Jumps racing is a type of horse racing in which horses are required to race at speed while clearing obstacles including fences, hurdles, ditches and water jumps. The nature of this so-called sport creates inherent welfare risks, including catastrophic falls, serious injuries and deaths of horses, as well as significant risks to jockeys.

As a result, jumps racing has been banned or phased out in every Australian state - except Victoria. We are now the only state in Australia where the practice continues.

Despite ongoing claims from the racing industry that safety measures have improved and horses are carefully trained, serious concerns persist. The fundamental risks associated with forcing horses to jump obstacles at racing speed cannot be eliminated.

Jumps racing remains largely concentrated at regional Victorian racecourses, but its continuation is increasingly under scrutiny following repeated fatalities and growing public concern.

During the 2024 season, 10 horses died in jumps racing events, prompting Racing Victoria to initiate a formal review. Despite mounting pressure from animal welfare advocates and the former Victorian Racing Minister, the industry confirmed in December 2024 that jumps racing would continue under "revised safety measures".

In the 2025 season, 6 further fatalities were recorded, with Racing Victoria reporting five deaths on race day and additional horses later dying from injuries sustained during jumps events.

A Racing Victoria spokesperson recently said the Jumps Taskforce would continue reviewing safety outcomes, participation rates and economic impacts at the conclusion of each season. Nonetheless, a broader independent review originally planned for the end of 2027 was later abandoned, with Racing Victoria instead committing to conduct a review only if key safety benchmarks, including fatality thresholds, were not met.

The death toll shows that the practice can not be made acceptably safe.

This is why, in October 2025, the Animal Justice Party commissioned an independent analysis of the cost of jumps racing via the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The report found that jumps racing costs Victorian taxpayers approximately $1.8 million more than it generates in gambling revenue.

The findings undermine one of the industry’s key justifications for continuing the practice and add further weight to longstanding concerns about its social licence and public funding.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell said the findings confirm what animal advocates have long argued: that jumps racing is both ethically and economically unjustifiable.

When interviewed by The Age recently, Georgie said jumps racing should have been banned decades ago, noting no other Australian state still permits the practice.

Georgie has previously stated that the practice should have been banned decades ago, noting that Victoria is now the only state in Australia still permitting it.

With a growing body of evidence highlighting both the welfare impacts and the financial cost to taxpayers, pressure is mounting on the Victorian Government to end jumps racing permanently.