Please find below some guidance in answering some specific questions where there is often confusion about what is required:
This is the CSB or Trim number allocated to your project if you have previously had the project approved by the Secretary’s ACEC. If you are renewing your project application, please add in the number on the top of the letter sent regarding approval of your project or on your Animal Research Authority. It will look something like 18/123, V19/1234 or RVF22/1234.
If you are applying for a new project, you do not need to complete this box.
If you have not been named as a Principal Investigator on a Secretary's ACEC Animal Research Authority previously, you will need to provide your current Curriculum Vitae as well as two written independent references relating to your experience and competence in the procedures you are applying to undertake. You will also need to submit a signed ACEC Sharing agreement.
Please make this relatively short. You can give more details in the question below 1 b) – Type of research.
Please include details of Principal and Associate Investigators and Other Participants’ experience relevant to the species and what they will actually be doing during the project.
Associate Investigators are people trained and experienced in the procedures used in the project and do not need supervision by the Principal Investigator.
Other Participants are people, such as volunteers or employees, without training or experience in the procedures but are directly supervised by the Principal or Associate Investigators and may be receiving training in animal survey techniques and handling
The date of commencement must be after the date of the scheduled ACEC meeting the application is submitted to. The ACEC will often require additional information after the meeting and will only then approve projects after receiving satisfactory responses. The commencement date on the Animal Research Authority (ARA) will be from the date of approval. If your project application is time sensitive, please make this clear in the email when submitting the application.
For projects being renewed after 3 years, the renewal application and annual report need to be submitted to a meeting scheduled before the project approval and ARA expiry dates. ARAs will not be backdated if the report or application are submitted late. Animal research without a current ARA is illegal under the Animal Research Act 1985 and data collected without a current ARA cannot be used or published.
If you are conducting wildlife surveys, the Research Purpose category is usually A7.
If you are potentially trapping animals, the Research Procedure category is P3.
If you are only observing and not trapping animals, the Research Procedure category is P1.
If you are capturing then conducting surgery, such as surgically implanting an acoustic tag or microchip or taking biopsies for DNA, the Research Procedure category is P4.
When writing the application, please confirm whether you need a Scientific Licence to conduct the research/survey work you are applying to do, including when done on privately owned land.
Provide information about why the project needs to occur. This may be due to legislative requirements pre land clearance or for other reasons.
Please initially complete the Non-capture survey method table. Only those methods ticked on the left side column need to further described in the Q11 tables.
If using drones, tick the relevant box in the left column and then provide more details at Appendix 2 of the application form.
Copy and paste the Q11 table for each of the non-capture methods you need to further describe and provide the details required. Below is a table giving some examples of the type of details the ACEC would like to see in the Q11 Tables. Details you provide do not have to be limited to these examples.
Please do not reference standard operating procedures or guidelines that are not already referenced in the application form. The ACEC wants to see the details of what you will actually do in the application.
Non-Capture methods | Suggested details |
Call playback |
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Hair tubes |
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Spotlighting |
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Infra-red, thermal imaging or digital cameras |
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Provide details in the Q13 Table about each capture method you are applying to use. Copy and paste the table in the application, and use a new table for each different type of trapping method you plan to use. Below is a table giving some examples of the type of details the ACEC would like to see in the Q13 Tables. Please refer also to the Animal Research Review Panel’s guideline ‘Wildlife surveys’ and the Secretary’s ACEC ‘Trapping Policy’.
Please do not reference standard operating procedures or guidelines that are not already referenced in the application form template by the ACEC. The ACEC wants to see the details of what you will actually do in the application.
Details you provide do not have to be limited to these examples below
Traps/net types | Suggested details |
Terrestrial | |
Dry Pitfall |
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Cage, Elliot, Box, Pipe, Funnel |
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Harp traps |
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Mist nets |
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Aquatic | |
Fyke nets, Cathedral and box traps |
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Electrofishing |
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Seine, Trawl, Cast and dip nets |
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Gill Nets |
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The maximum number of days or nights per trapping session the ACEC will generally approve Elliott and Cage is 4 consecutive nights, unless this can be satisfactorily justified in the application. The reason for this is to try to avoid recapture.
Maximum combined number of Elliott and Cage traps per investigator the ACEC will usually approve per day/night is 100, unless this can be satisfactorily justified in the application. The number of traps set per investigator must be able be cleared within two hours of sunrise.
Describe here the frequency of checking each of the types of traps or nets, including the time in relation to sunrise or sunset. Please see the guidance below:
The Secretary’s ACEC Trapping Policy guidance for frequency of trap monitoring and clearance is that Elliott and Cage traps must be cleared within 2 hours of sunrise.
Additional guidance includes:
For DRY PITFALL traps, these should be checked twice daily in hot weather
For HARP traps, should be cleared within 2 hours of dusk and again within 2 hours of sunrise, but before the sun begins to warm the trap material.
For FYKE nets, check at least every 3 hours where there is a chance of trapping air breathing animals, especially platypus, and more frequently (every 1.5 hours) in cold weather., i.e., when water temperatures at dusk are below 15◦C, to reduce the risks that animals become hypothermic or incur large energy costs while confined in nets at low ambient temperatures.
For GILL nets, continuous or frequent monitoring and lifting of nets is required to remove snags, turtles or fish, which can hold the net down and result in captured air breathing animals being unable to reach the surface.
If using mist nets, provide details here of experience in using Mist Nets here. Further details about ABBBS banding qualifications are requested in Question 18(c). Complete a table in Question 13 for mist nets if you are using these.
If you plan to use from the Secretary’s ACEC Trapping Policy under Point 7, Lactating animals, tick ‘yes’ and then only add any additional methods you plan to use here.
The ACEC wants to see a general step by step description of what happens to the animals that are captured in the survey(s). A table, diagram, list or flow chart can be used.
For example:
17.3 Describe here if individual animals will have multiple samples collected on the same occasion and /or if the plan is to capture multiple times and resample.
a) Provide details of type of identification/marking used and details of how the procedure is done. For example, with microchip implantation - is skin disinfected, where in the body is the chip implanted and how is it inserted.
b) Explain why animals need to be marked.
c) Describe here is animals will be marked with more than one form of identification and if this is the plan, explain why they need more than one form of identification. Also describe here if animals will be marked and have samples collected at the same time ad being marked.
d) Provide details of the experience of the people who are doing the identification with the particular methods used or what supervision/training they will receive.
e) Provide details of ABBBS project number for the project proposal application submitted to ABBBS and details of each ABBBS authorised bander participating in the project. Please note: The project should have already been submitted to the ABBBS and received provisional approval before seeking ACEC approval. ABBBS final approval is then dependent on ACEC approval.
Describe how animals are handled following capture. This may include a brief general description of experience of investigators in handling wildlife, how long they are generally been handled for ,
Provide details of the possible harm or adverse impacts on the animal wellbeing from and during trapping and from procedures carried out after capturing. This can be presented as a list. This should include the possible harm that could occur from trapping, handling and any procedure that may be undertaken while captured.
For each of the possible adverse impacts on animal wellbeing listed in Question 20, provide details of the measures or precautions you will take to avoid or minimise each of the impacts.
23 c). What will the animals be held in, including whether held separately from other animals and species or not?
If holding bats during the day until release the following evening, the ACEC advises:
If capturing and holding fish, please describe what the fish will be held in, including whether the water is aerated.
Describe here how animals will or may be transported – both the type of animal carriers used and type of vehicle (e.g., car or truck), preferably covered and air conditioned. Even if you don’t plan to transport animals back to a base camp, you need to provide details of how you would potentially transport an injured animal that needs to be taken to a veterinary hospital.
Contingencies for a), b) and c) must be provided. If you have others you would like to describe, also add these here.
Provide details of the contingencies in place for each of the type of emergencies that may arise in your project.
Describe what happens to the animals when they are no longer needed in the project, most common is release near to the point of capture but there may be other fates as well.
Are animals observed for a period of time to assess any injury and try and prevent predation? Do you make sure they are able to walk or fly to leave the point of release?
You must justify why you would collect a voucher specimen, what the benefit of this would be and what specimens you are likely to collect.
Only provide details of methods that you or your team would use and have experience using. It is acceptable to say you will take an injured animal to the closest veterinary hospital. If this is not possible due to the remoteness of the location, other methods and experience in using these must be provided. Please do not quote methods listed in guidelines or standard operating procedures that you or your team do not have experience using.
If you require further guidance, please contact secretary.acec@dpi.nsw.gov.au