Cattle Compensation Fund Act

In 1939 a Cattle Compensation Act was introduced to cover defined diseases for which compensation could be paid if they were required to be destroyed to control disease. It provided for a levy to be collected on slaughtered cattle to fund the compensation. For example this allowed cattle about which doubt occurred, with respect to pleuro-pneumonia, to be destroyed immediately. It was an important early enticement to encourage TB testing before the national campaign commenced.

In the 1980s, the fund accumulated more money than was needed for compensation, and cattle producers agreed to have the surplus funds used for research and development in the beef and dairy industries.