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NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Is the Secretary's Animal Care and Ethics Committee the right ACEC for your project

Use Criteria have been developed to assist stakeholders when considering whether the Secretary’s ACEC is the right committee for them.

These Use Criteria are in place for individuals, businesses, and Accredited Establishments seeking to use the Secretary’s ACEC. Please view the new use criteria below.

Use Criteria:

  1. The project must be undertaken in the State of NSW. Projects also being conducted interstate should seek approval from relevant State based Committee. Applications for projects that will also be conducted in States and Territories with no public facing committee will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Secretary’s ACEC.
  2. The individual or organisation has not had an ARA cancelled due to non-compliance or been convicted under the Act or equivalent interstate legislation.
  3. If the business is a corporation, they must be accredited in NSW as an Animal Research Establishment.
  4. If the applicant is from an Accredited Research Establishment, that establishment employs less than ten employees involved in animal research and teaching activities and/or maintains ten or fewer concurrently approved projects.
  5. Where the applicant undertakes remote work, monitoring of remote projects must be completed via reporting with provision of visual evidence as requested by the ACEC.
  6. Applications will be subject to the Secretary’s ACEC fee schedule.
  7. Applicants will be subject to risk-based monitoring of their fixed facilities at least triennially.
  8. Users of the Secretary’s ACEC, the ACEC members and support staff maintain a mutual expectation of reasonable and fair treatment. Abusive or disrespectful behaviour will not be tolerated.  Where a user of the ACEC is unhappy with decisions, treatment, or processes of the ACEC, grievance procedures should be followed to investigate the matter in a professional, respectful, and transparent manner.

What the SACEC will not oversee:

  1. Researchers employed by Accredited Research Establishments with more than ten employees involved in animal research and teaching activities and/or requiring more than ten projects approved concurrently.
  2. Researchers who own or are employed by businesses that are not accredited but should be.
  3. Researchers that have had the same, unchanged application rejected by other ACECs.

FAQs about the use criteria are available.

What you need to do if you think the Secretary's ACEC is the right committee to oversee your project

If you wish to use the NSW DPIRD Secretary’s Animal Care and Ethics Committee (ACEC) to supervise animal research, the process you need to follow is described below. All forms are available on the Secretary’s ACEC website under the heading 'Secretary's ACEC Forms'.

All submissions to the ACEC must be made via email to secretary.acec@dpird.nsw.gov.au

Please note that application for accreditation and application for an Animal Research Authority or an Animal Supplier's Licence are two completely separate processes. The Secretary's ACEC only deals with applications for Animal Research Authorities and Animal Supplier's Licences.

Steps to take:
  1. Contact the DPIRD Compliance Systems and Accreditation Program unit to see if your business needs to be accredited under the Animal Research Act 1985 to be able to lawfully conduct animal research within NSW. If you have an ACN, this will likely be the case. Please note, accreditation is completed separate to applying to the ACEC for an Animal Research Authority and is managed by a separate section of DPIRD.
    Please email bfs.admin@dpi.nsw.gov.au to check
  2. Contact the Secretary’s ACEC to ask if they would be prepared to supervise the type of project you plan to undertake. Please complete the Secretary’s ACEC Access Application Form and email to secretary.acec@dpird.nsw.gov.au. Please note, this is not a project application form, it is a form requesting to use the Secretary’s ACEC. Please wait for a response to this application prior to submitting and paying for a project application.
  3. If the ACEC agrees to consider your project application, complete and submit a signed Secretary’s ACEC Sharing agreement as required under the Australian code for the care and use of animals for research purposes 8th Edition 2013, Section 2.6.
  4. Submit the relevant completed Project Application Form via secretary.acec@dpird.nsw.gov.au
  5. If you have not used the Secretary’s ACEC as a Principal Investigator previously you will need to provide
    1. a current CV
    2. two written independent references from people you have worked with regarding your experience in the type of research/surveys you plan to undertake. A template for references is available to use if you wish.
    3. a certificate as proof of training in animal research ethics within the last 3 years. If you have not undertaken training in this time, we recommend the ANZCCART Compass Phase 1 training (all modules).
    4. a signed Secretary's ACEC Sharing Agreement
  6. If you have previously been a PI on a project overseen by the Secretary’s ACEC and are submitting a new or renewal application, you must provide a certificate as proof of training in animal research ethics within the last 3 years. If you have not undertaken training in this time, we recommend the ANZCCART Compass Phase 1 training (all modules).
  7. Pay the prescribed $500 fee, as explained in the application form, via the online portal https://forms.bfs.dpi.nsw.gov.au/forms/22913
  8. The ACEC will then consider your application at a scheduled meeting, and if approved, an Animal Research Authority (ARA) will be issued for 12 months. You can then commence the project after you have received a copy of the ARA.

So, in the first instance:
  1. Confirm whether your business needs to be accredited under the NSW Animal Research Act 1985 and notify the ACEC of the advice.
  2. Submit a completed Secretary’s ACEC Access Application form.

If the ACEC then agrees to review an application from you or your business:

  1. Complete and return the Sharing agreement. Please read this carefully as it outlines some responsibilities for both parties.
  2. Complete and return the relevant project application form and send your current CV and two written references. A template for references is available. Please note you do not need to use this template. The references must be completed by your referees. You must also send a certificate of proof of animal research ethics training within the last 3 years.
  3. Be familiar with the Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes 8th Edition 2013th Edition 2013
Additional information:
  • Applications are only considered at a scheduled committee meeting. The dates for these meetings are available on the Secretary’s ACEC website.
  • Projects are generally approved for a 3-year period, however, an Annual Report is legally required every 12 month, to allow the project to continue for each 12-month period.
  • Location: If you do not have set location sites at the time of completing the application you may answer with ‘various locations throughout NSW’. You are then required to advise the committee on confirmation of the details of each workshop or new research/survey site, by providing a Notification form prior to commencement of the training or research/survey. The notification form template will be provided once the project is approved.
  • Project approval is only confirmed and research able to commence once you receive a written Animal Research Authority.