Greyhound Racing in Australia

64 Tracks

The Australian greyhound racing industry consists of eight different state and territory governing bodies.¹ These bodies are responsible for regulating the greyhound racing activities at the clubs in their areas. There are 64 greyhound tracks in the country.² Representatives from each of the state and territory bodies make up Greyhounds Australasia, the national supporting body for greyhound racing in Australia and New Zealand. In 2015, a total of 40,978 greyhound races were held throughout Australia.³

A majority of the greyhounds racing in Australia were bred in the country. In 2015, there were 3,006 litters of greyhounds registered.⁴ There are 262 breeding kennels listed on greyhound-data.com, an online database maintained by dog racing gamblers.⁵

Each governing state and territory body has its own set of racing rules that include regulations regarding registrations for dogs, clubs and individuals, race meeting requirements and policies on doping.⁶ Greyhounds Australasia also has a set of regulations; however, the rules of local controlling bodies take precedence over them.⁷

Only one state racing body, New South Wales, has published injury records. These identify a total of 6,057 documented injuries from January 2016 to June 2018.⁸ Between 2015 and 2019, 13,597 deaths have been reported across five of the states.⁹

Betting on greyhound races is legal in Australia. In the last five years, total wagering, or “turnover,” on races rose from $3.8 billion in 2015 to over $5.1 billion in 2019.¹⁰ Seventy-five percent of turnover in 2019 came from the states of Victoria and New South Wales.¹¹

The mass slaughter of greyhounds in the greyhound industry is euphemistically called “wastage.” An internal Greyhounds Australasia report revealed that the industry is responsible for the unnecessary deaths of 13,000 to 17,000 healthy greyhounds each year.¹²

The “Special Commission of Inquiry into the Greyhound Racing Industry,” known as the McHugh Report, was published in 2016.¹³ The report found that at least 50% of greyhound puppies whelped were deliberately killed because they were not fast enough. The evidence also showed that 40% of greyhounds whelped never make it to the track. The Commission found that breeding needed to be drastically reduced in order for the problem of the mass slaughter of greyhounds to be solved.¹⁴

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