According to the official press release, “The Australian Government has committed to 11 substantial reinforcing measures to ensure that all cosmetic ingredients are captured by the ban, together with funding to support the development and uptake of modern non-animal test methods. The bill also includes measures to prohibit reliance on new animal test data for chemicals introduced into Australia for use as ingredients in cosmetics.”
According to Cruelty-Free International, 85% of Australians are against the use of animals in the development of cosmetics
One of the biggest cruelty-free beauty and anti-animal testing’s strongest advocates The Body Shop Australia, was over the moon with the news saying, “Today we are celebrating a major win in the fight to end animal testing. The Body Shop has been on a mission to end cosmetic animal testing globally for over 30 years, so to have this bill passed in Australia is fantastic progress. Hopefully, we will see more governments around the world follow suit,”
The beauty brand even took their fight to the United Nations headquarters in New York City last year, launching a campaign alongside Cruelty-Free International with a petition against cosmetic animal testing.
Their efforts obviously ignited something in the public, because in just 15 months, more than 8.3 million people signed, acknowledging their message that cosmetic animal testing is outdated, cruel and unnecessary.
Now, other countries are indeed following suit, with California recently passing the Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act where from January 2020, products that have been tested on animals will be prohibited from sale.