Cover image for Animal Ethics Committee
Agency:
Animal Ethics Committee
Agency Number:
Start Date:
01 Jan 1993
Description:
Note: no records have yet been transferred to TAHO by this agency.;;;;The Committee derives its authority from two sources, each with a slightly different but overlapping focus and different legal status:;;;;1.) the Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council Australian Code of Practice for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes (2004) which provides the framework for national consistency in the humane care and use of animals for any scientific purpose, and sets out the functions and practices of animal ethics committees; and;;2.) the Tasmanian Animal Welfare Act 1993, which sets out the legal framework to ensure the welfare of animals used for any purpose, including for research, in Tasmania. The Code has been approved as the relevant Code of Practice under the Act.;;;;Under the Act, a person must not carry out any animal research unless they do so as part of an institution licensed under Part 4 of the Act (Section 27). A licence will not be granted unless the institution has a properly constituted animal ethics committee (AEC). The Act uses the term 'Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee' but the Code refers to 'Animal Ethics Committee' and this is the normal usage. ;;;;It is also a condition of its licence that an institution must not commence animal research until the research is approved by the AEC (Section 30(3) of the Act).;;;;The Department is a licensed institution has established its AEC in accordance with the Code to oversee internal projects. The DPIPWE AEC also provides services to some licensed institutions in Tasmania that do not have their own AEC, and where the research proposed is in the public interest.
Information Sources:
Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment website 2013
Legislation Creating:
Tasmanian Animal Welfare Act 1993
Functions Performed:
Primary industries