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Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Biosecurity and trade
  3. Export
  4. Controlled export goods
  5. Exporting kangaroo meat

Sidebar first - Export

  • Controlled export goods
    • Dairy products
      • Step-by-step guide
      • Information directory for dairy manufacturers and exporters
      • Export facilitator service
      • Dairy exporters
        • Dairy exporter welcome pack
          • Your dairy export journey
            • Your approved arrangement
            • Importing country requirements
          • Do I need export registration?
            • How to apply to become export registered
          • Forms and templates
          • Resources for dairy exporters
          • Frequently asked questions
        • Dairy product codes
        • Export quotas
      • Export registered establishments
        • Approved arrangements
          • Approved arrangement checklist
        • Audits
        • Exporting dairy products to China
        • Microbiological testing
        • Raw milk temperatures
        • List of dairy establishments
        • Declarations of compliance
        • Transferring goods between establishments
        • EU requirements for dairy products
        • Water testing requirements
      • Forms
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        • All dairy notices and advices
      • Resources
        • Heat treatment equipment and processes
        • Milk residue survey
      • Dairy Export Industry Consultative Committee
      • Returning products to Australia
      • Recall of exported food
      • Reconsideration and review of decisions
    • Eggs and egg products
      • Step-by-step guide
      • Exporters
        • Egg product codes
      • Export registered establishment
        • Approved arrangements
        • Audits
        • Declarations of compliance
        • Product standards guideline
        • List of egg establishments
        • Transferring goods between establishments
      • Forms
      • Industry notices
        • All egg notices
      • Resources
      • Returning products to Australia
      • Recall of exported food
      • Reconsideration and review of decisions
    • Fish and fish products
      • Step-by-step guide
      • Seafood Export Facilitator service
      • Seafood video resources
      • Exporters
        • Fish product codes
      • Export registered establishments
        • Abalone testing requirements
          • PST in Tasmanian Abalone: Export Eligibility
        • Approved arrangements
        • Audits
        • Shellfish export standards
        • Declarations of compliance
        • Exporting fish products to China
        • Product standards guidelines
        • List of fish establishments
        • Transferring goods between establishments
      • Forms
      • Industry notices
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
      • Market access advice
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
      • Resources
      • Returning products to Australia
      • Recall of exported food
      • Reconsideration and review of decisions
    • Non-prescribed goods
      • Export listed establishment
        • Audits
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        • Determining a non-prescribed good
      • Forms
        • Application for export listing
        • Application for government export certificate
        • Declaration and certificate as to condition
        • Continuation or amendment of export listing
      • Industry notices
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
      • Market access advice notices
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
      • Step-by-step guide
    • Kangaroo meat
    • Live animals
      • Livestock
        • Livestock exporters
          • Become a livestock exporter
          • Exporting a livestock consignment
          • Export licence
          • Approved Arrangements
          • Approved export program
          • Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS)
            • Apply, vary and maintain your ESCAS
          • Independent observers
          • Exemptions
          • TRACE
        • Accredited veterinarians (AAVs)
          • Current AAVs
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        • Registered establishments
        • Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock
        • Forms for exporting livestock
        • Reforming live animal exports
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          • Independent observer reports
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          • Notifiable mortality incident reports
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      • Horses
        • Forms
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        • Forms
        • Information for veterinarians
          • Veterinarians preparing companion animals for export
      • Reproductive material
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        • Livestock export welfare reviews
          • Northern Hemisphere summer review
          • Heat and cold stress in Bos taurus cattle
        • Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock updates
      • Statistics
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    • Meat and meat products
      • ELMER 3 Electronic Legislation, Manuals and Essential References
        • Extended consultation on cost recovery of exports certification
        • Extended consultation on cost recovery of exports certification
        • Consultation on cost recovery of export certification
        • Independent review of the cost of export certification
        • European Union animal welfare requirements
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          • EUCAS: Farms
          • EUCAS: Feedlots
          • EUCAS Questions and Answers
          • EUCAS: Legislative basis
          • EUCAS: Saleyards
        • Forms: Meat Export
        • Independent Employer of AAOs Accreditation Scheme
          • Fact Sheet for Abattoir Owners or Operators
          • Fact Sheet for Authorised Officers (AAO's)
          • Fact Sheet for Independent AAO Employers
          • Independent Employer of AAOs Accreditation Scheme (Export meat and meat products)
        • Meat notices
          • 2022
          • 2021
          • 2020
      • Australian meat export statistics
        • Red meat export statistics 1997-2012
        • Red meat export statistics 2013
        • Red meat export statistics 2014
        • Red meat export statistics 2015
        • Red meat export statistics 2016
        • Red meat export statistics 2017
        • Red meat export statistics 2018
        • Red meat export statistics 2019
        • Apply to become an approved certifying body
        • Red meat export statistics 2020
        • Red meat export statistics 2021
    • Organic and biodynamic products
      • Organic Exports—a program of reform
      • Step-by-step guide
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      • Approved certifying bodies
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        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
      • National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce
    • Plants and plant products
      • Plant export legislation
      • Norfolk Island plant exports
      • Authorised Officers
        • Job functions and training
          • BVI3001: Export inspection of empty bulk vessels
          • ECI3001: Export inspection of empty containers
          • HOR3002: Export inspection of fruit and vegetables
          • HAS3001: Export inspection of hay and straw
          • HEP4001: Export inspection of horticulture protocol
          • FOP3002: Export inspection of logs
          • GSEP4001: Export inspection of prescribed grain and plant products protocol
          • PGG3001: Export inspection of prescribed grain and plant products
          • FOP3003: Export inspection of processed forest products
          • RBC3001: Export inspection of raw baled cotton
          • FOP3001: Export inspection of woodchips
          • TRE3001: Export phytosanitary treatments
        • Public Register of Authorised Officers
          • Register consent form
        • Request for Plant Exports Inspection Appointment
      • Certificates, declarations and forms
      • Industry Consultative Committees
      • Contact Us
      • Industry Notices
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
      • Step-by-step guide for exporters
      • Exporters of wood and wood fibre products
      • Horticulture Accredited properties
      • Approved Australian horticulture export protocol treatment facilities
      • Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor) Plants
      • Plant Export Operations Manual
      • Plant Exports Management System (PEMS)
      • Returning products to Australia
      • Small Horticultural Products Registered Establishment (SHPRE)
      • Busting Congestion for Plant Exports

Exporting kangaroo meat

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry regulates the export activities of the kangaroo meat industry by:

  • registering processing facilities for export
  • overseeing production to ensure food safety, and
  • issuing export certification for kangaroo meat products.

The department is also involved in developing and maintaining market access for kangaroo products worldwide. Exporters now have access to more than 60 overseas markets, where they deliver high quality fresh meat cuts to restaurants and dinner tables across the globe.

Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry, which began in 1959, is considered one of the world’s best wild harvest operations. The industry is an important provider of jobs in regional and rural areas, directly employing around 4000 people. Its management goals are based firmly on principles of sustainability.

Kangaroo meat product is sustainably sourced in accordance with quotas which are scientifically set and regularly monitored. Around 3% of Australia’s 50 million kangaroos are used for meat production each year. Only four species of kangaroo are permitted for commercial harvesting for meat export:

  • red kangaroo
  • eastern grey kangaroo
  • western grey kangaroo
  • common wallaroo.

These species are widespread and abundant. None are endangered, threatened with extinction or listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) database.

Studies of wild populations have found no long-term impacts resulting from more than 30 years of commercial harvesting. This is due to the use of strict and regulated quotas that are based on scientific survey methods.

State governments administer annual harvest quotas that set the maximum number of kangaroos to be removed from each zone in harvesting areas. Zoning encourages even population control and prevents local depletion.

State management plans are approved by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment before being implemented. Populations are then closely monitored to ensure that any unexpected declines are can be detected and harvest quotas adjusted accordingly.

With a focus on sustainability, harvest quotas have generally been set at around 15-20% of the estimated population species permitted for harvest. However, harvest is generally significantly less than the approved quota—at around 3% of the total kangaroo population—as harvesting is linked to market demand and commercial production capacity. For example in 2014, Queensland used 21% of its annual quota and NSW only 15%. State annual reports record percentages of annual harvest quotas used each year.

Kangaroo meat is an environmentally friendly source of lean protein. Kangaroos are low emitters of methane gas by nature, making them a sustainable choice. Farming development across Australia has led to the introduction of water points and increased grazing area, and has created favourable conditions for kangaroos. Like any animal, when the conditions are right, populations will boom. When there are large populations of kangaroos, they can cause significant damage to the environment. In managed populations, kangaroos cause less destruction to native vegetation, preserving habitat for smaller native species. Kangaroos are soft-footed, which means less damage to soil and vegetation, helping to maintain ground cover and biodiversity of plant species, when in effectively managed populations.

Recognised as a valuable source of protein for thousands of years, kangaroo meat has been consumed by Indigenous Australians since they first arrived on this continent around 40 000 years ago.

Kangaroo meat is high in energy, protein, iron, zinc, omega 3 fatty acids and B vitamins. It is also very low in fat, containing less than 2% fat, making it one of the best sources of lean animal protein.

Kangaroo meat can be used in the same way as traditional red meat. It is also suitable for use in further manufacturing, such as for meat patties, sausages and jerky.

As kangaroos are not farmed animals, they have not been treated with veterinary medicines or pesticides.

Kangaroo meat is carefully managed, from skilled harvest operations to the consumers’ plate.

kangaroo-meat-infographic-lrg.jpg
Click on image to enlarge
  1. Kangaroo meat is sourced from abundant and healthy free-ranging populations. When sourcing kangaroo meat, skilled licenced operators follow government animal welfare regulations and strict quotas.
  2. Meat is inspected and stored in hygienic facilities under controlled temperatures. It is tested under a government programme to ensure that it is safe and free from residues.
  3. Meat is again inspected by authorised staff in government approved processing facilities.
  4. Once at the processors, high quality cuts are selected before being processed, packaged and sealed to ensure product integrity.
  5. High quality lean kangaroo meat is exported by sea and air around the world.
  6. Lean kangaroo meat is delivered to supermarkets and restaurants for people to enjoy.

General enquiries

Call 1800 900 090

Contact us online

Report a biosecurity concern

More information

Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia

Kangaroo meat exports (English)
  PDF (3.9 MB)
  Word (36 KB)

袋鼠肉出口(Simplified Chinese)
  PDF (3.6 MB)
  Word (36 KB)

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Last updated: 22 August 2022

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.