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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-09-04 Daily Xml
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Freedom of Information (Greyhound Racing Transparency) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:43): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Freedom of Information Act 1991. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:43): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I rise today to introduce the Freedom of Information (Greyhound Racing Transparency) Amendment Bill 2025. In the 15 years since I was first elected as a member of this place, animal welfare has been one of my portfolios and one of my priorities. I have been constantly urging people to take those issues more seriously in this place, with greyhound racing, of course, one of the many issues that I have campaigned on or about during my time in that animal welfare portfolio.

I have called on our own parliament to inquire into the greyhound racing industry on three separate occasions. I have introduced several bills, including one similar to the one I introduce again today, and I have asked many, many questions and introduced numerous amendments to various pieces of legislation, including the Animal Welfare Bill and the Greyhound Industry Reform Inspector Bill. I have to say that part of the motivation for a lot of this work was a response that I once got from Greyhound Racing SA in 2016, when I previously tried to obtain a statistical piece of information from them about the workings of the South Australian greyhound industry.

The specific questions I asked under the freedom of information application were the number of registered greyhound breeders in SA, the number of registered racing greyhound trainers in SA, the number of greyhound pups born to registered breeders in SA, the number of greyhound pups that are registered to race, the number of greyhounds euthanised as well as the reasons for that euthanasia, the number and description of injuries sustained during racing or training and the outcome for such greyhounds, the number of greyhounds euthanised at the track due to injuries sustained in a race, and the number of greyhounds rehomed in South Australia.

Greyhound Racing SA refused to comply with that request, claiming they were not subject to FOI legislation and therefore would not cooperate. Meanwhile, greyhounds in this time have kept dying, and the industry has continued despite whistleblower complaints and despite images captured of dogs living in cages, covered in faeces and not having access to fresh water, sunshine nor any kind of play.

Despite footage of cruelty, dogs being kicked or revelations of live baiting occurring in this state, for so long we have been assured by Greyhound Racing SA that there is nothing to see here, that the scrutiny on their own animal welfare record was somehow misplaced and that they would have to do it all on their own initiative, use their own systems and have their own integrity reviews to ensure that their internal purposes were not only ensuring fairness in their race meetings but, of course, upholding community expectations for animal welfare standards. Time and time again, that has been proven not to be the case.

Sadly, as history has shown, those calls were not heeded by this parliament until finally, in August 2023, the release of distressing footage that depicted the alleged abuse of multiple greyhounds and the use of live baiting—the shocking revelations, of course, featuring high-profile industry figures caught on film horrifically abusing their animals—sparked such public outrage it finally forced the state government to take action. Premier Malinauskas's response was to commission former Victorian police commissioner Graham Ashton, assisted by lead reviewer Ms Zoe Thomas, to undertake an independent review of the overseeing body, Greyhound Racing SA, and the industry as a whole.

The result, of course, was the Independent Inquiry into the Governance of the Greyhound Racing Industry report known as the Ashton review. Many people in the animal welfare sector, I must say, were deeply suspicious about the appointment of Mr Ashton at the time and were concerned that the inquiry would be a cover-up or a whitewash. When the final report was delivered on 30 November 2023, however, rather than a cover-up, it was a bombshell that revealed a litany of animal welfare abuses, integrity issues and governance irregularities, failures that had shocked people both in the sector and, of course, in the broader community.

It was harrowing, but to many of us, it was actually not surprising. It was a vindication for those whistleblowers over so many years and the animal lovers of South Australia who called it out for those many years, who have known how poorly managed this industry was and probably is. That review made 86 recommendations, including its final recommendation, which was one put forward by the Animal Justice Party and was supported by the commissioner. That AJP recommendation, No. 13, stated:

Amend Freedom of Information legislation to ensure that there are no exemptions applicable to the racing industry.

This recommendation of the Ashton review is one that this parliament can progress by supporting this bill; in fact, it could progress it today should it so choose. I am not that hopeful, but I am hopeful that this time the Malinauskas government, which has accepted this recommendation, will actually vote for a bill to ensure that Greyhound Racing South Australia is subject to freedom of information requests.

Indeed, next time somebody lodges questions about those numbers or those statistics or the information that the industry assures us is all above board, they will be forced to comply. It is not good enough currently, and that is why I bring this bill, which will ensure that freedom of information requests can be made of this industry, as they always should have been, as previous legal advice has said they should have been complying with.

Since the government and the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing previously have not taken it upon themselves to lead with legislative reform, I am happy to do so today. We cannot wait any longer. All of those recommendations are meant to be implemented within the two-year timeframe set by the Premier when he put this industry on notice in this state. We are well over halfway through those two years. We have only a few sitting weeks left. Surely it is time that the very basic compliance with a recommendation that has been accepted by the government, that the industry purportedly accepts and that has been made as a recommendation of the Ashton Review, should finally come to fruition.

I have to say that I am surprised the Malinauskas government has not taken the lead, and I am also disappointed that previously, when I put a similar bill before this place in an amendment to a piece of government legislation, it was rejected even after the Ashton Review. Well, it is time to make good on your promises, I say to the Malinauskas government, and I hope that they will.

Greyhound Racing SA is, in fact, the only state racing body in Australia that has somehow exempted itself from freedom of information. It has been able to operate in secrecy and, indeed, it was actually only through a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry some years ago, led by the then Greens' John Kaye, who passed well over a decade ago, that we actually saw Greyhound Racing SA's own internal workings finally exposed. It was not through the work of the South Australian parliament that we found those figures; it was, in fact, through the work of the New South Wales parliament and the inquiry there in New South Wales that captured South Australian information.

I have to say that, currently if an injured dog is not killed on the track by the on track vet, the South Australian public has no way of finding out what happens to that dog once it leaves the track. I have had communications that dog trainers are encouraged not to have the dog euthanased on track but to wait until it does not turn up in the official figures. With freedom of information, those dogs will not be allowed to disappear from public view, or from the statistics, and this publicly funded industry will not be able to continue without appropriate scrutiny.

There is no reason for Greyhound Racing SA not to be transparent about the number of dogs entering and exiting their industry. The data they release currently is limited to their annual reports and it is very much a 'trust us, we're from Greyhound Racing' and who would buy that pup? 'The figures that we now show you here are real,' they tell us. Unsurprisingly, time and time again, that has been proven not to be the case. I do not accept it. I did not accept it then and I do not accept it now. Until we have real freedom of information laws that can uncover what the real truth is—and I hope the truth will set the dogs free—we cannot actually have any faith that there is a social licence in existence for this industry.

In their latest Greyhound Racing SA annual report, they have stated their vision and it is this: to be recognised as a 'trusted community contributor committed to best practice welfare, integrity and governance standards'. Amongst their values, they go on to list:

Transparency

Openness through sharing of information and knowledge

Accountability

Taking collective responsibility for our actions, behaviour and performance outcomes.

I have to say, Greyhound Racing SA, I will welcome this private member's bill to subject them to freedom of information requests and access because it fulfils the promises that they make to the South Australian public in their annual report, bearing in mind that it is hoped that Greyhound Racing SA should at some stage be subjected to FOI provisions and that that timeframe of two years has a clock that is very loudly ticking as we near a state election and the proroguing of parliament. I have to say the Greyhound Racing SA industry should not be afraid of this bill but should wholeheartedly support it, as should the Malinauskas government. With that, I commend the bill.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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