"Sheep experience optimal health and welfare throughout their lives, as evidenced by low incidence of disease, optimal growth rates, and overall wellbeing."
The responsible operation of a profitable wool enterprise is built on a foundation of optimal sheep health, welfare, and management.
Planned and proactive management of sheep is required to address challenges from diverse farm and seasonal environments, disease, and predation, concurrently, while ensuring appropriate nutrition, shelter, and handling to minimise injury and stress, and if need be, destruction is applied.
AWSS recognises the Five Domains Model for Animal Welfare as an important framework when considering animal wellbeing:
Nutrition
Environment
Health
Behavioural interactions
Mental state
Outcomes
Personnel have the skills and resources to plan and implement optimal health and welfare practices.
Sheep experience low incidence of disease and mortality rates.
Sheep experience good health and wellbeing and exhibit normal behaviour due to the adoption of evidence-based health and welfare practices.
Sheep experience minimal stress and no undue suffering during handling, transport and destruction.
Meeting this requirement
Owners / managers of AWSS-certified properties have committed to the AWSS Caring for our sheep outcomes supported by declarations and evidence regarding their sheep health, welfare and management.
AWSS recognises the importance of pain management for animal wellbeing so from July 2025, will require the use of appropriate pain relief administration for tail docking and castration.
If mulesing or liquid nitrogen breech modification is required as part of a sheep health and wellbeing plan (ResponsiWOOL), it must always be done with the administration of appropriate pain relief.
Certification Types
For properties that do not practice breech modification or for properties that have ceased breech modification practices.
For properties that adopt recognised breech modification practices and use appropriate pain relief.
AWSS only recognises:
Mulesing that meets AA requirements under Australia's National Wool Declaration (NWD), (OR)
Use of liquid nitrogen (LN) along with the use of appropriate pain relief
Frequently Asked Questions
Every property with an AWSS Certificate of Compliance has completed a successful desktop audit with their application including Operator declarations and commitments to the AWSS Grower Standard. A successful annual desktop audit is a condition of certification.
Desktop compliance reviews of the Australian auction catalogue are undertaken by AWEX each week.
Wool lots offered for sale as either SustainaWOOL (Scheme code 'SW') or ResponsiWOOL (Scheme code 'RE') are audited for current and correct certification, and against quality and integrity requirements.
On-farm inspections of Australian Wool Sustainability Scheme certified properties are carried out regularly.
This is currently undertaken by professional inspectors from the Australian Wool Exchange and will soon be moving to a third-party verifying entity.
The Australian Wool Sustainability Scheme (AWSS) connects Australian wool growers with brokers, buyers, processors and brands from around the world who share a common vision - of a wool industry that can celebrate and specify the highest standards of sustainability, integrity, and clip preparation, using technology to improve efficiency and enable traceability.
The Australian Wool Sustainability Scheme offers two types of certification: SustainaWOOL and ResponsiWOOL.
Both meet our sustainability standards across the board and differ only in one aspect of caring for sheep, which is breech modification status.
This allows the Australian Wool Sustainability Scheme to be inclusive of different wool production systems in Australia, while importantly having clear separation for customers for whom purchasing non-mulesed wool is important.
To maximise competition and market access for their wool by managing and maintaining their properties, businesses, and the animals in their care, using world-class and recognised sustainable practices that help deliver ongoing viability and success of their enterprises and that of the Australian wool industry.
As an Australian sustainability scheme, the program aligns with key Australian wool industry programs, minimising duplication, and inefficiency of on-farm practice verification.
Using digital AWEX services and innovations such as WoolClip and eBale, choosing to be part of the Australian Wool Sustainability Scheme can give the wool grower, their selling agent and buyers access to credible, fast, and cost-effective certification for lots of wool from a compliant property both at auction or privately sold and post-sale.
