The Australian Antarctic Program Animal Ethics Committee (AAPAEC) conforms to the National Health and Medical Research Council Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes (the Code). The Code remains the paramount code under which all Australian animal research must be conducted.
All researchers planning to carry out any investigation in the Australian Antarctic program in Antarctica, the sub-Antarctic (except Macquarie Island) and the Southern Ocean that involves live vertebrate animals (including fish), or cephalopods such as octopus or squid, must obtain ethics approval from the AAPAEC.
Projects conducting animal research on Macquarie Island require approval from the animal ethics committee at the chief investigator’s institution and/or the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment animal ethics committee. The AAPAEC only considers animal research for Macquarie Island where the chief investigator is employed by the Australian Antarctic Division.
All researchers must read and familiarise themselves with the Code before commencing their application.