The Animal Ethics Committee oversees the care of animals that are to be used for scientific purposes at UWA.
You should be aware of the Animal Ethics Committee's membership and composition.
Terms of reference
- The Committee is responsible to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) for:
- monitoring the acquisition, transport, production, housing care, use and disposal of animals;
- recommending any measures needed to ensure that the standards of the Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes, 8th edition 2013 (the Code) are maintained
- examining written proposals relevant to the use of animals in scientific and teaching activities and either approve, approving subject to modification or rejecting such proposals provided that the Committee approves only those studies for which animals are essential and which conform to the requirements of the Code, taking into consideration ethical and welfare aspects as well as scientific an educational value
- examining and commenting on all institutional plans and policies which may affect animal welfare
- ensuring that a register of approved proposals is maintained
- performing all other duties required by the Code.
- The Committee has the power to withdraw approval for any project or authorise the treatment or humane euthanasia of any animal.
The Committee reviews all projects for work involving the use of animals in all University facilities and the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre.
Ethics approval for animal use for projects involving staff working with animals at Telethon Kids and Perkins Institute has been delegated to the relevant ethics committees at those institutions.
Any researcher submitting an application for funding to the National Health and Medical Research Council is required to obtain ethics approval from the Committee for any project using animals stating that it complies with the principles outlined in the Code. The Committee also reviews all projects using animals in teaching classes.
Applications, committee meetings and submission dates
Making an application
- You also need to consult with the manager of the animal facility you will be working with, this may involve a pre-application process.
- The Committee recommends ROAP applications be submitted a minimum of four months before the intended project start date.
- Teaching units involving animals will require submission of ethics applications to the Committee before the unit is advertised.
- The Chief Investigator is responsible for ensuring applications are fully endorsed by all respective parties (Head of School and the animal facility coordinator/curator). The Director, Animal Care Services or the Curator of other UWA facilities is also required to endorse the application prior to submission.
- Please arrange an appointment with the Director, Animal Care Services to discus animal housing ahead of the submission date by contacting Animal Care Services on (+61 8) 6488 6606.
Distribution of applications to the two committees (Blue and Green)
The distribution of animal ethics applications to the two UWA AECs (Blue and Green) is based on animal species.
- rodents
- guinea pig
- rabbits
- zebra fish
(located at the biomedical Research Facility)
- agricultural livestock including sheep and pigs for medical research
- marine species
- wildlife
- native animals including native fish species
Committee submission deadlines and meeting dates
Submission deadlines are shown below for Applications and Major Amendments for consideration at AEC meetings. This should ensure that your Applications and Major Amendments can pass through the required HoS and Facility Endorsements prior to going to review by AEC members.
You are responsible for tracking your ROAP submission and checking that it has passed through the required endorsements. If the HoS or Facility does not endorse your Application and it requires further revisions, it is likely that your Application will not be on the Agenda for the next meeting.
You are advised to submit your application as early as possible to allow time for review processes and revisions to take place, even if this is several months in advance of the intended project start date.
AEC Blue committee
ROAP submission deadline | AEC Blue meeting date |
---|---|
Thu 26 Jan 2023 | Thu 23 Feb 2023 |
Thu 9 Mar 2023 | Thu 6 Apr 2023 |
Thu 20 Apr 2023 | Thu 18 May 2023 |
Thu 1 Jun 2023 | Thu 29 Jun 2023 |
Thu 13 Jul 2023 | Thu 10 Aug 2023 |
Thu 24 Aug 2023 | Thu 21 Sep 2023 |
Thu 28 Sep 2023 | Thu 26 Oct 2023 |
Thu 2 Nov 2023 | Thu 30 Nov 2023 |
AEC Green committee
ROAP submission deadline | AEC Green meeting dates and deadlines |
---|---|
Thu 5 Jan 2023 | Thu 2 Feb 2023 |
Thu 16 Feb 2023 | Thu 16 Mar 2023 |
Thu 30 Mar 2023 | Thu 27 Apr 2023 |
Thu 4 May 2023 | Thu 1 Jun 2023 |
Thu 15 Jun 2023 | Thu 13 Jul 2023 |
Thu 27 Jul 2023 | Thu 24 Aug 2023 |
Thu 7 Sep 2023 | Thu 5 Oct 2023 |
Thu 19 Oct 2023 | Thu 16 Nov 2023 |
Further infomation
- Confidentiality
Applications to the Animal Ethics Committee are treated in strict confidence.
- Guidelines and Procedures
The use of animals, approval of applications, and application outcomes.
- Researchers
To ensure correspondence from the Animal Ethics Office is sent to the correct mailing address, please contact Human Resources to ensure your contact details are correct.