2018 was another huge year for vegan advocacy in Australia!
Thanks to your active participation, veganism is being advanced person to person, on the streets, on radio, in newspapers and magazines and online. In 2018 there were a record number of animal rights and vegan events, including monthly vegan markets in several cities, vegan festivals in all major cities, vegan education events and vegan outreach, all organised by a record number of groups and individuals.
Below are a few of the highlights of 2018.
Vegan Australia launched the Save A Sanctuary Drought Appeal to help farmed animal sanctuaries affected by drought. Over $30,000 was raised, all of which was used to help animals with food, water, vet fees and other necessary expenses. Many sanctuaries suffered due to prolonged dry weather conditions. These sanctuaries give a home for life for thousands of animals. We thank everyone who kindly supported this appeal.
A major event for 2018 was the launch of the Vegan Australia Certified program. Under this program, product makers may display the Vegan Australia Certified logo on licensed vegan items that meet our strict criteria. The logo indicates that the product does not contain animal ingredients and none of the manufacturing or testing processes involve animals or animal products. The response from makers of vegan food and products has been encouraging and we plan to start actively publicising the Vegan Australia Certified program in 2019. We are looking for volunteers with experience in marketing to help us out. Please contact us.
While there were less opportunities to make submissions this year, the public support for them was outstanding. As well as Vegan Australia's own submission to an inquiry into poultry welfare, over 1000 people made submissions saying they don't just want chickens out of cages, they want chickens out of farming! This is the first time that a government inquiry has been asked by this many people to end the suffering inherent in animal agriculture.
Vegan Australia also made a submission to an inquiry into the live animal export trade. In this submission we called, not just for an immediate ban on live export, but for the entire animal agriculture industry to be phased out in 10 years. Many people responded to our request for others to make submissions.
A number of issues this year allowed Vegan Australia to speak to the public through media appearances. This year Vegan Australia has appeared about 20 times on radio and online and in newspapers and magazines.
This year Vegan Australia maintained an active news service covering a wide range of topics in the areas of veganism and animal rights, publishing over 40 news articles. Check them out on our News site.
Vegan Australia has a strong presence on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram and SoundCloud. Our main social media site is Facebook where we post regular news items, spreading the message to both vegans and non-vegans. This year our Facebook followers rose to over 30,000.
This year we listed almost 3000 animal rights and vegan events around Australia! These included monthly vegan markets in several cities, vegan festivals in all major cities, vegan education events and vegan outreach, all organised by dedicated local groups and individuals. We provide this service to help people find vegan information, support and social connection.
Vegan Australia distributes a weekly newsletter with news and events to over 6000 people. We keep our readers informed with the latest vegan and animal rights current affairs, major events, media mentions and surveys.
For their wonderfully professional and creative work, Vegan Australia would like to sincerely thank our dedicated volunteers. Our growth this year could not have happened without you. Thank you! 🙂 And if you would like to help out, please see our volunteer page.
Vegan Australia is solely funded by our supporters and donations from the public. With your generous contribution, you can become a vital part of Vegan Australia's work to promote veganism through our research, education, outreach and campaigns. Thank you for making the world a better place for all beings.
The incredible growth in the vegan movement in 2018 has been due to tens of thousands of concerned Australians. This year the momentum has increased in pace and community reach. We'd like to thank everyone who has been part of this.
Let us continue in 2019 until every animal is free.
© Vegan Australia | Registered as a charity by the ACNC | ABN 21 169 219 854