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 from 1 July 2024 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 that 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 applicant is from a corporation or business, that employs less than ten employees involved in animal research and teaching activities.
4. If the business is a corporation, they must be accredited as an Animal Research Establishment (ARE).
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. Applicants will be subject to the Secretary’s ACEC fee structure.
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 and may result in termination of Secretary’s ACEC oversight.  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 businesses and accredited establishments 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 when they should be.
3. Researchers that have had the same, unchanged application rejected by other ACECs.

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@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Steps to take:

1. Complete and submit the Secretary’s ACEC Access Application Form to find out if the ACEC would be prepared to supervise the type of project you plan to undertake.
2. Contact the DPIRD Compliance Systems and Accreditation Program unit to see if you or your business need 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 email bfs.admin@dpi.nsw.gov.au to check. 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 8^th Edition 2013, Section 2.6.
3. Submit the relevant completed New Project Application Form.
4. If you have not previously used the Secretary’s ACEC as a Principal Investigator, you will need to provide a CV and two written references from people you have worked with regarding your experience in the type of research/surveys/teaching using animals you plan to undertake. A template for references can be used, but it is not mandatory to use the template.
5. Pay the prescribed $500 fee, as explained in the application form, via the online portal https://forms.bfs.dpi.nsw.gov.au/forms/10678
6. 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 the written ARA.

So, in the first instance:

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

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

3. Complete and return the Sharing agreement. Please read this carefully as it outlines some responsibilities for both parties.
4. Complete and return the relevant project application form and send your 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.
5. 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.