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Wildlife and Small Institutions Animal Ethics Committee

Public access to the Wildlife and Small Institutions (WSI) Animal Ethics Committee (AEC)

Agriculture Victoria established the Wildlife and Small Institutions Animal Ethics Committee (WSIAEC) to provide for small institutions or organisations unable to maintain a viable AEC.

There are two streams of access to the WSIAEC dependent on the type of animal use that is proposed – unrestricted access and restricted access.

Organisations or individuals wishing to access the services of the WSIAEC must apply to Agriculture Victoria for such access. The WSIAEC will only approve projects and activities undertaken in the state of Victoria.

Unrestricted access

The Wildlife and Small Institutions Animal Ethics Committee (WSIAEC) is an Animal Ethics Committee for the purposes of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (POCTA Act)and provides services to scientific procedures licence holders using animals for research or teaching, and specified animals breeding licence holders.

Applicants wishing to nominate the WSIAEC to perform AEC functions for their licence must obtain approval to access the committee before nominating the WSIAEC in a licence application.

Restricted access

Additionally, the WSIAEC provides services to individuals undertaking collection, taking, banding and marking of wildlife for research purposes.

These applicants are exempt from licensing under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986, but must hold a research permit issued by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) in accordance with section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975.

Permit applicants are required to seek approval from an AEC for proposed research activities prior to submitting an application to DELWP.

Learn more information on exempt types of animal use.

WSIAEC forms and documents

Project application forms and applicant guide

Please submit your application three weeks prior to the next WSIAEC meeting.

Please read the applicant guide before submitting your application.

Please do not reference any SOPs in the application. The application should have all the information for the project and should be a standalone document.

Prior to submitting your application please ensure all the sections are answered completely and correctly. Please check that all the boxes in the application and the associated forms are ticked appropriately.

The completion of the above will allow for more efficient processing of the application.

Report forms

Procedures

Other information

WSIAEC meeting dates

Closing date for agenda items is two weeks prior to meeting dates.

2020

12 March 2020
23 April 2020
10 June 2020
22 July 2020
9 September 2020
21 October 2020
10 December 2020

Contact details

For more information on the WSIAEC contact:

Agriculture Victoria
Executive Officer
Wildlife and Small Institutions Animal Ethics Committee
475 Mickleham Road
Attwood Victoria 3049

Phone: (03) 9217 4190
Email: wsi.aec@ecodev.vic.gov.au