At the most recent Harness Racing Australia (HRA) AGM in December 2022 the HRA members voted in favour of a suite of new rules along with an expansion of existing rules relating to equine welfare and traceability.

A quick reference guide to the major rule changes is pictured and while many of the rules listed in this document were existing most have had their time limits shortened to be as close to 'real time' as possible. The major change is the requirement for trainers to notify within 24 hours ANY time a horse in their care changes locations or the person in charge of it is changed (e.g. during spelling). This is major enhancement for traceability within the industry and has the potential to provide exceptional integrity, welfare and biosecurity outcomes. Trainers are also encouraged to keep their horse's statuses updated accurately even when they have not changed locations, for example notifying a horse that was In Training is now ready to be Racing. This allows for bespoke programming of races to fit the current racing population and allows for data collection and analysis to help better the industry in a range of areas.

These rule updates are complemented by the new, online horse traceability function that was originally launched in the industry portal known as HarnessWeb on 28th January 2021. This world first function has undergone more than 12 months of rigorous testing, development and upgrading and allows participants to abide by the new rules quickly and efficiently by processing status updates online in just a few clicks.