University of Technology Sydney Review of WA Greyhound Tracks

Racing and Wagering Western Australia (RWWA) understands that the community expects that racing greyhounds are afforded with the best levels of care, during all stages of their lives – an expectation that we as the State’s Principal Racing Authority also share.

As part of this continuous effort to ensure the highest level of welfare is provided to racing greyhounds in WA at all times, RWWA in October 2019 engaged Professor David Eager from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to conduct a review of WA’s three greyhound tracks, as was being undertaken nationally.

In WA greyhound racing, 99.8% of starters race safely without sustaining major injuries.

The causes of major injuries involve numerous factors, with many scientific studies proposing various elements that contribute to their occurrence, exclusive of other factors such as contact from other runners and field sizes.

Nonetheless, improvements are always able to be made with the continuous advancement in technology and new discoveries.

RWWA has received preliminary advice with respect to potential track adjustments that would improve existing key measures. Such adjustments would serve to elevate existing standards, which potentially may further reduce already low injury rates.

As RWWA awaits specific details following the preliminary advice, the recommencement of the Northam season has been deferred.

During the COVID-19 period greyhound racing has been consolidated to two venues, with Cannington and Mandurah, therefore this current arrangement will be continued until further notice.

RWWA looks forward to receiving the UTS report to understand how we can improve our tracks to ensure we are fulfilling our commitment to deliver safe racing for our greyhounds.