eID rebate scheme suddenly cancelled

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE Tas) has suddenly closed access to the eID Rebate Scheme for sheep and goats.

On Wednesday, the industry was informed that all available funding for the grant round 2 of the Tasmanian eID Rebate Scheme had been fully expended.

The scheme guidelines stated that rebates would close on 30 June 2026, or when funds have been expended, whichever occurs first.

Since last year, it has been a requirement that newborn sheep and goats transported off the property where they are born be fitted with an electronic identification tag.

From 2027, it will be expanded to include all sheep and goats.

The federal and state governments provided a combined $11.5 million to support the state’s red meat supply chain to implement sheep and goat eIDs.

“To date, the Scheme has seen well over 3 million sheep and goat eID tags sold,” an NRE Tas spokesperson said.

“In February 2026, the rebate scheme was expanded to include all colours to assist producers with older sheep to purchase tags, enabling more producers to get access before the scheme finished.

“This expansion has been incredibly successful, resulting in funding now being fully exhausted.

“Tags will need to be purchased at retail price moving forward.”