Animal activists who brought central Melbourne to a standstill recently have vowed to step up their campaign of civil disobedience and raids on abattoirs and farms.

Key points: Activists say they will risk big fines and possible jail terms for privacy and trespass offences

Activists say they will risk big fines and possible jail terms for privacy and trespass offences The Government has cracked down on animal activists, specifically Aussie Farms

The Government has cracked down on animal activists, specifically Aussie Farms The chief executive of the National Farmers' Federation says the industry is open to discussion about animal welfare with "reasonable people"

Volunteers promoting the anti-farming documentary Dominion say they will also risk big fines and possible jail terms for privacy and trespass offences.

Police charged 38 activists in early April after protesters chained themselves to vehicles at Melbourne's busiest intersection, causing massive disruption to the city's morning peak-hour transport.

There were more arrests at simultaneous raids by activists on meatworks in New South Wales, Queensland and regional Victoria.

Activists declared the coordinated action a success, with 60,000 online views of the two-hour documentary in the two days following the protests.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 23 seconds 1 m 23 s Warwick dairy farmers confront animal activists after cattle are released from their property (Facebook)

Dominion's director, Chris Delforce, said animal rights activism was a natural extension of the growth of veganism, as people became more aware of the treatment of animals raised for food, fibre, entertainment and research.

"Horrible things are happening every day across this country legally and as long as that's happening, more people are going to want to find out, more people will want to get active and do everything they can to stop it," he said.

Dominion is billed as an exposé on the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture in Australia.

Much of the footage was taken with hidden cameras and by volunteers trespassing on farms, hatcheries and slaughterhouses.

Delforce is also the founder and executive director of animal charity Aussie Farms, which has produced an interactive online map of Australian factory farms, abattoirs and other facilities.

He said the map and repository of videos, photographs and campaign material were designed to force greater transparency on the industry.

The Aussie Farms map provides the details and addresses of farming facilities across the country. ( Image: Aussie Farms )

Critics claim it's being used as an attack site, exposing businesses to potential trespass, biosecurity hazards and reputational damage.

The National Farmers Federation has led calls for tougher laws against animal activists.

Chief executive officer Tony Mahar said the industry was particularly concerned about the Aussie Farms map.

"We just thought it was instigating and initiating and encouraging violence and illegal activity, so we don't think it served the purpose of what was supposed to be a charitable organisation," he said.

Government coming down hard on activists

The Coalition went to the recent federal election promising a crackdown on animal activists and specifically targeted Aussie Farms.

Attorney-General Christian Porter removed the charity's exemption from the Privacy Act so that it could face fines of up to $2.1 million for offences relating to its map, which the Government claimed had already led to some premises listed being targeted by activists.

It warned individuals could also face fines of up to $420,000 for privacy offences.

Mr Porter promised to introduce a new criminal offence designed to protect Australian farmers from vigilante action.

This week, the Aussie Farms map was still online.

Delforce was defiant and accused the government of censorship.

Chris Delforce is the director of Dominion and the founder and executive director of Aussie Farms. ( Facebook: Aussie Farms )

"I'm going to push it as far as I can," he said.

"It's unprecedented, the level of access consumers now have to be able to see inside farms and slaughterhouses as a result of the map and footage and films like Dominion, and I think it's so important that resources like that continue.

"We can't just pull back and allow them to operate in secrecy."

Delforce said activists were not interested in invading farmers' homes and they would continue to trespass farm businesses to raise awareness on what he called the inherent cruelty of animal agriculture.

"Unfortunately, the only way consumers can see inside these places for themselves is with the footage that activists capture through trespass," he said.

"I think every activist who trespasses to take footage knows that they risk jail time, they risk fines, they risk being physically assaulted or killed even.

"They know there are all these risks involved but they know what's happening to animals is so horrific that something needs to be done."

National Farmers' Federation chief executive Tony Mahar has called for changes to legislation to deter activists. ( Supplied: National Farmers' Federation )

Mr Mahar welcomed changes to state and Commonwealth laws protecting farmers and said the industry was open to discussion about improved animal welfare outcomes.

"We need to have changes to legislation so there is adequate deterrence out there," he said.

"We need to be open and have conversations with reasonable people and we're always open to doing that.

"The extremists and the radicals that we've seen invading farms and businesses, it's unlikely they'll ever have reasonable conversations.

"They're philosophically opposed to animal agriculture more broadly, so we're not focussing on them as such, it's the broader community.

"We want to make sure they understand agriculture is such a vibrant industry and we've got huge opportunities, so that's who we'll be talking to."

Watch this story on ABC TV's Landline this Sunday at 12:30pm or on iview.