Ivory still legal to sell in Australia despite 2019 promise to ban it

In short:

There is no domestic ivory ban in Australia despite a promise seven years ago to create one.

Roughly $1.2 million worth of elephant ivory objects were advertised in Australia in just six months last year.

A new study found less than 1 per cent of the objects were advertised with documentation proving their legality.

You can't sell a feather from a native bird without a permit in most parts of Australia.

But you can sell elephant ivory, through social media, without proof it has been ethically sourced.

That is despite African and Asian elephant species being in danger of extinction from poaching for their tusks.

About $1.2 million worth of ivory objects were advertised in Australia for sale over a six-month period last year through online stores, auction sites and Facebook Marketplace.

A new study, published in Biological Conservation, found less than 1 per cent of the 1,698 ivory listings from 70 vendors were advertised with documentation that showed they were legally imported.

About 9 per cent of items were advertised with a country of origin and 62 per cent with an approximate age.

"Very, very, few dealers mentioned up-front in their online listing that their item came with paperwork," the study's lead author Damien Huffer, an illicit tracking researcher at the University of Adelaide, said.

"In the absence of enforceable laws requiring vendors to verify or disclose an item's composition, origin, or legality, ambiguity becomes the standard practice rather than the exception."

The study suggested there was a lack of political will at state or federal levels of government to address legal loopholes where certification is required to import ivory but not to sell items within Australia.

That's because a federal government promise in 2019 to enforce a domestic ban on the trade of ivory and rhinoceros horn never came to fruition.

What ivory is legal in Australia?

Ivory was once extensively used for decorative purposes either as full tusks or carved items.

The material was also used as piano keys until being replaced with plastic.

Ivory can only be imported into Australia if it came from Asian elephants before 1975 and from African elephants before 1990, and if there is certification of the object's legitimacy.

This is because Australia signed up to a treaty, known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), that encourages members not to trade rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory as it fuels poaching of vulnerable species.

Elephants have suffered massive population drops in the past century.

Asian elephant numbers are estimated to have halved to about 50,000 over the past 75 years.

African elephants are thought to have once numbered in their millions, but by 1979 there was an estimated 1.3 million. Today there is about 400,000.

Ten years ago, a conference of CITES members recommended closing domestic ivory trade markets because of concerns they supported poaching.

Countries like China, the United Kingdom and United States have since implemented local bans.

Why isn't there a domestic ban in Australia?

Questions sent by the ABC to Environment Minister Murray Watt's office asking if a domestic ban would still be sought in Australia were redirected to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

A DCCEEW spokesperson said the government would "continue to support the survival of iconic species to ensure that domestic markets for wildlife does not contribute to poaching or illegal trade".

"Australia's domestic market does not represent a major threat to wild elephant or rhino populations,"they said.

"And Australia is not identified as a country with substantial ivory smuggling or seizures.

"Australia has exceeded its CITES obligations by effectively banning almost all commercial imports and exports of African elephant items since 1990."

But Dr Huffer said it was relatively easy to launder recently poached ivory into Australia or anywhere else with active domestic markets.

"Australia remains one of the few active market countries for elephant ivory," he said.

"Most other countries with such markets, however, are taking more action to close their markets, both physical and online."

Auctioneers seek clarity

Scientists and conservation groups are not the only ones concerned by Australia's laws around domestic ivory sales.

Auctioneers and Valuers Association of Australia chief executive Troy Williams said there needed to be a clear and nationally consistent framework governing the domestic trade in elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn.

"Provenance is fundamental when dealing with sensitive wildlife material, both for establishing legitimacy and giving buyers confidence about what they are purchasing," he said.

Mr Williams said the lack of documentation demonstrated by the study was "noteworthy", highlighting the need for reform.

"AVAA supports a prohibition on commercial trade in elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, accompanied by tightly defined exemptions for appropriate historical, cultural and other legitimate items."

Mr Williams said there was a strong case for government to revisit the issue.

"A nationally consistent framework would provide greater certainty for the auction sector while strengthening protections against unlawful trade."

Dr Huffer said there were also important questions about ivory-like materials from other species.

"We are currently working on a paper that surveys 2019–2026 online auction listings for mammoth, narwhal, hippopotamus, orca, sperm whale, and warthog," he said.

"We expect many categories of ivory or related ivory-like products benefit from the same loopholes."