supply chains required by Australian law, many at sites offering on-site slaughter on concrete slabs. She sent detailed complaints — GPS coordinates, video, audio — to Australia's Department of Agriculture in late May, before Eid al-Adha, when demand for livestock surges. She asked the government to act urgently. It did not retrieve the animals. On June 28, during the festival itself, Hamade filmed Australian sheep with their legs bound, being dragged and killed at unapproved slaughterhouses. The footage was later provided to ABC's 7.30.
The system meant to prevent this is called ESCAS — the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme — and it has been in place for over a decade. Under it, Australian exporters must ensure every animal they ship stays within approved facilities from departure to slaughter. It sounds comprehensive. It is not enforced by any Australian government regulator. Everything happens in-country, and the only people doing this investigative work are organisations like Animals Australia.
All Australian sheep exported to Oman this year came from Western Australia, shipped by two companies. One was alleged to have had a staff member offer Australian sheep for private slaughter, with forty animals already moved into private sales. The Department of Agriculture acknowledged the complaints, required exporters to implement stronger controls, and noted that no further Australian sheep have been exported to Oman since the incidents came to light. Agriculture Minister Murray Watt called the footage "very concerning" but declined to draw conclusions while an investigation was underway, describing ESCAS as a world-leading system broadly complied with.
The opposition argued that continuing the live trade allows Australia to maintain influence over welfare standards in importing countries — that withdrawal would remove any reason for those countries to uphold them. Hamade's answer was unambiguous: a regulatory framework is only as good as it is enforced, and this one is not.
The stakes extend beyond Oman. The Australian government is weighing whether to phase out live sheep exports by sea entirely, with an independent panel due to report by September 30. Western Australia has warned a phase-out could cost the agricultural industry up to $123 million annually and nearly 400 jobs. The question now is whether what the footage shows will shape not only an investigation, but a decision about whether the trade should continue at all.
Shatha Hamade spent six weeks in Oman last May posing as a livestock buyer, a body camera hidden beneath her clothes. She speaks fluent Arabic. She was there to test whether Australian sheep were being handled according to the rules that are supposed to govern their treatment once they leave home.
What she found was systematic breach. At fourteen different locations across Oman, she documented Australian sheep being sold outside the approved supply chains that Australian law requires. Many of these places offered on-site slaughter on concrete slabs. She sent detailed complaints to Australia's Department of Agriculture—GPS coordinates, video evidence, audio recordings, the works. She did this in late May, before Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, when demand for livestock surges and animals are slaughtered in vast numbers. She asked the government to act urgently, to direct the exporters responsible to retrieve the sheep and return them to approved facilities. The government did not retrieve them. On June 28, during the festival itself, Hamade captured footage at multiple locations showing Australian sheep with their legs bound together, being dragged, and being killed at unapproved slaughterhouses. The footage was later provided to ABC's 7.30.
The system that was supposed to prevent this is called ESCAS—the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme. It has been in place for over a decade. Under ESCAS, Australian exporters are responsible for ensuring that every animal they ship stays within approved vehicles, feedlots, and abattoirs from the moment it leaves Australia until it is slaughtered. The exporter must control transport, handling, husbandry, and slaughter. It sounds comprehensive. It is not.
All the Australian sheep exported to Oman this year came from Western Australia, shipped by two companies: Livestock Shipping Services and Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading, which operates as Rural Export and Trading WA. In her formal complaint, Hamade alleged that at a feedlot associated with LSS, a staff member told her she could purchase Australian sheep for private slaughter—and that the seller had already moved forty animals into private sales. LSS did not respond to requests for comment. The Department of Agriculture acknowledged the complaints and announced in late June that it was investigating and had required the exporters to implement stronger controls and extra surveillance. But the department declined to be interviewed about the allegations. In a statement, it said that no other Australian sheep have been exported to Oman since the incidents came to light, and that ESCAS allows problems to be identified and dealt with. It also noted that Australia is the only livestock exporting nation out of over one hundred that requires specific animal welfare conditions for exported animals once they arrive in importing countries.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt called the footage "very concerning" but said he would not draw conclusions while an investigation was underway. He emphasized that ESCAS is a world-leading system and that it is broadly complied with. He also noted that issues with conditions on ships and treatment of animals in importing countries are separate matters. The opposition, led by Nationals member David Littleproud, who introduced reforms to improve conditions on ships when he was agriculture minister, argued that continuing the live sheep export trade allows Australia to maintain influence over standards in importing countries. If Australia withdraws, he said, there is no reason for those countries to maintain welfare standards.
Hamade's response was direct: an effective regulatory framework is only as good as it is policed and enforced. ESCAS is not policed by the Australian government. Everything happens in country, which means the Australian government has no power to prevent suffering or enforce what is supposed to happen. The breaches are only being picked up because Animals Australia sends investigators overseas. No government regulator is doing this work. This matters because the Australian government is currently considering whether to phase out live sheep exports entirely by sea—a commitment made by the Labor government in 2018 after footage emerged of dead and dying sheep on a ship bound for the Middle East. An independent panel is reviewing the proposal and must report by September 30. Western Australia, which supplies almost all exported sheep, has warned that a phase-out could cost the agricultural industry up to $123 million annually and eliminate 387 jobs. The livestock export industry argues that ESCAS, despite its flaws, has improved animal welfare over a decade and that withdrawal would remove Australia's ability to influence standards. Hamade argues that without enforcement, the system is theater. The question now is whether the government will act on what the footage shows, and whether that action will shape the decision about whether live sheep exports should continue at all.
Notable Quotes
An effective regulatory framework is only as good as it is policed and enforced. ESCAS is not policed by the Australian government, and is largely unenforced.— Shatha Hamade, Animals Australia lawyer
The images presented are very concerning, but it would be inappropriate to draw conclusions while an investigation is underway.— Agriculture Minister Murray Watt
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Hamade go to Oman specifically, and why during Eid al-Adha?
Eid is when the demand for livestock peaks. That's when the system is tested most severely. She wanted to see what happens when the market is flooded and pressure is highest.
She reported the breaches before the festival. Why didn't the government act?
That's the central question. She gave them everything—coordinates, video, audio, specific locations. The department says it took regulatory action requiring stronger controls. But the footage from during the festival suggests those controls didn't work, or weren't implemented in time.
Is ESCAS actually broken, or is it just not being enforced?
Hamade would say it's not being enforced. The system exists on paper. But there's no Australian government presence in Oman policing it. The exporters are supposed to police themselves through their supply chain partners. That's the design flaw.
What does the government say about that?
They say ESCAS is world-leading and broadly complied with. They also say no regulatory system can guarantee zero non-compliance. But Hamade's point is that the breaches are only being discovered because an activist organization is doing the government's job.
So who benefits from live sheep exports continuing?
Western Australian farmers and the export companies. The industry argues that staying in these markets gives Australia leverage to improve standards. If Australia leaves, that leverage disappears.
And who bears the cost if the system fails?
The sheep. And potentially the farmers, if the government phases out exports and they can't adapt quickly enough. The WA government estimates significant economic loss if the transition isn't managed carefully.