The Victorian Farmers Federation is investigating whether stock agents should be registered to operate in the state.
While it is "early days", the VFF Livestock Group president Scott Young said he was keen to gather information from farmers and agents to hopefully put forward a regulatory framework to the state government.
Mr Young said the vast majority of agents were trustworthy in their practices, but there needed to be more oversight in the industry.
"There have been a couple of instances where stock agents have been fined, but there are no real recommendations in terms of penalties if they have been found to have done the wrong thing," Mr Young said.
"Anybody can start up as a livestock agent and get themselves a commission, and although there are not a lot of instances where things have gone wrong, we believe there is potential to establish something like a registry for those who don't use tags correctly.
"The other factor is the amount of money that they are dealing with and ensuring farmers get fairly paid, and while I'm not hearing any stories of that happening, having more regulations around it gives a bit more security."
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Currently, livestock agents in NSW need to apply for a licence through the NSW Department of Fair Trading, which require agents to hold qualifications, complete work experience tasks and attend continuing professional development training.
Mr Young said there was no such system in Victoria and that implementing such a system could contribute to reducing livestock theft or other farm crime.
"I have spoken to some local agents and I think they are quite up for the idea, but for now we are just looking at it and maybe looking at some work to figure out some regulatory framework going forward," he said.
Elders & Kerr Mortlake livestock agent Bruce Redpath said a registry would be an "excellent idea" and "gives the industry some accreditation and professionalism".
"The availability to the stock agency industry in Victoria is not a problem and if there's a theft, all the books are open, the electronic tags are in, and people can walk in anytime and investigate whatever they like," he said.
"But I do think that the licensing system in Victoria would be outstanding."
Most agencies ran comprehensive training programs in-house for livestock agents and auctioneers, but Mr Redpath said having a registering system would give the industry better clout.
"I have been a stock agent for a lifetime, but with new young agents coming through there is a want for them from the industry to show they are professional, and registering them wouldn't hurt," he said.
"It would put the icing on the cake in their training."
