An animal is defined by the National Health and Medical Research Council as any live non-human vertebrate, that is, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, encompassing domestic animals, purpose-bred animals, livestock, wildlife, and also cephalopods such as octopus and squid. Flinders University further defines this group to include certain groups of decapod crustaceans.
The Flinders University Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) ensures that all research applications approved by Flinders University meet with current legislation, guidelines, policies and directives with regard to ethical and safe practices in research
The committee was established under the Animal Welfare Act, 1985 and operates in accordance with the Australian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes, 2004.
Information relating to the scope and nature of this committee is set out in the Animal Welfare Committee - Terms of Reference (PDF 19KB) - Current as at April 2006.
Applications to the AWC
Applications to the AWC are submitted through one of its two sub-committees, Animal Ethics Review Sub-Committee (School of Medicine) and the Animal Welfare Sub-Committee (School of Biology).
Go to the Animal Welfare Committee & Sub-Committee contact details to find out who to contact if you have any enquiries about applications to these committees.
The submission process for applications to the AWC and their Sub-Committees is detailed here -
- 2013 AERSC dates - Current as at 21 December 2012.
- 2013 AWSC dates - Current as at 21 December 2012.
If you are unsure if you need to apply for animal ethics approval, please read the Application Process - Live animals and animal tissue - Current as at 18 February 2009, for assistance. The submission processes for the AWC is detailed in the AWC Application Submission Processes document - Current as at 8 January 2013.
Animal Welfare Day
The AWC organises an annual Animal Welfare Day for students and researchers who will be undertaking researching involving animals.
Application Forms
The Common Forms have been developed by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) in consultation with institutional Animal Ethics Committees in South Australia.
The forms originated to streamline the application process for multi-centre projects requiring ethics approvals from more than one South Australian institution. They have now been expanded to cover all applications and are separated into biomedical research, wildlife studies, tertiary teaching and establishment of a breeding colony.
The Common Ethics Application Forms are available for download from the DEWNR website . Applications to Flinders for new applications are only accepted using these forms.
Cover Sheets - New Applications - Combined AWC and IBC Coversheet - Current as at 26 March 2012
General attachments for new applications - General Attachments - Flinders University General Attachments form - Current as at 18 May 2010
Resubmitted Applications - Cover Sheet for Resubmission of Application - Current as at 5 July 2012
Modification forms - Application Form Modification (DOC 200KB) - Current as at 21 May 2013
Modification form - Change of Personnel ONLY - Application Form Modification - Change of Personnel ONLY (DOC 111KB) - Current as at 21 May 2013
Responses to Conditional Approval - Cover Sheet for Conditional Approval responses - Current as at 8 January 2013
Annual Reports - Annual Report & Statistics - Current as at 20 September 2011
Final Reports - Final Report & Statistics - Current as at 20 September 2011
Animal Incident reports - Animal Incident Report (including Unexpected Adverse Event Guidelines) - Current as at 7 October 2011
Further information -
Licences for teaching, research or experimentation involving animals
Animal Welfare Committee - Policies and guidelines
