In Australia, the care and use of animals for scientific purposes, including research, is regulated under state and territory legislation.
The Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes (the Code) is adopted into legislation in all Australian jurisdictions. The Code has been developed and published by NHMRC since 1969. It is co-endorsed by the Australian Research Council, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Universities Australia.
The Code is currently under review. Further information is available on the Code Review webpage.
The Code provides an ethical framework and governing principles to guide the decisions and actions of all those involved in the care and use of animals, including investigators, institutions, animal ethics committees and animal carers. The Code applies to all live non-human vertebrates and cephalopods. It applies throughout the animal’s involvement in activities and projects, including acquisition, transport, breeding, housing, husbandry, the use of the animal in a project, and the provisions for the animal at the completion of their use.
Compliance with the Code is a prerequisite for receipt of NHMRC funding.
Relevant Commonwealth legislation
Some aspects of the use of animals for scientific purposes are also regulated under Commonwealth legislation:
- Biosecurity Act 2015 and Export Control Act 2020 (administered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) regulates the importation and export of animals and animal products
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) applies to international movements of endangered species, including endangered species used for research, under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
