Riverina MP Michael McCormack (left) has publicly defended the sport, calling the impending closures of tracks “ridicolous.”
The greyhound racing industry in New South Wales is embroiled in a profound, existential struggle, simultaneously fighting political opponents over its welfare record and grappling with a severe economic restructuring that will see at least ten tracks close. Thi sinternal crisis is mirrored by a decisive global trend, as both Tasmania and New Zealand commit to phasing out the sport entirely.
The controversy reached a new peak recently when the industry’s own independent regulator, the Greyhound Welfare & Integrity Commission (GWIC), was forced to issue a rare public correction to what it labelled as “inaccurate” claims about greyhound mortality rates made by anti-racing lobbyists in the NSW Parliament.
This high-stakes clash over data integrity underscores the deeply polarised political environment in which the sport now operates.
The Economic Axe: Regional Tracks Facing Closure
Driven by a corporate report from Deloitte Australia on racetrack optimisation, Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) has initiated a dramatic, two-phase overhaul aimed at reducing the state’s racing footprint from 25 to an ideal minimum of 12 to 15 venues.
The move is officially presented as “critical to the industry’s future and sustainability,”designed to lower costs and maximise returns. The cuts are targeted, with major regional centres set to lose longstanding racing venues
Phase 1: Immediate Non-TAB Closures (End of 2025)
Racing will cease at Young and six other Non-TAB venues, including Coonamble, Kempsey, Moree, Potts Park, Tamworth, and Wauchope.
Phase 2: Major TAB Track Cull (Mid-2026)
The second and more financially significant phase targets the closure of TAB tracks at WaggaWagga, Broken Hill, and the historic Maitland venue by June 2026.
The announcement has triggered furious regional opposition. Local MP Michael McCormack specifically condemned the planned closure of the Wagga Wagga track, noting the Wagga Wagga and District Greyhound Club had recently invested $200,000 in new kennelling just months before being earmarked for closure.
The club has been mandated to submit a ‘show cause’ argument to save itself from the planned 2026 shutdown. The need for such drastic financial measures comes as GRNSW is still awaiting the public release of the NSW Government’s commissioned ‘The Drake report’ into the regulator and the wider industry.
The timing suggests the GRNSW Board is prioritising corporate advice on financial viability over the recommendations of the impending government inquiry.
The Data War: GWIC Battles Political Misinformation
The integrity of the industry’s welfare reforms has been openly challenged in Parliament, forcing the regulator, GWIC, to defend its performance data. The dispute stems from anti-racing factions citing figures from GWIC’s own Greyhound Lifecycle Report to claim a massive rise in track-related mortalities.
GWIC’s emphatic clarification directly refuted these claims, confirming that assertions of a “79 percent increase in track-related mortalities are inaccurate.
“The regulator’s verified statistics paint a picture of ongoing reform and improved outcomes: Euthanasia and Sudden Death Rates:
Euthanasia and sudden death rates on NSW greyhound tracks have reduced by more than 87% since the 2017/18 financial year, declining from 1.4 per 1000 starts to just 0.15 per 1000 starts.
Injury Requiring Euthanasia: The rate of injuries requiring euthanasia at the track or resulting in sudden death has declined by 29% over the last financial year alone, building on a 68% reduction seen in the preceding year.
Off-Track Incidents: GWIC stressed that of the greyhound mortalities reported in 2024/25 as having occurred off-track due to injury and accident, a substantial 90% were unrelated to racing itself.
GRNSW CEO Steve Griffin applauded GWIC for setting the record straight, strongly condemning the “continued mis-use of industry figures and data by anti-racing activists” and calling out groups like the Animal Justice Party and the Greens for “quoting industry figures out of context to suit their respective agendas.”
A Global Phase-Out: Bans in Tasmania and NZ
The challenges facing the NSW industry are compounded by an accelerating international withdrawal from the sport, signalling a loss of its social license in multiple jurisdictions.
Tasmania Confirms Phase-Out: The Tasmanian Government recently announced it will withdraw funding and phase out greyhound racing entirely by June 30, 2029.
The decision was based on the industry’s lack of alignment with contemporary “community expectations.”
New Zealand Legislation End Date: New Zealand has committed to legislating the end of commercial greyhound racing by August 1, 2026.
The Racing Minister cited persistently “unacceptably high” injury rates as the reason for the final decision, despite industry efforts at reform. These bans follow similar phase-outs in the vast majority of US states and mounting political pressure in the UK regions of Scotland and Wales.
The Shadow of the Past: The 2016 Special Commission of Inquiry
The current climate of suspicion and aggressive regulation in NSW remains heavily influenced by the damning findings of the 2016 Special Commission of Inquiry into the Greyhound Racing Industry in NSW. Chaired by Justice Michael McHugh, this inquiry uncovered shocking systemic animal cruelty, which led the then-Premier Mike Baird to announce an immediate ban on the sport—a ban later overturned following political backlash.
The 2016 report revealed:
MassKilling/Wastage: The Commission found that between 48,000 and 68,000 healthy greyhounds—at least half of all dogs bred for racing—were killed in the preceding 12 years simply because they were deemed uncompetitive.
Live Baiting: The Inquiry uncovered endemic live baiting, a practice where small, live animals (such as rabbits, possums, or piglets) were used to train dogs, a barbaric practice the industry had failed to eliminate despite previous warnings.
Unreformable Industry: Justice McHugh’s report concluded that the industry was inherently based on the “wastage of greyhounds through killing and mistreatment” and expressed a lack of confidence in the industry’s ability to ever reform itself sustainably.
The current industry’s significant investment in welfare and the establishment of GWIC were direct consequences of this report, meaning the transparency of their data is now the central pillar on which the industry’s continued existence rests.
The Economic and Political Double Standard
Critics and welfare groups often highlight a perceived double standard in the government’s regulatory approach, particularly when comparing the greyhound industry’s plight to that of the thoroughbred (horse) racing sector. While the greyhound industry, which contributes over $220 million in net taxes to the NSW economy (with the total racing industry contributing $285 million in 2023-24), is under threat of mass closure and ban, the much larger and more lucrative horse racing sector appears relatively shielded. Welfare groups argue that, based on statistics, other codes—particularly thoroughbred racing—involve greater rates of catastrophic injury and death.
The key difference, industry critics argue, is financial and political: the thoroughbred industry is a much more substantial source of state gambling revenue. The suspicionis that the primary motivation for clamping down on greyhound racing is to secure the state’s gambling revenue stream by eliminating the most politically vulnerable (though smaller) code, while avoiding any disruption to the main economic pillar of the racing portfolio.
As the track closures proceed and the welfare data war continues, the future of greyhound racing in NSW remains entirely dependent on its ability to convince both the public and its political masters that it has finally achieved the “social license to operate” that it decisively lost a decade ago.
– Tully Potts
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