The Animal Welfare Committee advises us about the care and use of animals for scientific purposes, in particular, for biomedical research.
Terms of reference
The Animal Welfare Committee will advise the National Health and Medical Research Council Chief Executive Officer, through NHMRC's Research Committee, on:
- Issues pertaining to the care and use of animals for scientific purposes, in particular, for health and medical research, and the ethics of such use.
- The review of the Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes (2013, updated 2021).
- The development and revision of other NHMRC documents related to the care and use of animals in health and medical research.
Committee operation
The Animal Welfare Committee is a working committee established under Section 39 of the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992. It is not an animal ethics committee (AEC) and does not perform the functions of an AEC as outlined in the Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes.
Enquiries
For further information about the Animal Welfare Committee, please contact animal-ethics@nhmrc.gov.au
Committee members (2025–2028)
Membership includes people with experience and expertise in the following areas, with many members having expertise and experience in multiple areas:
- ethics of the care and use of animals for scientific purposes
- replacement, reduction and refinement (the 3Rs)
- veterinary science
- animal welfare science
- management of animal breeding and holding facilities
- use of animals for scientific purposes
- routine care of animals used for scientific purposes
- animal ethics committee membership (Chair or member)
- animal ethics committee governance
- monitoring and compliance of animal care and use within an institution
- animal welfare advocacy
- community attitudes to the care and use of animals for scientific purposes
- independent external review of institutions.
A short biography, and declarations of interest, for each member will be published in the near future.