HOBART: Tasmania’s government said on Sunday it will compensate greyhound racing participants as it presses ahead with legislation to end the sport by June 30, 2029, adding a new fiscal element to the phaseout of one of the state’s three racing codes. Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Racing Minister Jane Howlett said the compensation framework will be written into the Greyhound Racing Legislation Amendments (Phasing Out Reform) Bill 2025 and backed by funding in this year’s state budget. The government did not disclose the size of the package.
The announcement updates a plan first formalized in November, when the government introduced the bill setting out how greyhound racing would be wound down over a transition period ending in mid-2029. Official parliamentary records show the measure passed Tasmania’s House of Assembly on Dec. 4 before moving to the Legislative Council, where it was referred on Dec. 10 to the Joint Standing Committee on Greyhound Racing Transition for consideration and report. The committee later closed submissions on Feb. 6 and said its inquiry was focused on the legislation’s contents rather than the policy decision itself.
Rockliff said the latest step was intended to support affected participants and their dogs as the state moves through the closure process. The government said the Tasmanian Racing Integrity Commissioner is developing the phaseout plan, which is to guide the transition and be tabled in parliament. Howlett said consultation had already been extensive and that further consultation would occur as the plan is prepared, with the document intended to serve as both a strategic and operational guide during the shutdown.
Legislation Sets Out Transition
Under the draft law, Tasmania would phase out greyhound racing through a staged process rather than an immediate ban. Government material says measures slated to begin during the transition include an immediate ban on breeding greyhounds for racing, tighter controls on interstate racing greyhounds entering Tasmania and a prohibition on euthanising racing greyhounds for non-medical reasons. The bill amends the Animal Welfare Act 1993, the Dog Control Act 2000 and the Racing Regulation and Integrity Act 2024 as part of the legal framework for closing the code.
Officials have also said no healthy greyhound is to be euthanised because of the phaseout, with a dedicated rehoming strategy to be developed as part of the wider transition plan. The government’s published guidance says the Racing Integrity Commissioner, supported by a transition working group, will work with rehoming organisations to move dogs into homes or appropriate care. Those animal welfare provisions have remained central to the policy design while parliament continues scrutiny of the proposed shutdown and the way it would be implemented.
Budget Support Still Undisclosed
When the bill was introduced on Nov. 6, the government said an interim budget included A$500,000 to support implementation of the reform program. Sunday’s announcement goes further by confirming a separate compensation package for participants, but ministers have not yet set out the value of that package or how it will be allocated. Instead, the government said the compensation framework will be embedded in the legislation and the funding envelope will be outlined in the 2026 state budget, leaving key cost details still to be released.
For now, the greyhound phaseout remains scheduled to culminate on June 30, 2029, while the bill and the planned compensation arrangements continue through Tasmania’s parliamentary process. The government has maintained that participant welfare, animal welfare and rehoming will shape the transition, and that the commissioner-led plan will provide the operating roadmap for the industry’s closure. The latest move leaves Tasmania with a formal commitment to compensate participants, but not yet a public price tag for ending greyhound racing – By Content Syndication Services.