RBTA 2026 Charity Auction for Genebank

The Rare Breeds Trust of Australia (RBTA) is holding its sixth Annual Online Charity Auction during International Heritage Breeds Week to raise funds for a Future Farms Fund Genebank, from May 15 – 21 2026 

AuctionsPlus website - the fabulous list of goods and services is now available for browsing with bidding opening on May 15. The auction is being generously hosted by AuctionsPlus. This will be the sixth year we have raised funds through AuctionsPlus for our gene bank.

Now, more than ever, a gene bank is vital to Australian agriculture.  Other than private semen collections there is no gene bank in Australia for domestic livestock.  In 2021 there was a government roundtable discussion where it was unanimously agreed that one was needed, however, since then nothing has happened so the RBTA has established one.

Since starting our Genebank in 2020 thanks to the generosity of our auction sponsors, private donors and several Semen Storage facilities we have semen from horses, cattle and sheep stored at 6 facilities Australia-wide.

The RBTA is run entirely by volunteers. We receive NO government funding. The majority of our income is from memberships. Included in our membership is our quarterly publication, Paddocks and Perches. Find out more about membership on our Join Us page.

We thank all the generous sponsors of this year’s auction and acknowldege them on our Facebook page which has over 10,000 followers.

If you would like more information on the Trust or the auction, please do not hesitate to contact Judy at the Trust at any time : rarebreedstrustau@gmail.com