This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: While most Australians assume the ivory trade ended decades ago, Adelaide University research has found an active collectors' market exists online, with most listings showing no proof that the items are legal. Australia controls ivory at the border, where illegal importation carries penalties of up to AUD$310,000 and 10 years' imprisonment, but the country is one of the last high-income jurisdictions without a domestic ivory ban.
"Once ivory makes it into Australia, the responsibility for policing domestic sales falls to the states and territories," said lead author Dr. Damien Huffer, from Adelaide University's Wildlife Crime Research Hub. "There is no jurisdiction within Australia that requires a seller to demonstrate an item's material, age or lawful entry at the point of sale, which means illegally imported ivory becomes almost impossible to trace." WCRH researchers tracked Australian auction houses, dealer webstores and Facebook Marketplace between January and June 2025.
Their study, published in Biological Conservation, found 1,698 ivory listings from 70 vendors, worth AUD$653,101 in completed auction sales, and another AUD$573,997 in webstore asking prices. The market was dominated by small carved collectibles, such as netsuke, figurines and jewelry, and was concentrated in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, which together accounted for 97% of listings. Only three of the 1,698 listings included any documentation, about a quarter mentioned provenance, and only 9% named a country of origin.
"Without a legal framework for domestic trade, buyers have nothing to go on but the seller's word," said study co-author Dr. Freyja Watters, also from WCRH. "Import evidence isn't required to follow an item into the market, so a piece carved from a recently poached elephant is indistinguishable from a genuine antique." In 2016, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) parties committed to closing domestic ivory markets.
The United States, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the EU and the United Kingdom have all acted. An Australian parliamentary inquiry recommended a nationally coordinated ban in 2018, but the Commonwealth closed the matter in 2024, citing the time elapsed and recommending no further action. "My co-authors and I argue that a nationally coordinated ban remains the most effective pathway, and we recommend interim measures in the meantime: routine state monitoring of high-volume vendors, public awareness campaigns and mandatory disclosure at the point of listing," Watters said.
"An international ban doesn't stop poaching if poached ivory can still be sold once it clears the border. Nothing requires an Australian seller to prove an item's age or origin, and until it does, poached ivory can be sold as easily as legitimate antiques." Damien Huffer et al, Closing the border on Australia's domestic elephant ivory trade, Biological Conservation (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2026.112081 Journal information: Biological Conservation BSc Life Sciences & Ecology.
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