Aquaculture

Animal care and ethics

Legislation - The Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes

The NSW Animal Research Act 1985 was introduced to protect the welfare of animals, by ensuring their use in research is always humane, considerate, responsible and justified. The Animal Research Regulation 1995 incorporated the Australian Code of Practice for the Use of Animal for Scientific Purposes into the legislation.

Any organisation who uses or supplies vertebrate animals for research or teaching in NSW is affected by the Animal Research Act. The Act applies to all individuals, groups, institutions, organisations, schools and companies which use animals.

Organisations which conduct research with vertebrates must either (under the Animal Research Act, administered by the Animal Welfare Unit of NSW Department of Primary Industries) become an accredited research establishment or obtain an Animal Research Licence.

In addition, all research must be covered by a current Animal Research Authority. These are issued by approved animal care and ethics committees (ACECs) which in turn are administered by the Animal Welfare Unit and the Animal Research Review Panel of NSW DPI.

What is Animal Research?

Animal research includes the use of animals in:

Experimental research
Electric shock or radiation studies
Collection of blood, tissue or other body samples
Field surveys
Surgical, medical, psychological, biological, chemical or physical treatment
Teaching
Production of biological material
Abnormal husbandry or dietary conditions
Product Testing
Diagnosis
Feeding trials

An 'animal' includes any vertebrate, other than a human being, that is any:

mammal
bird
reptile
amphibian
fish

DPI (Fisheries) Animal Care & Ethics Committee

DPI (Fisheries) is an Accredited Research Establishment. DPI (Fisheries) researchers must apply to the DPI (Fisheries) Animal Care & Ethics Committee (ACEC) for approval prior to commencing research.

DPI (Fisheries) ACEC approves research with fish conducted by DPI (Fisheries), Sydney Water and the Department of Environment and Conservation. The DPI (Fisheries) ACEC's role is to advise, monitor, discipline and control animal research. The Committee ensures that all research conducted complies with the legislation and Code of Practice. The Committee is responsible for monitoring research within the department, including inspections of animals and facilities.

The Committee must consider and evaluate requests to conduct research, on the basis of the researchers' responses to a comprehensive set of questions, including the justification for the research; its likely impact on the animals; and procedures for preventing or alleviating pain or distress. The DPI (Fisheries) ACEC has the power to stop inappropriate research and to discipline researchers by withdrawing their research approvals. They can require that adequate care, including emergency care, is provided. They also provide guidance and support to researchers on matters relevant to animal welfare, through preparation of guidelines and dissemination of relevant scientific literature.

ACEC Membership

The membership and duties of ACECs are laid down in the Animal Research Regulation 1995. The requirements are based on the Australian Code of Practice, which also provides the benchmark against which the committee judge research, when the research is proposed and carried out. The categories are:

A veterinarian or person with similar expertise relevant to the species being studied
An animal researcher
An animal welfare representative who is not involved with the establishment or with animal research or supply
An independent person who is not a researcher and preferably is not employed by the establishment

More than one person may be appointed to each category. The Committee also has a Chairperson and Executive Officer.

Procedures of ACECs

The DPI (Fisheries) ACEC conducts quarterly meetings to consider issues associated with animal research or teaching. The Committee must:

Review, discuss, approve, reject or revoke proposals to perform animal research or teaching
document their consideration of proposals
Have guidelines on procedures for animal research or teaching
Inspect animals and facilities used in research or teaching

Animal Researchers

Investigators (researchers) are ultimately responsible for the care, management and well being of their research animals. People working within NSW DPI in any role, including as: an employee, a consultant, a post graduate student or an animal attendant; who wish to use animals in research must hold an animal research authority issued by DPI (Fisheries).

Documentation of Research

All proposals to undertake animal research must be submitted in writing to the DPI (Fisheries) ACEC and approved before the research is commenced. Full information should be provided of:

The justification for the use of animals
The justification for the number and species of animals used
The procedures to be used
The expected impact on the welfare of the animals and the methods which will be used to avoid and alleviate these

Investigators must keep detailed records of the health and experimental use of animals in their charge. The records may be examined at any time by the ACEC or inspectors of the Animal Welfare Unit, NSW DPI.

Membership of DPI (Fisheries) ACEC as at Jan 2007

Dr Geoff Allan, Chairperson; NSW Fisheries; Animal Researcher

Dr Peter Scanes, Animal Researcher

Mr Joe Pera, Animal Researcher

Ms Eliza Walker, Animal Welfare

Mr Tony Gregory, Animal Welfare

Dr Malcolm Smeal, Veterinarian

Mr John Kennedy, Veterinarian

Ms Sherry Mead, Community Member

Mr Vinod Reddy, Community Member

Ms Jo Pickles, Executive Officer

All initial enquiries should be directed to the Executive Officer who can be contacted at the Port Stephens Fisheries Centre on (02) 4916 3901 or jo.pickles@fisheries.nsw.gov.au.