Animal use data

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Quantitative data reported to the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (the department) on:

• numbers of times animals were used in NSW for research and teaching in the reporting year
• purpose of the research and the types of procedures involved

These data are collected by accredited research establishments on a calendar year basis and submitted to the department by 31 March of the following year.

Animals are counted for each year in which they are used. This means, for example, that animals in a project that runs for a period of more than one calendar year will be counted again for each year in which they are used. Therefore, a year-to-year comparison of animal numbers includes individual animals that may be the same across two or more years.

Animals are counted in each project in which they are used in a reporting year. This means the same animal will be counted more than once if they are used in more than one project. This method likely results in animal use numbers that are greater than the number of individual animals involved. This reporting is consistent with reporting in other Australian jurisdictions.

Animals that are kept at accredited research establishments but not used in a research project in a reporting year will not be included in animal use statistics data for that year.

Data notes:

• The total number of times animals were used increased from 2,381,800 in 2022 to 5,752,214 in 2023 (a difference of 3,370,414). The primary contributor to this was an increase in use of fish by 3,052,699.
  • 96.9% of reported times fish were used in 2023 were categorised as lower impact procedures ‘Observation involving minor interference’ (P1) or ‘Minor conscious intervention’ (P3). An example of a typical P3 procedure for fish is observation and tagging.
• The total number of times animals were used increased from 5,752,214 in 2023 to 10,567,233 in 2024 (a difference of 4,815,019). The primary contributor to this was an increase in use of fish by 5,062,381.
  • 99.6% of reported times fish were used in 2024 were categorised as lower impact procedures ‘Observation involving minor interference’ (P1) or ‘Minor conscious intervention’ (P3).

• NSW animal use in research data (2024) - 20250813 (XLSX, 31KB)
• NSW animal use in research data (2024) - 20250813 (CSV, 8KB)
• Data quality statement - NSW animal use in research data (2024) - 20250813 (PDF, 1.9MB) created using the Data.NSW Data Quality Tool

• The accuracy of the data supplied is the responsibility of the reporting establishment.
• The department checks the completeness of data entries and validity of reporting codes used. Where a potential data entry error is identified, the department contacts the establishment to verify the data and corrections are made if required.
• Animal use known to have occurred outside of NSW is excluded from published statistics.
• The data are deidentified and aggregated for publication.