Game Meats Company operates a halal export abattoir at Eurobin, Victoria. Image: Google Earth

Animal activists have been ordered to delete secretly filmed abattoir footage and pay $130,000 in damages after losing a Federal Court battle against a Victorian meat company.

The Farm Transparency International (FTI) yesterday lost a Federal Court battle to release a 14-minute video filmed inside the Game Meats Company abattoir (GMC) at Eurobin, Victoria, which processes goats for export to halal markets.

The Full Court of the Federal Court upheld an appeal by the Game Meats Company (GMC), granting a permanent ban on the footage’s publication.

The court ruled the footage was illegally obtained by the activist group and that Justice Snaden had erred in an earlier judgment by not issuing an injunction to prevent its release.

Evidence presented during the original six-day trial in August 2024 revealed that FTI executive director Chris Delforce had trespassed on GMC’s property on seven occasions between January and April 2024.

During the original trial the court was told that on May 3, 2024, an employee of FTI sent the 14-minute footage by way of complaint to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

On May 5, 2024, an officer of DAFF sent a copy of FTI’s complaint to GMC.

On May 13 or 14, 2024, FTI sent the 14-minute footage to a local Channel Seven news department, which ran a story about the matters depicted on May 17, 2024, but did not publish the footage itself.

On same day as the Channel Seven story, FTI uploaded the 14-minute footage on its website, together with a media release and a number of still images obtained from the 14-minute footage.

GMC commenced legal proceedings against FTI on the same day, May 17, 2024.

In the Primary Judgment delivered on 19 December 2024, the primary judge Justice Snaden awarded GMC damages of $130,000, comprising general damages of $30,000 and exemplary damages of $100,000.

However, Justice Snaden held that GMC was not entitled to an injunction to restrain FTI from publishing any of the video footage that it obtained at the Eurobin premises, and also held that GMC was not entitled to hold copyright over the 14-minute footage.

Justice Snaden found that by sending the 14-minute footage to Channel Seven and publishing it on its website, FTI sought to subject GMC to a measure of publicity that could only ever have been harmful to GMC, and that those publications were made in pursuance of FTI’s objective to end all forms of business that involved causing harm to animals and to harm GMC commercially by subjecting it to “public shaming campaign”.

Justice Snaden also found that it was more likely than not that, if it was able to publish the footage, FTI “would use (or seek to use) the ensuing publicity to further its objectives, both in terms of its advocacy of “meat-free living” and its ongoing efforts to raise funds in support of its activities”.

GMC appealed Justice Snaden’s decision not to issue an injunction to prevent the release of the footage.

However, in yesterday’s decision, the Full Court of the Federal Court confirmed GMC’s copyright ownership of the footage and ordered Farm Transparency International to destroy all copies.

The activist group’s cross-appeal against the amount of exemplary damages was also dismissed.

The court heard he crossed under the property’s fence and installed hidden cameras inside the abattoir to capture the footage.

The outcome means the activists must delete the secretly filmed material and pay $130,000 in damages, marking a legal win for GMC and reinforcing court protections for property owners and against the publication of illegally obtained footage.

In a social media post FTI said it was “devastated” that the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia had granted a permanent injunction to block footage it illegally obtained from GMC.

“We’ve been ordered to delete all copies of the footage within 7 days.

“The fact that the Game Meats Company has pushed this case through a six day trial and an appeal in one of the highest courts of Australia, simply to prevent footage from being published which shows their normal business operations, is absolutely condemnable.

“Now, press freedoms and whistleblower rights across the country are in jeopardy.”

The group said it was exploring options to appeal the decision to the High Court.