According to a recent article in Business News, Australia an independent panel has recommended phasing out battery cages between 2032 and 2036.  Alternative systems including enriched colony modules, aviaries, barns and free-range will replace existing battery housing.  It is estimated that the laying hen population of Australia is in the region of 21 million with 48 percent still in batteries.  Three quarters of eggs produced are sold in the shell form and 25 percent as egg liquid for the institutions. Forty percent of the proportion marketed through retail including supermarkets and groceries, is derived from caged hens with 30 percent each from free-range or from barns.

Recent surveys conducted in Australia demonstrated that 95 percent of those questioned consider welfare of farm animals to be an important concern. The overwhelming majority support legislation to reform housing and management. As with U.S. surveys it is questioned whether respondents realize that enhanced welfare comes at a cost, borne ultimately by all consumers, irrespective of financial status or their ethical inclinations.